setting gains

i know this has been discussed before, but i just had a question...

i plan to do this with a multimeter (that seems safest...i dont wanna overpower my sub). the amp is an audiobahn a2300hct, and the sub is a elemental design e15ae. i wanna put 1000 watts to it at 1 ohm. the other day, i had my head unit up 3/4 of the way and i was checkign what my amp's ac output was on the channels. i know the amp was set to power my previous subs: 2 15inch L7s with about 1100 watts to each. when i checked the ac voltage with my multimeter, however, i got about 92 volts, which doesnt make sense because sqrt (2200*1) is about 47 V.

is my best bet to set the gains by ear? the reason why im reluctant to do this is because i heard this sub is real 'delicate'...it can easily get permanent damage if its overpowered...plz help...

how do i know when im sending the sub too much power? is this when u start to hear the distortion? i know how distortion sounds on speakers, but how does it sound on subs? will it be pretty obvious to me?

i think i'm just a little too paranoid cuz its my first time. thanks tho paul, and anyone else who gives input...

francious,

if i do it using a multimeter ur way, how do i know how much power the subs are getting?

i think my best bet is probably to use my ears and do it...

hopefully i dont mess anything up

Paul,

that multimeter method is not accurate at all.  AC voltage is actually an RMS value, so as the signal clips, even though the peak voltage is not rising, the average value is still rising.  Just something to keep in mind.