How do i tune my amp?

Question

i have a 700 watt bazooka amp powering a 400 watt orion sub.

how do i tune it so that it will sound nice but wont overwork my sub?

and by tune, i mean adjusting the crossover, bass booster, and bass level

what do those mean and do?

thanks

Answer 1

First you need to set your EQ correctly which you can look up somewhere online. If your speakers are not amplified, you're better off setting the amp to your sub somewhat lower but if they are you have to set the EQ and play with your output on the amp until you like the sound.

Answer 2

listen for distortion. avoid distortion. sealed enclosure is the "safest" enclosure. i nevar liked them though.

among the usual speaker distortions: thudding is distortion. thumping is likely to be distortion too. sometimes (usually) cant hear these if the speaker is not facing you until its moderate-extreme. when not tuning, the speaker box is likely to be designed to face the opposite direction of the listener, and not facing a parallel surface (so the wave bends, making it audible).

the involved factors are beyond the scope of the information below (Free standing resonance, Thiele/Small, etc):

the limit of the design and physical capabilities of the equipment. woofer mechanical factors: size/strength of cone, surround (excursion/"xmax"), spider. magnet.

woofer electrical factors: voice coil's electrical load tolerance (wattage). a metal cone, along with allowing greater mechanial strength, also is a heatsink for the coil (e.g. eclipse titanium).

im not detailing everything, perhaps this is rambling:

woofer can only play a certain range of frequencies due to interruption. a signal sending both high and low frequencies result in the higher frequency "overtaking" the low. remove high frequency, and the woofer is allowed to "dwell" on the low frequency signal.

filtration/signal starts at the head unit. higher output voltage (e.g. 8 volt "pre-amp") means it sends a stronger signal to the amplifier. along with wire insulation and the unit's internal components, this determines clarity/distortion of the signal. low pass crossover is the ceiling (highest) frequency before a signal reduction is applied (-##dB). the head units filtration/equalizer will always be the most effective. downstream filters (including the amplifier's) are to only further fine tune. <perhaps insert an analogy of source reduction/prevention (HU filter) vs. aftermath buffer/cure (downstream filter)>

"bass level, boosters" are added gain/reduction to a pre-set range of frequencies, inother words, pre-set equalizer.

just as importantly, a sub is "tuned" through the design of the enclosure. the enclosure controls the suspension of a speaker.

ported enclosure allows the speaker to efficiently respond to a limited range of frequencies, usually lower frequencies (longer wave lengths, "bassier" sound). this design inflicts greater mechanical load (suspension, cone, spider, soldered leads, anything that moves).

closed/sealed enclosure allows the speaker to respond more evenly (as the diameter/weight of the cone allows). this design inflicts a greater electrial load (coil, amp). basically, physical inertia would be the limit.

there is a tradeoff between electrial load and mechanical load...

sealed are smaller, ported are larger.

i prefer a ported enclosure. its a hella lot more fun/enjoyable to listen to.

frequency, in general, depends on a couple things:

*cabin 'gain' (or loss, i guess). where/how speaker is positioned, design of the auto's cabin, shapes objects and other whatnot that the waves 'crash' into (think of sound waves as light waves, they do project in certain lengths, and do bend and/or dissipate when encountering obstacles). sound dampening/deadening (caused by elements such as furniture, objects, dampen/deadening matting). waves stand still when projected against a parallel surface. waves that stand still are quiet waves.

*the speaker's limit of excursion, measured in <unit of measurement>, nicknamed xmax. take note if manufacturer labels this 'xmax one way' or not. one way is measurement of cone's movement in one direction. itd be safe to assume if its not "one way", then its combined. e.g. the 1.5" one way equals 3" combined. the more excursion, the greater the capability of the speaker.

first generation (pre-2001) orion are among the best products of their era and even today. especially the amplifiers.