I was trying to see what kind of power i was putting to my 12w6, so i played a 40hz 0db tone, and my multi-meter read about 44v AC. So i plug that into the E^2/R formula, and since my sub is at a 2ohm load, i come up with a rediculous number of 970. My Amp is rated at about 480-500.
The only thing i can think of is that its a peak measurement I'm getting. When i multiply the 44v by .707 (to go from a peak to rms value) and do the equation i get about 480 watts, and that works perfectly.
But the thing is, every single guide I've read using that method says nothing about getting a peak value rather than rms. So might my multimeter just be broken? Or does it just read the peak value rather than rms? Or am I doing something terribly wrong?
Probably clipped power would be my first guess. You know that the voltage shoots up quickly when you're at the upper end of the curve. Be sure (test again) that the deck output isn't clipping, then just turn gain down until you reach your target voltage of 32...and you're set. You'll probably barely adjust the gain down to reach it...that's how quickly voltage rises at that point.
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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.