gains, a dmm and real wattage

[Solid_State13 1]

as of now my gains are set to the max preout voltage of my headunit (just got a dmm the other day), so pretty conservatively. but now that I am going to set them more aggressively with the dmm, i want to make sure not to send a clipped signal to either my mids or subs, but for both, i'm going to be using the full rated RMS of my amps. so my question is: is there any way to know if my amps will be able to do rated without clipping?

if you just have to guess based on the amps, the amps are: a TMA 320.4 (4-channel from JL's entry level brand) and a Massive P1000.1 (at 4 ohms)

no, i don't have an O-scope

[johnecon2001 82]

You can't see clipping without an Oscilloscope

[ncacoates 104]

Scope works great and is the only visible way to see it. For me though i trust me ears and my nose more than anything

[KU40 173]

Scope works great and is the only visible way to see it. For me though i trust me ears and my nose more than anything

Well I don't know that I'd say that, I doubt your (or my) ears are more sensitive to clipping than an o-scope. But in the absence of the scope I trust my ears pretty well. Maybe not for clipping specifically, bust just that something is amiss. Whether it be clipping, straight overpowering, or distortion of one kind or another.

[Solid_State13 1]

ok, thats what i thought. and i think those amps should do rated, so i should be ok. I wouldn't be too worried, except that my brother uses the car a fair amount, and he probably won't notice clipping if i set the gains too high.

guess i will need to find someone with an o-scope