Difference Between Gain and Bass-Boost?

Sooo I've been playing with my sub-amp over the last few days... I've noticed something I would *love* explained to me.

Setup: 800 watts to a single, sealed 13W6

Now I run this sub. I *run* it like that force-march that Eli Wiesel describes at the end of Night.

So, needless to say, the gain is as far up as it will go w/o significant distortion. I mean... I can't really describe it to anyone here, but everyone knows what a sub sounds like when you are just running the living snot out of it and you can tell its right on the edge? I always push it *real* hard.

So I noticed that if I turn the gain down a ways, and instead turn the <on/off> bass boost on for a +6 dB bass-boost, the sub actually got a wee bit cleaner... stayed about as loud, but didn't sound like it was working quite so hard.

What exactly is the functional difference between the gain and the bass-boost? Why doesn't turning the bass-boost off and the gain up sound the same as the other way around? If not the same, why does it sound markedly worse?

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"I'm finished!" - Daniel Plainview

The difference is the relationship of the low end to the rest of the music. That +6 bass boost is like an EQ bump, and is not the same as running the gain to the sub up all the way. My guess is, if you lowered the crossover frequency to your sub you could get the same result without the +6 bass boost. In my not-so-humble opinion, subs should never ever ever be crossed over at anything above 75Hz, preferably in the 60s. 80-100Hz will turn the low end (woofer land, not sub land) into a horiffic pile of mush.

But then again, that's just my opinion...

-dave

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This is not a sig. This is a duck. Quack.

^^^^ I agree, it's all about the crossover setting.  It's probably a bit too high.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

The very nature of the question indicates the poster does not understand what the "gain" control on an amplifier is actually doing.  Gain is not a volume control.  It changes an amplifier's sensitivity and output vs input curve.  Higher gain = amplifier will clip sooner (among other things )  As stated above boost is basically an EQ (same basic function as a "loudness" control on a HU.)

The industry standard subwoofer crossover setting is 80Hz.  Any higher and the sounds from the sub become directional.  Any lower and unless you are using dedicated "mid-bass" drivers, you can lose important information due to limitations in most mids.

The system in the original question probably sounded better with lower gain because the amplifier stopped clipping.  Set the gain PROPERLY and leave it there!

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