amp tuning, etc etc...

[doughboy]

First off, I don't post here as much as I should, although that probably means that I'm relatively free from problems with either of my LX's. My Charger has a full stereo install already, but I got the urge to give my Magnum a little more oomph. Nothing spectacular but as I drive the Magnum more often than the Charger I wanted to get a bit more enjoyment out of it. This all stemmed from me realizing I had an older amp and a pair of 10's in my garage from a previous car that I had. But enough rambling...

I ended up only doing the line level converter on it and basically used the parts I had on hand. I didn't want to swap out the head unit because I like having the 6 Disc in dash changer.

My real question comes down to amp tuning. I know you're supposed to set all the levels to flat and the level/gain on the amp all the way down and then turn up the volume until you get the distortion. My problem is that I can't get any distortion that way. I'm not sure if thats due to the entire system not being on the amp or what. I don't want to do any damage to what I have in there as this was meant to be a basically no cost project.

The amp model is a Jensen JXP460, two Fosgate 10" Punch Z's, and the factory head unit as stated above. So if anybody can give me an idea on how I should try to tune that I'd appreciate it.

[89grand]

The gain control does not have to be turned all the way down, you just want to start with it all the way down. Turn the volume up on the head unit nearly to maximum, then turn the gain up until it just starts to distort or until you get the desired volume.

There's no right or wrong setting for the gain control. They are used to match the output from the deck so that the volume control is neither to sensitive (max volume to early in the volumes travel) or not sensitive enough (max on the volume knob does not produce max volume). In multi-amp systems, the gain be used for level matching. Now if you are just using the amp with subwoofers, set the gain until you have the volume from the subs you want. Don't worry about where it's set at.

[doughboy]

Thank you sir.

[Repth]

I get the MyGig up to 26 (out of 34 I think) on my Charger with gain at 3/4 and bass boost at 3 db before I even begin to think I might start hearing distortion. :P

If your stuff is in the right box and the amp is under-powering the subs a little (or at least not using them to the full potential, if under-powering is not the right term) then you shouldn't have much of a problem with distortion. I got a couple Kenwood KFC-3011's on a Kenwood KAC-7204 stereo amp. Amp puts out about 230x2 watts RMS at 2 ohms, subs can take about 300 watts RMS. Amp peaks at 1,000 watts and the subs can take 1,200 watts each. The only kind of distortion you'd see is from clipping, maybe if you turn gain up to max and bass boost up really high, then the amp would start clipping.

At least, that's as far as I know it. I'm kind of new to this myself, but this is what I've found so far. If I'm wrong, may a veteran please school me appropriately.