adjusting gains

What is the best way to get the gains set on 2 amps where I get the most clean volume out of both of them? Should I put the treble and bass both at neutral on the head unit, set my preamp dials all at neutral also, with the sub volume control off, then turn the gain on both amps all the way down? I was told to turn the volume on the head unit up about 3/4, then raise the gains on the amps until they clip, then back them off just a little. Thanks, Lewis '85 Toy

Just set everything to the loudest volume you think you will listen at (3/4 is a good level). Then turn the gain up untill you hear distortion, clipping, etc. Once you hear that, turn the gain back untill it sound clean again.

It looks like you got the gist of it, supradude.  The one thing that cannot be the same in every case is the "3/4 on the deck volume" guideline.  While some decks will play clean music past that point, others will distort well before that mark.  So you should listen to the sound as well as you can with the amp gain all the way down.  Stop the head unit volume knob at the point where the music stops sounding lounder and better, and just starts sounding crappier.  Make a note of that volume position, for there is where you will have the volume set when you set amp gains...and it is also at that level that you will never go past when listening to your system.Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.