Music recorded at low volume

[EddieC 17]

 I finally have most of my equipment in and now that I'm actually pushing some power this is a question that I can't seem to find a straight answer by searching the net. Is it safe to turn the volume up past the gain limits you've set when listening to music that's recorded at lower volumes? I find that when listening to a lot of music, especially older music, the volume seems to be half of what is recorded these days. Is this part of the "head room" that I've heard everyone speak of? This may be a stupid question to some but after my experience with that POS Hifonics amp I want to make sure that I'm not just building heat rather than pushing power. I will say that this AQ200.2 is a beast and barely gets warm to the touch. The Q2200.1@ a 4 ohm load on these Dcons doesn't even warm up at all. Best power I've had to date, and loud as ****!

 Side note..... finally hearing these Dcons on full power has blown me away! I had them both running off 300RMS total for a year before changing to the Hifonics which was supposed to net me 600 to the subs (the 300 watts from the Kenwood was louder). On this Q2200.1 these things pound!

[kirill007 52]

Yes it is safe. (as long that you keep in mind that overpowering can happen at lower volumes too, just always keep a nose on weird smells and listen for distortion)

Edited December 15, 2014 by kirill007

[EddieC 17]

Yes it is safe. (as long that you keep in mind that overpowering can happen at lower volumes too, just always keep a nose on weird smells and listen for distortion)

Thanks.... and will do. Seems that most music recorded back in the analog days just doesn't have the volume of todays music. I guess that's why a lot of older music gets remastered when it's re-released digitally.

[kirill007 52]

 

Yes it is safe. (as long that you keep in mind that overpowering can happen at lower volumes too, just always keep a nose on weird smells and listen for distortion)

Thanks.... and will do. Seems that most music recorded back in the analog days just doesn't have the volume of todays music. I guess that's why a lot of older music gets remastered when it's re-released digitally.

 

Older music usually has a lower (average) volume because it has been recorded properly. (although this doesn't apply to all older music obviously)

Today's music has less dynamics.

[///M5 2,833]

You should never exceed the gain capability of your amps; however, your post clearly shows how stupidly useless a DD-1 is EVEN if they actually worked.

[EddieC 17]

You should never exceed the gain capability of your amps; however, your post clearly shows how stupidly useless a DD-1 is EVEN if they actually worked.

Please explain. I asked this for the following reason. I purchased a set of Image Dynamics components and had the shop set the gains. At first they were installed on the Hifonics POS and the tweets blew 15 minutes into the ride home. I replaced the amp with the AQ200.2 and had the replacement tweets installed and gains set by the shop. No problems since.... and I don't want to create any myself by pushing things past thermal capability. I noticed when playing older Elton John and Pink Floyd music that at HU gain set max volume of 45, it sounded more like it was set at 30. I simply wanted to know if it was ok to turn up the volume past 45 to be able to actually hear it or would I just be pushing the amp to clipping due to thermal overload. That's it. If I can't turn any of the older music up past where the gains are set, I have a lot of music that will never be played again.

Edited December 17, 2014 by EddieC

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Amplifers come with a gain matching dial that has an input sensitivity ranging from 6v - 0.2v. It's not a volume knob it's their to match your HU RCA voltage output. 

 

You can set your HU to it's loudest setting without hearing any distortion, turn the gain on the amp up until you hear distortion then back off on the dial until you hear no distortion. Use music that you know to do this. Let your ears decide.

 

I still prefer to set my gains by ear. Especially my front stage.

[EddieC 17]

Amplifers come with a gain matching dial that has an input sensitivity ranging from 6v - 0.2v. It's not a volume knob it's their to match your HU RCA voltage output.

You can set your HU to it's loudest setting without hearing any distortion, turn the gain on the amp up until you hear distortion then back off on the dial until you hear no distortion. Use music that you know to do this. Let your ears decide.

I still prefer to set my gains by ear. Especially my front stage.

I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music.

[Kanaworm$ 292]

 

Amplifers come with a gain matching dial that has an input sensitivity ranging from 6v - 0.2v. It's not a volume knob it's their to match your HU RCA voltage output.

You can set your HU to it's loudest setting without hearing any distortion, turn the gain on the amp up until you hear distortion then back off on the dial until you hear no distortion. Use music that you know to do this. Let your ears decide.

I still prefer to set my gains by ear. Especially my front stage.

I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music.

 

I would say yes go ahead but be cautious.

[EddieC 17]

 

 

Amplifers come with a gain matching dial that has an input sensitivity ranging from 6v - 0.2v. It's not a volume knob it's their to match your HU RCA voltage output.

You can set your HU to it's loudest setting without hearing any distortion, turn the gain on the amp up until you hear distortion then back off on the dial until you hear no distortion. Use music that you know to do this. Let your ears decide.

I still prefer to set my gains by ear. Especially my front stage.

I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music.

 

I would say yes go ahead but be cautious.

 

 Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Everyone always talked about setting the gains 3/4 of the way up to leave some head room. I figured this fell into that category. While listening to the old school music at a level of 52 yesterday, there was no distortion at all and sounded clear as a bell. Music sounded just as it should have at 45 with the disc used to set the gains. Amps stayed cool, with no clipping light coming from the sub amp. I'm just trying to be cautious guys. I've never had this much power and after that bad experience with the Hifonics amp overheating with gains barely up at all I'm just wanting to make sure I don't screw up anything I have going on because this is the loudest, cleanest system I've ever had.

 Taking this question further....does the volume of the music have any control at all of the power that is being put out or is the amp simply pushing x amount of power at the point where gains are set?  I'm learning all these things as I go as in the past I always just had a shop throw something in and set everything up for me. I've done every single bit of this install except for having the shop install the front components and set the crossover and gains for them (due to my limited knowledge).