How I Set Amplifier Gain by Ear

Disclaimer: I am not a professional, nor am I a "bass head" so chill out nerds.
Today I made a quick video explaining how I set the amplifier gain for my cars audio system. This is not the most professional or precise way to set your gain, but some people are limited to their own ears so i figured I would explain how I set the amplifier gain by ear. Hope this helps!
P. C. E. A.
Follow me on Instagram @yonny_nolls

[boosted_john]

Let me know if this video has been helpful 🤙🏼

[Noob_Crew_Sledders]

in a world of professional videos. These are always the most helpful. The "i dont have all the correct tools but i gotta get it done" way of doing things

[FrameBanginKyle]

As an audio technician for many years, this is a very detailed and mostly accurate video.

My recommendation for setting gain by ear is to turn the deck all the way up, and down a hair for instance with Pioneer headunits top volume at level 62, I back down to about 55-56, I leave the LPF set all the way up and use the LPF in the radio depending on woofer size and listening preferences. Generally 63hz for 15"+, 80hz for 12", and 100hz for 10" woofers. I then set the gain until I hear a clip/distortion and turn it back down approximately 1/8-1/16" of a turn. Most amplifiers use bass boost to boost a specific frequency, which generally is when the amplifier sees/outputs maximum power, so I do use bass boost until I hear clipping again, and once again back down 1/8-1/16 of a turn, this is now the maximum output of the amplifier that your specific woofer can take advantage of.

Things to note, if your amplifier uses a subsonic filter, turn it all the way down, it is useless to the average basshead and causes awful sounding distortion and bass.

The reason we turn the radio down a few clicks is for different volume music, some songs are louder than others, so those songs you can turn down, others are quieter so you have wiggle room to go about slamming regardless the song!

Thanks for this detailed video, and keep on slamming man.

[yodogvetskk]

The part where you said "I dont know, I'm talking out of my az right now" was soo funny. Thanks for the video.

[chln]

For talking out your ass, this is actually one of the more thorough videos on the subject👍

[brandonsmith]

Thank you for keeping it simple. Real talk. Not everyone has a 1, 000$ plus system or sub. Or has owned and installed one before. This helped me a lot.

[saleemhoosen]

This helps so much dude. Been messing around with my amp for a couple of days and this video really helped me understand how to get efficient power out of my amp

[QuantumByte-lj]

Very helpful, spoken in a way regular people can understand! Thanks bro

[simoncorriere]

So helpful all the other videos I watched were over my head with the terms they used

[ashtonvlogs]

The end explanation helped me answer the only question I had about my system! I’ve searched and searched and couldn’t find why certain bass hits were clipping and stopping

[kllaskullz]

4years ago and yet still one of the best videos I’ve watched so far . Thanks for the tips bro

[mattcrumptonmattc]

I have watched every professional I could and then I found your video. After watching your video I’ve finally understood how to set my gain. Great job

[morandiu]

3 years later and you still help people. Can't wait till tomorrow.
Thank you! 🍻

[BogChampTWU]

Perfect explanation for my smooth brain to comprehend. No extra mumbo jumbo. Just "this is what I do and it seems to work". Exactly what I need. 😎

[StillMatic]

A year later and you’re still helping people like me lol thanks, i understand when people talk out of their asses because I’m one of those people 😂😂😂

[bigboybilly]

Man this helped me more than any other video ive seen on the subject. I'm VERY new to car AV and just picked up my first 12" sub. Thank you!!!

[inkermanplatoon]

Who’s watching this in 2021 while playing with there knobs? 🔊

[errorsk]

This is the best. I aint gonna buy a damn multimeter and make calculations. This is nice an clear. Totally understood and as a 16 year old, I thank you.

[richardalexander]

I turned my Rockville powered subwoofer's gain to the max with the 50hz test sound on. It never clipped. Left it on max. Low frequency on 90hz. Bass boost knob on min. Worked great. Thanks for the video.

[csorrows]

A low pass filter does not work like a cliff. Frequencies above the set frequency WILL still be heard. They will fall off more as the frequency gets higher. This causes new people some confusion when trying to remove all of the midrange from the sub. It won't happen. I just wanted to clear up what you said to reduce confusion.