scientific explanation of gain

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=55532
Printed Date: September 15, 2025 at 10:13 AM

Topic: scientific explanation of gain

Posted By: Deusqe
Subject: scientific explanation of gain
Date Posted: May 11, 2005 at 10:40 AM

Can someone please give me a scientific explanation of why turning the gain up all the way is bad for your subs or speakers or whatever. What exactly happens when you increase the gain?

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don't rush into things...you'll get ripped off

Replies:

Posted By: Francious70
Date Posted: May 11, 2005 at 11:06 AM

https://www.bcae1.com/gaincon2.htm

Read that. It's a pretty good explination of what gain is and what it does.

Paul

Posted By: Steven Kephart
Date Posted: May 11, 2005 at 11:14 AM

It isn't necessarily bad. It all depends on the gain structure of the amplifier, the input signals voltage, and whether the input signal is already clipped or not. Basically a gain is there to maximize the power output of the amplifier. You want to set it where the input signal and amplifier clips at the same time.

I was setting the gains on my amplifiers with an oscilloscope and noticed that my head unit never clips the signal, and that I could turn up the amplifiers gain all the way up without it clipping the signal either. So in my case, it was ok to turn the gain up all the way.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

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Posted By: 5150azn
Date Posted: May 11, 2005 at 11:41 AM

I think the whole gain issue has been blown out of proportion. Because my experiances have been like Steven's. When the music starts sounding crappy it time to tune it down a bit. Over tuning is a pet peeve of mine that people do. I don't like it when people make things more trouble than what it's worth.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!