I have a kicker L7 being pushed by kicker kx1200.1 and it hits hard as crap. I want to see how hard I can push it but at the same time I don't want to mess it up. Will it just distort or what I just don't want to realize to late that I am pushing it to hard.
When the sub is being pushed to hard it will start to distort, you will be able to hear the distortion, and you can usually see that the sub is being pushed to hard. The L7 is a beast of a sub though, and you might not even be able to push it to distortion with that amp.
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At very loud volumes, your hearing goes into protection mode. You know how you have to yawn to pop your eardrums after listening to it loud? Besides the physical part of your inherent protection mechanisms, there is the more subtle phsycological protection. Your brain will accept what you are hearing and make adjustments without your knowing they are made. Sorta like watching TV while lying sideways on the sofa....your brain adjusts the picture so that it looks upright. Most subwoofer distortion is noticed by people you may not even know, from several yards away.
The best way to know that you are pushing your equipment to its limit is to use a meter and quality test tones to set the gain. So when you reach that point on the deck volume that you know is the maximum you can go, you will also know that the amp and subs are putting out maximum volume.
That is exactly what i'm trying to do. I want to set my gains so that the loudest my volume can go is right before I get to my systems peak.
Alright. You need a digital multimeter, a CD with test tones, and have to know what the impedance of your subwoofer is as well as the amp's rated output at that load. CD's are available on line if not in your local stores. If you have, or will get these things, let us know.
https://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/index.html Go to the gain setting tutorial for good demonstrative help. After that, let us know if you need help in figuring out how many volts output to set the amp at.