Thread: Lights dim when my bass hits.

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

I have no experience with this. Sounds silly to me, but I've been humbled a number of times here. Can you post some research materials for this?

Actually...
Amplifier Gain Controls

this is getting really complicated....

op. Fix your poor grounding surface area. You want as much contact from the wire to the bolt and finally, to the ground surface as possible.

add an extra battery in the form of an extactic batt cap 800 cca's weighs about 7 pounds its agm so it can be mounted anywhere. I had 3200 watts in my taurus and ran one and the lights never dimmed.

Originally Posted by SeanGTP

Usually you won't have clipping unless your gain is maxed out. Also, I want to say my radio goes to 35, I've never capped it so idk, but I've never turned it past 22 so I'm never at full volume anyway.
Also, the HU voltage and level/gain voltage is just a sensitivity level. So on my radio, 2V Pre-out sensitivity, and I set my amp to roughly 2V input sensitivity.

Originally Posted by SeanGTP

Amplifier Gain Controls

Alright, lemme walk myself through this. You're turning your volume up to ~63%... a bit less than the typical ~75% you'd tune with a MM at. I actually used 24/32, or 75%, by sheer coincidence - it's as loud as my music could get before I heard distortion. So, you've got slightly more headroom on gain control before clipping than someone else might.

I am assuming your gain is labeled 1V-4V or something like that, so that 2V is 12 o'clock? Mine's labelled "Min" and "Max". Might be why I've never bothered to think about trying to match this to my HU. If it was 1-4V like the examples in the link, I'd say my gain is set close to 2.5V (or halfway between 2V and 4V labels). But I've got no idea what my HU outputs. I'm guessing, then, that I could never match.

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

Alright, lemme walk myself through this. You're turning your volume up to ~63%... a bit less than the typical ~75% you'd tune with a MM at. I actually used 24/32, or 75%, by sheer coincidence - it's as loud as my music could get before I heard distortion. So, you've got slightly more headroom on gain control before clipping than someone else might.

I am assuming your gain is labeled 1V-4V or something like that, so that 2V is 12 o'clock? Mine's labelled "Min" and "Max". Might be why I've never bothered to think about trying to match this to my HU. If it was 1-4V like the examples in the link, I'd say my gain is set close to 2.5V (or halfway between 2V and 4V labels). But I've got no idea what my HU outputs. I'm guessing, then, that I could never match.

mine actually says 6 to .2 volts. i've got a bit more range, and it rotates like... 400-500* or so. kinda awkward, but i figured it out.

Edit: Pichaaarr

Visual help, that's what mine looks like

Originally Posted by papaspanky

add an extra battery in the form of an extactic batt cap 800 cca's weighs about 7 pounds its agm so it can be mounted anywhere. I had 3200 watts in my taurus and ran one and the lights never dimmed.

Extra battery isn't an issue. His problem is that lights dims with a "200 watt" amp while the engine is running. He needs a better ground for the amplifier. As stated already....clipping could be an instigating factor too. But if lights are dimming with a small amp then it's a poor ground...unless his alternator is on it's way out, not likely.

Originally Posted by SeanGTP

mine actually says 6 to .2 volts. i've got a bit more range, and it rotates like... 400-500* or so. kinda awkward, but i figured it out.

Edit: Pichaaarr

Visual help, that's what mine looks like

I'm confused as to how you set input sensitivity to 2V. Like... how did you find 2V on your gain/level knob? But I did read your amp manual and that process is exactly what it says to do.

Music is dynamic...so unless you play a tone it's hard to realize the actual voltage read out. With that said...music can be recorded at different volumes; hence, some tracks clip and others don't. Also, there is some voltage drop depending on RCA cable length. That's why line drivers are used in some applications. It also makes it easier to set, forget, and swap equipment as needed.

I turned it all the way one way, and all the way the other to figure out how many degrees the knob could be turned, one full rotation and one half rotation = 540*. Then I did a little math. The min is 6v; 0*, the max is .2v; 540*. Halfway between those two settings would be (6+.2)/2 = 3.1v; 270*.
So now I know halfway, I know the needed value is between half max and max, and if I find out 3/4 max, I can get a pretty good guess on where to put it.
3/4 would be (.2+3.1)/2 = 1.65; 405*.
So now I know I have to turn it roughly halfway between half and 3/4 max, so roughly 335*, a bit less than one full rotation.

Does that make sense?

If the values are linear (which from what I've seen from a handful of amps, they seldom are), yes.

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

If the values are linear (which from what I've seen from a handful of amps, they seldom are), yes.

Potentiometers are a manufactured part and subject to quality issues too :/

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

If the values are linear (which from what I've seen from a handful of amps, they seldom are), yes.

Leastwise I have it set to something. If I had the tools to measure it out, I'd simply do that... until then, it's better than having it maxed out.

True. For something like $6-$20 you could pick up a digital multimeter that would do you fine.

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

True. For something like $6-$20 you could pick up a digital multimeter that would do you fine.

Exactly. Takes from 1 minute to 2 minutes.