Quote Originally Posted by pbkid View Post
that it requires the gain's on the amplifiers to remain to a minimum and creates less distortion.
Quote Originally Posted by etlsport View Post
tom I think the part of this theory you are missing is that your overpowered amp isn't used to its full potential. That is what I have always learned.. Use each of your components at 60-80% but never max out.

... normal listening level and 50% volume on the head unit, but I like making sure when doing a demo or just rocking out I won't be doing any damage with distortion
OK, I'll buy off on that.

The way that you should look at it though is: The amp should be selected so that it is normally operating at approximately 1/2 of it's max power for the speakers being driven. This is done so that the amp is not being over driven into a level of distortion. Designing a system to intentionally over drive one of the components is asking for problems.

There is a drawback to this approach however, with this set up, you could easily end up with blown speakers if some Gomer cranks the volume too high and overpowers your speakers.

Keep in mind as well that initial transients can be as high as 150% of max normal operation. What I mean here is that if you leave your sound system turned on to a high volume when you turn off your car, when you turn it back on, you could get short duration spikes that could damage your system. A lot of systems (but not all) avoid this by having a short delay in powering up your amp after the head unit gets power.

Sorry if I'm coming across as anal retentive about this ... rekin it's one of my pet peeves. I H8 pulling up next to a car and hearing their stereo cranked so high that the the distortion causes physical pain in each and every one of my fillings.