How to Set Your Gains Using Ohms Law and a Basic Multimeter
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- Setting your gains properly with a multimeter is easier than you might think. The gain adjustment control on an amplifier is commonly misunderstood as a volume knob. However, it is supposed to be used to level match the output voltage of the head unit to the gain of the amplifier so the input signal isn't "clipping" causing distortion and potentially damaging your speakers.
I've watched multiple videos and read multiple articles on this and this video by far was the easiest to understand and I've played around with my settings bass boost all that even using an ocillascope....but tuning my amp exactly the way y'all have directed in this video just using a dmm made my system sound 10 times better.
Yes your right seen millions of videos and this was straight to the point and looks possible to anybody can do it
I running 2 1500rms subs at half ohm..so id.go.1500x.5=750×2subs=1500 and the square rt of 1500=38...so.38volts is my number..
@@ronnydisalvo80 no sir you have to use the rated rms output number of your amp....so say your amp is rated at 2000 rms at .5 ohm....multiply 2000 by .5 and find the square root with is approx 31.62.....
@@ronnydisalvo80 you have 2 subs wired in a way that gives you .5 ohm load
@@ronnydisalvo80 so how can I do that on mine bro ..??
STRAIGHT TO THE DAMN POINT!
@Alex Villanueva - However you plan to wire the subwoofer(s) to the amplifier. If you are wiring two subs down to a final impedance of 2ohms, you would use two ohms for "R". If you are wiring one DVC sub down to 1ohm, you would use one ohm for "R".
I have 2 dual voice coil 4 ohm subs running parallel at 1 ohm and they are 1000 watts rms per sub. My amp is 3700 watts rms @ 1 ohm. Will that be to much for the subs to handle? When I do the math do I add the rms wattage of both subs together? After setting everything to 0 then raise the gain till I get my target voltage when I then turn up the bass boost and LPF the voltage goes up. Is that ok?
+Rizz1117 your amp is a bit too much for those speakers.
+Rizz1117 Between the RMS power of your subs and your amp, you'll go with the lowest one if they are not equal. So you would go with 2000 RMS for the 2 subs so you over power and blow them. You would want to target your AC voltage at 44.72 volts
I went to an audio shop to install a five channel and they were good “installers” but were not technical.had no clue how to properly set the gains on the amp and lc7i. had the levels up way too high. Took my multimeter and set properly using the technique in this video since I don’t have a SMD 2. Thanks.
I have a Orion hcca 12" dvc 2 ohm. I have it wired down to 1 ohm. When I do this formula do I use the final impedance 1 ohm or the 2 ohm to plug into this equation?
Thanks for the video
I have 2 Doubts
1. , can you explain what should be the positions of HPF & LPF, switches while doing the gain setting for speakers and subwoofers
In a 4 channel amp.
2. In every videos in CZcams regarding the gain setting , they are using RCA input.. is that mandatory.. ?? What would happen if I use speaker level input instead of RCA while doing the Gain setting...
Most head units DO NOT output a clean undistorted signal at full volume. The first step would be to find the volume level at which the head unit puts out the highest UNDISTORTED output. Usually by using a 1kHz tone at a 0dB reference level. You didn’t mention to defeat all tone controls, loudness, DSP, and set the balance and fader at center. Also the way you are demonstrating to set the gains are with 0dB of gain overlap. That wouldn’t sound loud enough. The best compromise for quality/loudness would be a gain overlap of 10dB. That means you would have to set the gain on the amp using a -10dB signal.
If you want balanced system, that 0dB is just fine. Not everyone wants SPL build
I bought a multimeter today for this purpose. I got home and stuck it in a plug socket to test it worked and it was 243 volts so it’s good. Ngl I was a bit scared about sticking it into the plug socket tho in case it went bang 😂😂😂
Sweet! 😁 So my 300w mono amp is set at about 17.32 v ac! Thanks!
@JT Rut
Setting the gains on amplifiers that are powering door speakers is done in similar fashion but you would use a tone more appropriate for the speakers. For example, we have a 1kHz tone you can download from our website at www.mtx.com/t/testtones
I tried this on my new system. Everything's new except for the RCA's. I can't get a reading in my multimeter. Could it be the RCA's
@@tpm1868did you use the DC voltage setting to check your power wire(12v+/-)? when you turn the head unit does the remote receive a dc current(12v)? (you can use the ground for the negative on the multimeter for these two tests/probes) -------------------- You can test the RCAs with a multimeter if you set it in AC volts and probe the center pin and outside ring of the same plug/wire, while music is playing if you get an ac voltage that is going up and down they are working as intended. If you can answer some of my questions, I can defiantly help you figure out what the issue is and we can get you jamin just like that reggae playlist you have on your channel. Been letting it play all day...
@@Dheath thanks for getting back to me. Had to replace my deck. Dead sub out rca. Now with new deck everything's working just fine
very well said fast an easy
Excellent video I just have one question when your playing the 50hrtz do you keep your bass and treble settings on the head unit or do you zero everything out
My amp has both a gain control and master level. When doing this where should the master be set? If it's all the way down there's no output at all no matter where the gain is set. Should it be all the way up and set the gain based around that level? Or find some balance between the two? The amp is a Jensen xda91rb. Also worth mentioning that there's no controls on the amp. Everything's controlled through an app via Bluetooth
Informative. No time wasted!
what if i dont reach my desired volts on 3/4 head unit volume and max gain ??
i can reach it with for example 55/62
and 3/4 amp gain tho
Watched it a few more times just cause i enjoyed the presentation lol
@Lucas Patterson - If you have two single 4 ohm voice coils, you can wire them to a total 2ohm load or an 8 ohm load. To see how to wire to these impedances, go to www.mtx.com/t/library-wiring-diagrams If your amplifier is 90 watts for one channel, be sure to use the wattage ratings at whatever impedance you are wiring your subwoofers to. 90 watts isn't much for two subwoofers so you will most likely under power your subwoofers which can be worse than overpowering them in some applications.
Lucas Patterson
same impedance options would apply if both speakers are single 4 ohm voice coils. They can either be wired to a 2ohm load or an 8 ohm load on the amplifier channel. As far as external bass controllers (EBC's) or remote bass controls, please refer to our article about EBC's here - www.mtx.com/t/library-external-bass-controls
To Sigve Skaugvoll,
We cannot reply to your comment because your settings won't allow us. Anyway, to answer your question, you need to know what the final impedance of your subwoofers is going to be. If you are wiring two subwoofers to a final impedance of 4ohms at the amplifier, then you would use the RMS rating of your amp at 4ohms. Not the 2500 watt rating at 1ohm. The resistance ( R ) value of the equation is the final impedance of your subwoofers that the amplifier will see. Hope this helps.
Thanks for a quick replay!
I'm going to have a final impedance of 2ohms at the amplifier when I'm parallel wiring my subs. Does this means that I have to use the RMS rating of my amp at 2ohms (which is 1800w) or what my subwoofers "wants" which is 600w
I guess the only thing that still is a little unclear for me, is what ( P ) is suppose to be, is it going to be 1800 since that's my amps RMS rating, or am I going to use 600w because thats the desired power that my subwoofer wants?
Thanks again for answering my questions :)
My led clip light will turn on when I adjust the filter afterwards so I set the filters first then adjusted the gains.
If it's flashing it's ok solid no good
Makes sense set the sound you want...then adjust the level of the sound you like to play the loudest safest gain level
@@ukokepaoa5536 filters should only lower the power or loudness.
For most amps, The only adjustment I can think of that increases sound or power other than the gain knob; would be the bass boost switch or knob found on some amps
can i apply this formula to normal speakers instead of a sub?
Hey mate, having trouble, I have:
2x 12" 350w rms Alpine DVC subs (2ohm per coil I believe)
1x MRP-m850 (500w rms at 4ohm, 800w rms at 2ohm)
They are wired to 2ohm. I can't get the voltage on the amp to come anywhere close to 40v
37.41 is your target since your amp is rated higher than your subs you use 350 watts rms x 2 for 2 subs 700 atts rms total x 2 for 2Ω load = 1400 square root =37.41
What he didn't tell us is that most multimeters are horribly inaccurate when reading rms voltage at higher frequencies. This works at 50-60 Hz for setting a sub amp, but will be way off setting a multi-channel amp.
So my sub is wired to 1 ohm
So I would do 1000 x 1= 1000
Then square that= 31.6 correct?
If you want your amp to output 1000w and your ohm load is 1, then yes you are correct.
I CANNOT RECOMMEND THE TNE212DV DUAL 12'S ENOUGH! Paired with the Rockvill db12 1000 watt RMS @ 2 ohms, It's so LOUD, if i turn it up too much it can be TOO STRONG!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!! I no longer have to chase the bass dragon, I have it! These subs rock my 2012 cruze like a jack hammer! I love them, Much better than the dual brand 12 inches in bandpass. Those sucked! These are only 30 more dollars on amazon!
This is a good way to do it without having the proper equipment. But, what about amperage? What is the speaker output amperage? And, what about the phase of the power output? Because I was watching D'Amore Engineering discussing this topic and how/why this method is inaccurate and why even a clamp meter would be inaccurate. Anybody have any answers?
The audio I do on bikes, obviously wanna higher RMS on your amp than your speaker... I set gains by going by the Voltage x Amp = Wattage. and from there i can adjust to each speaker giving it the exact amount RMS with the radio all the way up so they cannot blow the speakers. LOL
Simple proper explanation video thank you
I have tried all methods of tuning but nothing works to me as well as tuning by music, but I do not like that method because it's not precise. I currently have a 12" Alpine Type S on 2 Ohms in a ported box that's tuned to 32Hz being powered by a JL Audio Slash 500/1. I'm wondering, would it be better if I played a 32Hz test tone, tuned it by ear and then record the maximum UNCLIPPED voltage and then play various music and increase the gain until I reach that voltage I achieved at 32Hz? I'm wondering becuase the 50Hz method does not work well for me at all, when I tune it using this method and clamp my amplifier the maximum I see is 250-300 Watts RMS @40Hz when I should be seeing 500 Watts RMS. It also doesn't feel like 500 Watts using the Ohms Law method.
how do you determine your target voltage?
Hi. I'm quite new to this car stereo life, but I have a few questions about the equation.
I have the amplifier Orion CB.5000.1D which puts out 2500wRMS at 1 ohm. The sub(s) I'm using are JBL GTi 1200 which can handle 600wRMS (4 ohm). My questions are;
in the equation, the variable P (power of amp RMS), should I use 2500(amp) or 600w(sub). The Variable R is that the resistance on the amp(1) or speakers(4)?
Thanks for a awesome video, and I apologize for the bad grammar and questions.
Whether you use one speaker or 4 speakers, it’s all the same. Only difference is, when it’s more than one speaker, they will share the same power unless each speaker is rated at a different ohm(resistance).
So if your running active and only have two 15w rms tweeters on the first two channels of a 50w per channel amp you would want it to 30w max instead of 100(50Wx2)? About 10 volts.
i used ohms law w/ Rms wattage of 600 x 2ohms square root that i got 34.64 i turned all my filters off turned my LPF all the way up and my head unit to 75% which from 50 is 37.5. the number i was getting w/ the gain all the way up was 20 or so. and i was playing a 50hz sine wave. What do i do i can't get to that number with the level knob.
What kind of amp are you working with? What is the model # if you have it?
I dont use my cd player due to the roads are shit where i live. Can i tune the amp using blue tooth with a hz test on a ipod?
Is that a tnp212d2 or tnp212dv? I have the dv paired with mtx tna500d. Are they the same?
I JUST BOUGHT THE VENTED VERSION OF THOSE SUBS SITTING ON THE DESK IN THE VIDEO. IM SO EXCITED!
TNE212DV - dual 12" Terminator vented enclosure... Brand new for 2018!
I CANNOT RECOMMEND THE TNE212DV DUAL 12'S ENOUGH! Paired with the Rockvill db12 1000 watt RMS @ 2 ohms, It's so LOUD, if i turn it up too much it can be TOO STRONG!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!! I no longer have to chase the bass dragon, I have it! These subs rock my 2012 cruze like a jack hammer! I love them, Much better than the dual brand 12 inches in bandpass. Those sucked! These are only 30 more dollars on amazon!
@@FrostyBud777 bahahaha r u serious? I'm sry but that system is no where near loud.
@@FrostyBud777 bahahaha r u serious? I'm sry but that system is no where near loud.
i hurts my ears man! how loud you need it to go!? for 200 bucks, it hurts my hearing and may cause damage. I am happy and recommend them. Best subs i have owned out of 4 or 5 sets. If you can play these 30 minutes and not get sick , you have damage or something lol
Reading these comments...did anyone pay attention to what he says? He clear as day explained how to do the maths. Either these people can't absorb info or are just plain too dumb to comprehend simple algebra. In that case, forgrt the car audio scene and just listen through headphones and don't short circuit your brain.
All you have to do is use the same formula, just plug in your own numbers...SIMPLE!
It makes no difference what brand or watts the amp or speaker(s) is.
Ex. The amplifier puts out 527watts RMS, multiplied by the OHM load (0.5, 1,2,4,8,16) of the speaker(s) that the amp is receiving, press =, then on your calculator push the Square root button, it looks like a check mark with a tail...527watts x 2 ohm load= 1054, the square root of 1054 is 32.47.....32.47 (32.5) is what the output voltage you want to set the amp at. It's not complicated. For the confused out there www.math.com/students/calculators/source/square-root.htm
At last, someone who gets it!
Nope they just wanna ask stupid questions
ik this shit is very simple and easy to remember
IamTheEggMan lol your explanation was better thanks haha
I wish every person that tried to teach did it like you.Some people are very good at explaining things and others just like to hear themselves talk.The latter make terrible teachers because they end up overloading the "students" brain.Thank you for chiming in here and making it simple and understandable!
Thanks for the video. I'm still hung up on the R term, it seems like I've read conflicting info on the web. I have a single 10" 4-ohm DVC subwoofer that is rated for 300W RMS. I have a mono amplifier that outputs 300W @ 4 ohms or 500W @ 2 ohms. When I calculate V = (P*R)^0.5, I am using R = 2, since while my subwoofer is a 4 ohm model, because of the wiring and single subwoofer it puts a 2 ohm load on the amplifier. If I set P = 300W, I then get a target V = 24.5 volts. Does this seem correct? Because some other info I have come across seem to indicate that in my setup R = 4, in which case my target V = 34.6 volts! Thanks!
You would use whatever impedance your subwoofer is wired to so if you have wired your DVC 4ohm sub down to 2ohms, R would = 2
***** Gotcha, thanks!
OK that's 3 to 4years ago all my amplifiers have clip indicators on them haven't blown a subwoofer or speak since I used it?
Just wanna make sure I’m doing this right I have 2 subwoofers 300 watts each side so total 600 watts and I’m doing 2 ohms so would I do 300 x 2 or 600 x 2
Hmmm this is also a "rough" way to measure if an amp is actually outputting what its rated for. Thanks!
Have a amp 4ohm x 100 watts = 400 sq root = 20v. I have set my multimeter to Ac voltage, no speaker wires in amp, stick the probes from mm into postive and negative speaker holes, and play pink noise track at 75% volume, turn up the gain slowly, im only getting a little over 2v, nowhere near 20v, what am i doing wrong ?
If you have a 5 channel amp. You would set the 4 lower wattage speakers to one gain (60Wx4@4ohm) and the sub channel (350Wx1@2ohm) to it's own gain correct?
If the subwoofer 4 ohm but it is bridged , ohm is cut in half. İn this case we calculate by multiplying RMS by 2 instead of 4 ohm , correct?
Yes
I have two dual 4 ohm 10 inch AB XRs I have them wired down to 1 ohm for my skar rp2k1d amp so you use what your amp is rated to not the subs
2:15
Wtf 😂 i clearly heard someone in the back say "its not"
Sorry guys but I have a dumb question.. my gain needs 27.2 volts. My cars alternator puts out 14.4 volts. Do I need caps or an extra battery? Jus running a 800.1d mono and a 10" dvc 2ohm sub (running at 1ohm) amp is 1 ohm stable
Stock stereo with added sub for more bass. Using a loc2 and 60amp fuse to battery.
Thank you in advance
This may be a dumb question and forgive me if so, but my understanding is that setting the gain with pretty much everything flat puts your amp right below clipping or distortion? So you're really not supposed to use "bass boost" nor tune the bass frequencies up when you go to equalize, or turn your subwoofer level on the HU up any afterwards? What you set your gain to is effectively as high as you can go with output? Not sure if I understand
I’m an intermediate installer learning how to install my first setup and from everything I have watched and learned setting the gain at the exact level with a multimeter is the best way because the amp will not go above that voltage limit and potentially damage the sub with too much power, and I have also read that on your head unit the LPF, if you have one should be off and any bass levels should be flat. Bass boost is not a volume control and I would leave it at 0 on the HU and amp as the gain is already transmitting the maximum performance range that the sub can get to so you’re not missing out on that much power. So to sum it up, the gain, at the correct level, will provide for the best and maximum performance out of your sub without going past the voltage that would potentially blow or damage your sub. Set your LPF and Subsonic filtering as necessary, the standards are LPF at about 80 and subsonic at about 35 but that depends on if you have a ported or sealed box which there are videos that better explain that.
@@bryan3327 this is what I was looking for and answered my question thoroughly! Thank you so much!
@@handon11 No worries! I had the same concern as well being a noobie and trying to install a sub on my own and after one blown voice coil it has definitely been a learning experience so I’m glad I could help!
Im using a skar audio 800.1 and I'm running 600 at 2 ohms and the square root is 34.4 but my amps voltage on the gain only goes up to 27 so idk what I should set it at.
Will doing this hurt my door speakers? I can’t really unhook those
shoot, what if the amp is solely pushing a subwoofer? Does that change how we set the knobs on the amp prior?
I have an amplifier 1800 watts and two 12 speakers 4 ohms each should i calculate by time 4 or times 8?
Depends if you're going to wire them in parallel or in series. In series your total ohms would be 8. In parallel your total ohms would be 2.
Why do you use a CD with 50hz? i'm trying to do this with all my components in the car already, and my head unit is connected to my amp and my regular car speakers. Any suggestions? I'm thinking i will disconnect the car speakers from the head unit so i can turn the volume all the way up with out waking my neighbors.
We use a 50Hz tone because that is a common frequency range for most music. For your speakers, you would use a frequency that is somewhere in the frequency response range of their specs. For example, you wouldn't use 50Hz if the speakers have a frequency response of 75Hz to 20kHz.
You would want to disconnect your subwoofers to set the gain on the amp that powers your speakers. Once that is done, disconnect your speakers from their amp, reconnect your subwoofers to their amp, and set the gain on that amp using an appropriate tone.
Hope this helps.
Keep in mind we are setting up a subwoofer amp and subwoofers play lower frequencies than speakers so a 50 Hz tone is good for subwoofers but would not be good for speakers. For speakers you would want something more like a 1kHz tone.
@@MTXAudioUSA Thanks for the informative video and answering all these questions that I've had myself. Much appreciated!
does this apply for setting full range or high pass speakers?
Do the hz test tones depend on what subs you got or should i use the 50hz test tone you used for my comp r 12s?
40/50Hz is for subs only, 1KHz is for regular speakers. I prefer 40Hz tone
I know the ohms load of my speakers but how do I get the desired voltage rms of the amp are you saying to divide the rms power of my amp by my ohm load or multiply it? Also could you give me an example? Do I put the multi meter on ac or dc? Also I have a friend who has been doing car stereo for years and he tells me that if you want to prevent a valet person or someone else's from blowing up your speakers, to set the volume of your radio to 3 notches before the top setting and then adjust the amp gain controls right before distortion you should be less likely to blow your speakers. For example my radio goes max volume 35 He suggests 32 then turn up gains. Is this bad advice? I tried it I think my radio distorts at 29 or 30.
what would you do if you had two woofers that were 300rms per sub and you wanted a total of 600rms on a 1,000rns amp at a 2ohm load? would you just add 300+300=600. 600•2=1200. √1200=34.64?
You got it! Even though your amp is capable of more power, this way you won't overpower the subs and your amp should run nice and cool.
So if I have 2 subwoofer at 2ohm each do I multiply by 1 ohm total??
The amount of subwoofers you have doesn't matter.. It's how you wire them and what impedance the amp sees at the end. So if you have two dual two ohm wired to 0.5 ohm then you use 0.5 ohm. If you wire it at 2 ohm then use 2
@New Alert That's correct. I'll edit my post
For the resistance of speaker load, would that be resistance per channel? For example, having a 2 channel amp, with a 2 ohm impedance on each channel, would you use 2 as the value for R, or is it the sum of both channels, 4?
IT WILL BE PER CHANNLE IN YOUR CASE 2 OHMS sry for caps..if it was bridged ... so only one channel it will be 1 ohm depending how your speaker was set if it was set in series it would be 4 ohm if it was two 2 ohm speaker ..keep in mind if you use duel voice coils
could you post a link for the tone track in the vid. I tired just typing in the url you displayed in the vid, but could not find the page on the site
can i just use bluetooth and use youtube for the 50hz or the test sound must be from a cd
Just for single output Amplifiers? How to calculate resistance in multiple output amplifier?
I have a Kenwood XR-900-5 running a Kicker VCompS12 2-Ohm (300rms watts) sub. The amp is capable of 600rms watts @2-Ohms on the 5th channel. Recently the sub blew and Kicker is replacing it. In the mean time I've been running one Sony XS-L121P5 4-Ohm (350rms watts) sub fine, w/o changing any settings. I now want to run two Sony XS-L121P5 4-Ohm subs on this amp, which obviously would have to be wired in parallel at 2 ohms to get the 600rms watts total this amp can supply. The 5th channel on this amp is dedicated to the sub. What would the voltage out need to be in order to run these two subs on this amp?
great video but there might be a little problem. the rms outputs is never the exact value stated in the specs, most amplifiers specs are overrated and some underrated. my diamond audio d3 600.1 puts 450rms at 2 ohms but i believe it gives more than stated. so you never sure if its clipping or not but its a good measure. thanks will try it
Great point Sergio. This is why it is so important to purchase your equipment from reputable manufacturers. There are other ways to set your gains that are more scientific and require more advanced equipment that most people don't have. This is just the easiest, simplest way to at least get the amplifier gain into the ballpark of where it should be. To get it dialed in any further would require additional equipment.
If your amplifier actually does more RMS power than it is rated for, setting your gains this way will still ensure that you aren't sending a clipped signal to your speakers and subwoofers.
i have an SSL4000 watt amp, And two BDX12 subs, subs are 750RMS each, and amp is rated at 1600@4ohm... if i did the math right my voltage should be 80 right?
1600x4=6400 and the swuare root of that is 80?
Now would I put the multimeter where the speaker wires (attached to the sub box) are?
I have another question. I hooked up my amp today. I have a alpine mrp m500. When I test for volts on the speaker output I'm not getting anything. I'm reading 12v at the fuse on both sides by the battery. I'm getting 12 volts at the amp and on the remote wire. The amp powers on, But no volts on the speaker terminals. I tried replacing the fuse on the amp it looked blown but still nothing. Is my amp blown? Or is there something I can do?
Again, thx for the help! This is the only channel I've gotten any help from... Much appreciated!
+frank lucas Are you playing music while testing your speaker terminals? If you are, check to see if your gain is turned all the way down. If that doesn't fix your problem, you either have a signal issue or a bad amp. The amplifier is getting power but may not be getting signal from your head unit which could be a problem with the head unit, the RCA cables, or the amplifier. But if you can test to ensure you are getting signal to the amplifier, that would rule out one more potential issue.
The 12 volts you're getting at the amp is DC. When you test for volts on the speaker output switch your multimeter to read AC volts ...
Ok so I have 3 subs @400 rms and connected to an impedance of 2.67 ohms. How dies the equation look in order to get the best out put?
okay, i have been searching information from everywhere and cant find it. on my pioneer (MVH-S320BT) has weird problem, i tried to measure that "pre out" voltage from the rca cabels and on the stereo own terminal and i get only 0.020V and i have tried other multimeters so the problem is not on tools. im sure everything is right on wiring and everything "should" be unbroken. im sure i have done everything right on measuring but sill doesnt get that 0.2V reading. i hope someone can give some answer for that. and my other problem in my amp (sd1600.1d evo4 2ohm) il have measured the out put voltage from that and i get only about 14V (AC) out, thats when the volume from stereo is 3/4 and gain is almost max but when i put some bass boost i get the max voltage out, what is promised on the amp manual. so far im thinking is that stereo low out put voltage causing low out put voltage to my amp aswell? thanks for help already!
If I have a 2800 watt peak amplifier and 2 15 inch 2000 watt subs do I take the rms of the amplifier and cut it in half for each channel or do I do the total rms of the amp
Hello, I need some advice please. I have one 12 inch shallow mount Rockford Fosgate R2 subwoofer with a dual 4 ohm coils; rated at 250 RMS and its hooked up to a HIFONICS ZEUS ZX4000 Rated at 400 watts RMS bridged on a 4 ohm load. Speaker is wired to a final 8ohm load. And the amp is bridged. Please tell me the correct way to connect this system! :(
HELP PLEASE!
MY amp is rated at 800@1ohm(pioneer 8601). My subs are 200watts nominal each(pioneer TS-W253R) and I have 3 subs. So what should I be reading on my multi-meter when setting the gain for these?
What would be the voltage for 3000watts?
The reason I ask is I'm running a jl audio slash 1200.1v3 and a jl 13w7 and at the target voltage of 60.0v it's 1200watts rms and I fell the sub is not as loud as it should be. I do not want to damage it but I notice when up the levels on my head unit it gets the extra push I want. I'm afraid im could be damaging it in the long run please help.
Shouldn't you use the actual electrical resistance of the subwoofers (Re)? Versus an arbitrary nominal rating given by the manufacturer?
firebirdude2 You could do that for the resistance if you want, but typically the electrical resistance is only a couple tenths different than the rating so it doesn't change the calculation very much.
***** Actually, it would seem the lower the dc resistance of said subwoofer, the greater difference it would make. Using an Re of even 1.6 for a subwoofer rated at 2 ohm (entirely common) would yield 28.3V as our target voltage. A difference of over 10% versus the voltage used in this video. This percentage would grow for a subwoofer rated at 1 ohm nominal. You get pretty close to a 20% difference in a nominal calculation vs a calculation using the true Re of the woofer.
firebirdude2 Some subwoofers actually have a higher electrical impedance than rated. It's typically a variance of a few tenths one way or another. Keep in mind this video is intended to show people a very SIMPLE way to set their gains with minimal equipment. If a person would like to add a step and check the electrical impedance of their subwoofers with a multimeter and use that value for Resistance in the equation instead of the rated impedance, they could certainly do that.
to start my amplifier claims to be rated 1400rms at 1 ohm. massive n3 nano block amp. I wired my dual 2 ohm subwoofer down to 1 ohm load a rockford t2 12 1200rms.. how do I match my amp to this sub. my desired rms is 1200.. if 1200 x 1 ohm is still 1200. and the square root of 1200 is 34.64 .. is that correct or did I just go wrong I'm lost plz help
+You're Hating You got it. So you would connect your multimeter (on the voltage setting) to the speaker outputs of your amplifier and while playing a 50Hz (or appropriate frequency) tone, adjust the gain setting until you get to around 34.64 volts of output.
thank you for you video it was helpful.. I added some of the bass boss halve ways and turn down the lpf just a tad under the gain and the subsonic just a lil bit up like 1/16 of an inch and finally no more distortion thank for the help
So if I've got a 2600w amp but only using 1300w on one channel at 4 ohms do I set the gain with the 1300 rate or the 2600 for overall.
1300
This question is more of a clarification:
My alpine 5 channel amp is rated a little higher from the factory than what the speakers handle. For example the sub channel is tested by alpine at 554 rather than 500 as advertised. The sub speaker I have is rated at 500.
The door speakers are rated at 110 (front comp) and 100 (rear coax). The amp was tested at 124 per channel by alpine.
Am i correct in assuming that I should do my calculations based on the speaker RMS instead of the amp RMS, and then I won't be over powering my speakers?
For Power (P) in the equation, use whatever amount of power you want the amplifier to put out at the impedance your subwoofers are wired to. For subwoofers and when setting the channels used to power your subwoofers, you would use a 50Hz tone. For setting gains on amplifiers or channels of amplifiers that are used to power full range speakers, you would use a tone more like 1kHz. Both tones can be downloaded from our website at www.mtx.com/t/testtones
I just bought a new Mono block Amp, maybe you could help me. Its says its rated 1 Ohm @ 1,800 Watts RMS X 1 Channel. I have 3 subs rated at 300rms. Im running them so my ohm load will be 1.34. What should my gain be?
Windows calculator has a square root button as well.. just put in your Amps RMS power X wired ohm load and click the check mark button
Thank you so much this made my day
Which amplifier RMS rating is this based on? Amps usually provide two RMS ratings, such as a 2ohm RMS and a 4ohm RMS. Do you use the lowest ohm rating to determine the RMS value to calculate? 4ohm RMS of the amp is half of the 2ohm RMS, so the calculation would be off without specifying what amplifier RMS to start with, regardless of the speaker impedance. Are are you strictly calculating RMS and ohm from the manufacturer specifications of the amplifier?
Rms rating that you use depends on the ohm load of you sub
Great! thanks! nobody says "why" the level set in stereo its full up... nobody says how to put the level stereo...nobody says there is no afect to use or not the speaker for test (somebody told me that i needed to have a resistance (speaker) conected for this test...)
your video solved me that questions..!
Good good good video! i like it!
A question..may u help me?
If I have a 100wrms amp and my subwoofer is 200wrms(4omh).. its suposed
that i must to put the gain to the max??
and on the other hand..
I would like to know the Wrms of my stereo sistem (pioneer DEHx8600BT
and others..)
most of stereos say 50x4 (peakpower) but i just to know the rms of that
stereos (just to know it) is it any empirical test to do it ???
THANK YOU VERY MUCH IN ADVANCE!!
Regards from Spain!
You don't need the load (speakers) connected because you already calculated the total resistance when you measured the ohms of the speakers. Speakers are only to actually hear the sound. The signal is still present at the output terminals
I have the skar audio 2000.d amp with skar evl 12d4. It's at 2ohm which amp handles 1400 rms. So its 1400x2 which is 2800rms. Square root of that is 52. Is 52 volts what I need to be at ?? My speaker only handles 1250 at 2ohms and its 50 volts. What do I do?
If i have 2 subs , i need to calculate both of them or only one of them? Btw subs are on a stereo amp one sub per channel (2 channels). 40w*2 channels 4 ohm 45w rms subs 8inch.
Hi i have a single Rockford Fosgate Sub P2D4 12" 400rms (setted at 2 ohms) and an amplifier Db drive A6 1600.1d who gives me 1600wrms @ 1 Ohm and 800wrms @ 2 Ohm. WICH ONE OF THESE VALUES HAVE TO BE "P"????? 1600, 800 or 400????? PLEASEEEEE!!!!! Sorry for my english :D
I understand what your saying but with out these features on after the setting of the amp gain I feel like I'm not getting the output I want. So I want to make sure if I do use them I'm not going to clip the subwoofer to the point of damaging it. Also my amp is a jl 1200.1v3 and I'm pretty sure it's close to 2000 watts rms I cannot find a birth sheet any where for these amps so I do not know the true rms power at 3 ohms. I'm running one 13.5w7 at 3 ohms it can handle 1500 rms. So i need to know the sweet spot on my amp. Jl recommended 60.0 v at 3 ohms will do 1200 rms but I think the amp can do more power. At 60.0v I don't feel it is hitting as hard as it should.
Remember... by setting your gains properly, you are setting the amplifier output that you need for the RMS power handling of your subwoofers. If you feel the output isn't what it should be, consider looking into your enclosure volume and tuning. If you do the math calculation of V = square root of Power x Resistance and it is around 60 volts, I would stick to JL's recommendation. On their website, this amplifier has an RMS rating of 1200 watts at 3ohms. So, the calculation would be V = square root of 3600 which = 60.
I still need help I have a skar rp 1500 and a audiopipe txxbd4 12 2 ohm 1100 rms but I'm wiring it to 1 ohm so what I will do 1100 time 1 or 2
wait so we set the amp without any filters then hook up the speakers then turn on any filters after?
Well this is at 50hz which I’m assuming is close to a frequency that give a very rms high power so the rest would just be set for speaker rating and preference
Lalo Ramirez,
Unfortunately, there is no good way to connect your DVC subwoofer to this amplifier. The amplifier is 400 watts @ 4ohm when bridged to mono. Your subwoofer can only be wired a final impedance of 2 ohms or 8 ohms. I would recommend you get a class D monoblock amplifier for your subwoofer than would do the appropriate amount of power at 2ohms for your subwoofer and use your existing amp for door speakers.
MTX Audio USA hi I’ve been trying to figure this out forever my sub is dual 2 ohms I have it wired down to 1. So would it be my rms times 1 (obviously 500) or do I still do the 2 as well? Also my sub is rated 500rms
You are missing some steps . What about setting your cd player to flat, everything should be flat? Are you keeping your LPF all the way after setting the gain?
+Thomas Harrison In the video, Arthur explains that he has set the CD player to flat so there are not other variables that could be manipulating the audio signal.
So when doing this formula for door speakers (and a 2 channel amp) the amp is a 65w RMS (Per channel) the speakers are 60w RMS each and 4ohms. I'm coming up with 65x4=260 and then the sq root of that is 16.12. I'm a tad thrown off since mine is 4 ohms and all the other comments are 2 and 1 ohms. Is this done correctly. And also, should I be seeing 16v out of the left channel and another 16v out of the right channel when I check it on the multimeter?
+William Gingrich You would probably want to use the 60 watts RMS that the speakers are rated for. By using 65 watts, you are setting up your amplifier to put 65 watts to your speakers which are only rated for 60 watts. Other than that, your calculation looks good. If your amp has gains for both channels, you would do this for each channel.
Before I added my subwoofer, I had my bass eq all the way up on the head unit and liked how my factory speakers sounded. I turned the eq off when I put my sub in. Are there any adjustments I need to make if I want to turn my bass eq on the head unit up again? Do I need to readjust the gain?
abdullghoriO1 once the gain is set properly, you can use your EQ adjustments to fine tune the sound for your listening preference.
How do you do it with the bass eq up
Does this also protect from Clipping?
Yes. If you match the gain to your source it will never clip up to the max volume on the radio. Some radios clip internally at higher volume so you have to figure out at what setting the head unit clips and never turn it up past that. Clipping is basically like shorting out your voice coil out with DC at the top and bottom of the sound waves. Literally HORRIBLE for your speakers.
Hi! Thanks for uploading. Very usefull video
I have a 1135 rms Amp jbl crown and a 1100 rms rockford p2/t2 subw hooked up at 4 ohm How do i get the Max out of the both?
Thanks again.
We assume you have a Rockford Fosgate P2D2 which is a dual voice coil subwoofer in their P2 (Punch) lineup. Depending on which size you have, your RMS power handling is between 250 and 400 watts. Peak/Max power handling on the 15" model is 800 watts so without knowing what exactly you have, we cannot help with the equation. Please check your specifications of the exact model #'s you have and ONLY use the RMS ratings. Do not use peak or max power ratings.
***** thnx for the reply i checked and i have a rockford T2 15 inch
Sandeep Raj Moenilal OK, that subwoofer T2D215 has a 1200 watt RMS power handling. Would still need to know the exact specs of the amplifier.
How do you calculate this with double woofers with double voicecoils serial connected?
I use bluetooth aux device with ground loop isolator. Streaming music via Spotify Highest Quality. And my phone is Samsung S9+
Max volume is 15 on phone and max volume on sony head unit 50.
Which setting is best ?
Max volume on phone and 3/4 head unit ?
Or %60 on phone 3/4 on head unit.
Some folk says you should set BT volume about %50-60 to avoid distortion. Thank you for help
Interesting study. When I BT my Apple to my head unit, the two units sync volume. Up to 50% head unit volume, the Apple vol runs @50%. As I increase past 50%, the Apple vol follows up to 100% with literally no distortion. I set my amp gain @ 85% on the head unit.
Hi MTX, so I recently installed a sub and amp as well as an LOC since I'm using my stock head unit. I downloaded your test tone to use to get the correct AC volts. My problem is, I'm trying to reach 31.6 volts, but I can turn my gain all the way up and my DMM won't go up past 10 Volts. I checked all my wiring and everything is in order so I'm wondering if you might know why my speaker outputs on my amp are giving such low readings.
+Daniel J Make sure you are using your amplifiers RMS power output ratings. Not the MAX or peak rating.
+MTX Audio USA yea that's what I was going for, the amps output rating is 1000rms at 1 ohm. (It's a 1 ohm stable amp) so that gives me 36.1 Vots yet like I said even I turned the gained all the way my DMM reading wouldn't be anywhere near that for some reason. I just did the ear test to sure there's no clipping, maybe I need to take it to a pro.
+Daniel J Could be something to do with the output signal of the LOC... Could be something to do with the wiring/impedance of your subs being incorrect... Could be a crossover or filter setting that is limiting the output... Take it to a reputable shop and ask them to check it over for you. They may charge you a shop/labor fee but it will be worth it in the long run to make sure your system is setup properly. Spend a little now to save yourself from replacing blown equipment.
What if the head unit preouts clip?
I thought it was DC since it's used in vehcle? Isn't AC for house use?
The amp turns the dc power into AC to make the output for the subs/speakers. If it didnt convert to AC you wouldnt make any sounds
AC uses sine waves, hence the wonderful sounds you hear coming out of your speakers
So I have a 400 watt RMS 4ohm DVC subwoofer presenting a 2 ohm final load to the amplifier (which is 500 watts RMS at 2 ohms) Based on your calculation I get 28.28 volts. Or do I use 40 volts? I'm just confused at that. Thanks
TAMAdrumr103 Output Voltage is what you are trying to figure out using the equation so you would use 400 watts and 2 ohms as the numbers you know. Square root of 400 * 2 = square root of 800 = 28.28 volts.
Them paper clips though
Serious
Hello i have Kenwood 12s rated at 400 rms max at 2000.iam using a kenwood 1000 watt amp 2000 max.and two 12s total.what would be my numbers to set gain right?thank you.
Anthony Conger First, disregard any power ratings other than RMS. 2 - subwoofers with a rating of 400 watts RMS each = 800 watts for your desired amp output so P = 800. For "R" the value would be whatever impedance you have wired your subwoofers to. So the equation would be V = the square root of 800 x R.