Quantum Audio

lol, sorry for the thread jack, but i wanted to make a point that you could possibly keep your equipment. you proved me wrong on that and all hell broke loose. then i had to correct all the wrong information before someone actually believed them.

The only one giving bad info is u guys

The gain
Essentially you're telling the amp how much signal you're putting into it so the it's output devices will reproduce the signal cleanly. If you have the gain set too high (gain overlap,) the amp will make full power right away, and you'll have problems with distortion and excessive "clipping". If the gain is set too low (gain underlap,) the amp will still make full power, but it might not sound as loud as it should, and you'll think you aren't getting much "volume." Amplifiers are capable of accepting a wide range of signal input levels. You change the amplifier's pre-amp sensitivity by adjusting the gain control clockwise (more sensitive for low-power sources like 1-Volt) or counter-clockwise (less sensitive for high-powered sources like 4-Volts.) It is nealy impossible to have "too hot" of an input signal into the amplifier. For sources that have very high output voltages (example: 9V) you'll keep the amplifier gain settings adjusted lower than traditional lower powered sources.

your right, it controls the input sensitivity. thats the ONLY thing your right about.

if you can find an amp that will take a 9v input signal and run it daily full blast and it will live....PLEASE tell us what that amp is. the pre-volt ratings on head units are like max wattage ratings on amps, almost NEVER EVER EVER will you see that number.

^^ talking about volts. My new radio claims 5volts which is the strongest I have ever had. Let's see how much better it is when I use the pre-outs. I will start on this install tonight.

You may see a tiny difference (1/8 turn on your gains, most likely even less)

Edited: 5/10/2006 8:50:22 PM by BumpinYota

Originally posted by Low_SST



Originally posted by framedragger



personally why are spending more cash on audio when you have a setup already? why not just turn down your gains and cut off your bass boost (which it should be already). If you think you can blow a sub by underpowering it, thats completely wrong. When you turn down the volume, you cut down on your wattage and current pull, therefore underpowering your sub. The only way to blow a sub is overpowering them and clipping the hell out of them. I personally would just tweak what you have to fit your taste.

you can blow a sub will less power just as fast as too much power. read up on car audio so you get a better understanding because your using the wrong terms to justify your answer.

You can NOT blow a sub with insufficient power! FACT. To blow a sub you must essentially induce physical damage to the coil or to the suspension. Since we are talking about power that only pertains to the coil. The ONLY way to electrically blow a coil is through heat burning the voice coil glue and the coil delaminating. Where does the heat come from? POWER. If you dont have power you dont get heat. No heat no glue melting. No glue melting, no coil delamination. No blown sub.

As far as quantum audio being good, honestly I don't know. Just be sure to do your homework on the install and the box that the subs are going in. Product brand means less than 5% of what you hear. The other 95% is how it's installed. ;)

Edited: 5/10/2006 9:31:00 PM by BumpinYota

BumpinYota

Originally posted by rickster6924



The only one giving bad info is u guys

The gainEssentially you're telling the amp how much signal you're putting into it so the it's output devices will reproduce the signal cleanly. If you have the gain set too high (gain overlap,) the amp will make full power right away, and you'll have problems with distortion and excessive "clipping". If the gain is set too low (gain underlap,) the amp will still make full power, but it might not sound as loud as it should, and you'll think you aren't getting much "volume." Amplifiers are capable of accepting a wide range of signal input levels. You change the amplifier's pre-amp sensitivity by adjusting the gain control clockwise (more sensitive for low-power sources like 1-Volt) or counter-clockwise (less sensitive for high-powered sources like 4-Volts.) It is nealy impossible to have "too hot" of an input signal into the amplifier. For sources that have very high output voltages (example: 9V) you'll keep the amplifier gain settings adjusted lower than traditional lower powered sources.

Nice copying of the RF tech pages and not understanding what they are saying.

They said that with gain underlap the amp MAY produce full power and not sound as loud. (The ONLY way it would achieve full power with gain underlap, is if you were BARELY underlapping and you then clipped the dog snot out of your deck to achieve the same output.) However you read into things too much and seem to erroneously think that having the gain all the way down still produces the same power has having it wide open. Sorry but that is false. I dont care if you've won nobel prizes about it, I can and will prove you wrong. Watch for a vid in the next few days...

Here is a quote found at:

Gain Tutorial

"Amplifier Gain Controls: Contrary to popular belief, an amplifiers gain control does not determine the maximum power that an amplifier can produce. As long as the preamp/drive signal has sufficient level, the amplifier will produce its maximum power output level."

Let's take a look at that statement. Notice the "...as long as the drive signal has sufficient level the amp will produce full power."

That means if the gain is set to match the deck's output the amp will produce full power. It also means that if the gain isn't even close and is far below where it should be (gain underlap) that the amp WILL NOT produce full power.

In light of this what does it mean when it says "the gain doesnt control maximum amplifier output"? It means that there comes a time, that turning up the gain results in no more power being produced for the given constant input voltage. This means that you can reduce an amp's power output with the gain, however you can't increase the amp's output over its optimal setting by turning up the gains.

Anyone who doesnt understand this concept, I suggest you throughly read the above link and all the examples and you will see the light. ;)

Grant,

FYI most amps can handle a 8v RCA input, the gains however beceom extremely sensitive when you do use a hivoltage deck. Eclipse made a deck last year that acutally had 16v balence line outputs. ;) I also used an eclipse 55040 (8v rca's) to run a pair of MTX 2300x's (4v max rca input) in my mom's K3500 dually. Obviously gains are waaaaay down, but wow it sounds good!

Originally posted by framedragger



Originally posted by rickster6924



U can't turn down the watts by turning down the gain it don't work like that ur gain control is not a volume control!!! It adjust the amount of frequencies u send to the speakers no matter how low or how high u turn it u get same amount of watts and it is better to over power ur subs a little then is to under power them alot. O and u can fuck up ur subs by under powering them

ur completely wrong, but im not gunna explain why. its not worth it.

ill say this though...a CROSSOVER blocks and passes frequencies from and to the speakers. your gain CONTROLS YOUR WATTAGE NOT YOUR VOLUME



The gain DOES NOT CONTROL WATTAGE, OR VOLUME.

Your gain is to be set to the output of your RCA level on your headunit. IE: Eclipse CD7000 = 5v output = setting your gain at 5v.

I don't understand how anyone could not understand that... Please, research audio a little prior to your install.

I am a MECP certified installer, with 5 years of experience, and I can't tell you how many people DO NOT NEED TO BE AROUND vehicle audio set-ups. Research is the key.

Edited: 5/10/2006 9:33:33 PM by BumpinYota

Originally posted by ShavedClean96Accord



Originally posted by framedragger



Originally posted by rickster6924



U can't turn down the watts by turning down the gain it don't work like that ur gain control is not a volume control!!! It adjust the amount of frequencies u send to the speakers no matter how low or how high u turn it u get same amount of watts and it is better to over power ur subs a little then is to under power them alot. O and u can fuck up ur subs by under powering them

ur completely wrong, but im not gunna explain why. its not worth it.

ill say this though...a CROSSOVER blocks and passes frequencies from and to the speakers. your gain CONTROLS YOUR WATTAGE NOT YOUR VOLUME



The gain DOES NOT CONTROL WATTAGE, OR VOLUME.

Your gain is to be set to the output of your RCA level on your headunit. IE: Eclipse CD7000 = 5v output = setting your gain at 5v.

I don't understand how anyone could not understand that... Please, research audio a little prior to your install.

I am a MECP certified installer, with 5 years of experience, and I can't tell you how many people DO NOT NEED TO BE AROUND vehicle audio set-ups. Research is the key.



pssst...you can reduce the amps output by turning down the gain however. So in that way a gain CAN control an amps power. That is the ONLY point that I and Grant are trying to make here.

Go check out the link and play around with the animations if you believe otherwise. ;)

Originally posted by rickster6924



Originally posted by framedragger



Originally posted by rickster6924



U can't turn down the watts by turning down the gain it don't work like that ur gain control is not a volume control!!! It adjust the amount of frequencies u send to the speakers no matter how low or how high u turn it u get same amount of watts and it is better to over power ur subs a little then is to under power them alot. O and u can fuck up ur subs by under powering them

ur completely wrong, but im not gunna explain why. its not worth it.

ill say this though...a CROSSOVER blocks and passes frequencies from and to the speakers. your gain CONTROLS YOUR WATTAGE NOT YOUR VOLUME

NO i'm completely right!!!!!!! I've been installing car audio 4 about 13 years now and the only way to turn the amps wattage up and down is to change the ohms of the speakers u r hooking up and that is the only way!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You need to read up on what makes speakers and amps work

You CAN NOT 'fuck up speakers by under-powering them. NOT possible. Keep guessing, guys.

You cannot simply 'change the ohms' of the speakers you are hooking up. You need to wire them into certain configurations to set the impedence on the AMP.

IE: 1 Dual 2 ohm driver, possible impedences : 1ohm, 2 ohm, 4 ohm.1 dual 4 ohm driver - 2ohm, 4ohm, 8 ohm.

For someone with 13 years of experience, you're an idiot. That's right, I said it. Complete.