anyone think this is a bad idea, just running a sub off the amp on full boost? also, what channel amp is best for running 1 sub and 1 set of 6inch splits?

go for either a 3 channel amp with a specific sub channel that has decent power, or a 4 channel amp. as for 'boost', what you're actually doing is playing with a gain selector, or more accurately, an input voltage selector. This is supposed to be used to match the input voltage of the amp to the output voltage of your head unit's pre-outs. A common trick for finding the right gain is to turn your gain to min, then your head unit volume to about 3/4 of max. Then slowly increase the gain knob until you hear you sub making a strange distortion-like sound, then back off a little. cheers dude

short answer... yes its bad... clipping will cause the sub to self destruct...it might not happen today, or tomorrow... but one day... expensive considering gains up to 100% is likely to make your system sound **** once it starts clipping

yes that's true Mick13B, but how do you know if the amp is clipping or not? You don't have enough information to make that call dude.

if someone is running there gains @ 100% they would only do this if their system wasn't "loud" enough, therefore you can bet he has the volume way up... its a bad idea...i think we are agreed

no i certainly do not agree. My old system consisted of a single sub running off a 4 channel amp with the rear channels at full gain. I then used my head units sub control function to control its volume. This ensured that at any volume, my sub had ample amounts of good clean power available, so it sounded nice and tight. But, you can only do this if the amp is wired well and your head unit has decent pre-outs.

ample clean power? mustn't have been a boss amp then people with no idea of what they are doing run the risk of turning the system up and causing clipping... if you set your gains to less than 100% and your mate jumps in and cranks your stereo, you wont damage anything... you've also made the assumption he has sub control on his HU. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

yeah good point, and no, i certainly wasn't running a boss amp! But I will be soon and i can tell you, i'll most likely have it at full gain too. Either way, i still stand by my first post. Thats how you'll end up with a nice sounding system

yes, i do have sub woofer level control on my hu. it sounds alrihgt now at 75% on amp, and 12/15 on HU. i was just curious thats all. thanks for uu input

Look at it like this haveing your amp at 100% gain is like reving the **** out of your car red line all the time but if you like killing **** well thats fun too :P

Quote: Look at it like this haveing your amp at 100% gain is like reving the **** out of your car red line all the time but if you like killing **** well thats fun too Actually, turning your gain right up is nothing like revving the **** out of your car all day. The gain knob, like I have said before, is an input voltage selector, not a volume control.

I will explain a little better, think of it like this you have an imput of fuel in you car which is like the rca voltage out put of your head unit, your throtle is the volume nob. If you are reving your car this would be like turning up n down volume, so if you turn you volume up flat out with the gain flat out it would be like reving the **** out of your car hence for long time not good at all. If you are runing an amp at full gain you should mabie think about getting a new amp cause if you are runing your amp at full gain you should ethier get cliped bass as you are running your amp at the maximum voltage the rails can handel or distotion or good sound not to much volume because you have to turn up your gain to macht your input voltage hence your amp is to small and there is a lot of strain on you amp to produce thes sounds.