Correctly Setting Crossover & Amp Gains

i have a 2 channel amp with two x-over dials and one gain dial and a switch for bass boost. this amp is powering two subwoofers i was curious how to correctly set these dials for the best performance

read the how to set your gains sticky up top

Where'd it go?

is there any general way to do it with out a dmm ?

Turn HU volume up 3/4 or 2/3 and leave gains at zero.

Then turn gains slowly up until you hear distortion then back it off until distortion is gone. Basic way.

For this way of setting it without the dmm. DO you have crossovers set at this time or do you have crossover at 0 also?

Set crossovers first. Try 80hz if you have 6.5" or larger midbass speakers, 100hz if you have smaller midbass speakers.

I like steep crossovers as a good starting point.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

I don't like setting 2/3 or 3/4 on HU volume. You cannot generalize the HU volume setting for this. Turn down the gains, then turn up the volume on the HU until you hear distortion, then turn it back down until the distortion goes away. Then turn up the gains until you hear distortion, then back them off until it goes away.

I definitely like steep crossovers for mids. Nothing worse than having that low end creep in and ruin the sound coming from your front stage speakers.

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The Flakman
I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

But what about for subwoofers? I was refering to subs and not speakers. Same rules apply?

Yes. Set the highs first. You can unplug the highs if they become too loud, and then set the subs.

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The Flakman
I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

I disagree.

Set the subs first, unless you --really-- know what you're doing.

Here's the common problem:

(a) User sets the gain on the mids and highs speakers. User may not be experienced enough to know when distortion is starting. The mids and highs speakers are generally much more sensitive than the subwoofer. As a result, the mids and highs speakers get very loud prior to distorting.

(b) User now goes to set the gain on the lows. Instead of setting the gain correctly, he now just -turns up the subwoofer gain- to match the mids and highs gain. This is a mistake. What's worse, most people like a slight rise in their bass, so they turn the gain up even higher!

(c) Now, the speakers on the interior are correctly set, but it seems that 9/10 times using the "speakers first" method, the subwoofer's gain is set far too high.

(d) Soon, one day showing off his system to a friend, User clips his subwoofer amp and breaks his subwoofer.

(e) User wonders what in the world happened!

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Anyway. If subwoofer gain is set first, and correctly, User may TURN DOWN THE GAIN ON THE MIDS/HIGHS AMP, rather than turn up the gain on the subwoofer amp to obtain balanced sound.

This way, the User will rarely be tempted to increase the gain on the subwoofer amplifier, because the sound is already balanced.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder