power amp volume?
power amp volume?
Is it bad to run your power amps not wide open? I'm just doing some research and I need to find out for sure. Will it cause you to blow drivers even though you are not clipping the power amp and you are compressing your mix correctly? Will it cause you to fry the passive crossovers in a 3 way speaker?
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Craven Sound
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The volume knob on most power amps is merely an input sensitivity adjustment, so it should not affect the amps ani-clip function or compression from the FOH. I usually run the low end wide open, and the upper bands back 2 or 3 clicks from wide. This also lowers the noise floor in the tweeters, creating a lot less hiss.
Mike
Mike
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lonewolf
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Remember the golden rule: Always keep signals as high as you can as early as you can to get the best S/N ratio and dynamic range. Running a power amp at full sensitivity implies that the incoming signal is either matched for it or is at a level lower than it could or should be.
Setting the sensitivity should depend on a few things. You need to know the maximum output level before clipping that comes out of the mixer/post processing that goes into the amp...this can vary from -10db to +24db or higher, usually +4db to +12db. The amp should have a rating for the input level required to produce full rated output. This is usually anywhere from +4db to +24db.
If your mixer puts out +12db before clipping (assume post-processing is unity gain) and the amp requires only +4 db to get full rated power, then its a good idea to adjust the input sensitivity of the amp to -8db from full on.
You need to know the specs on all your stuff, and you also have to take into consideration the speaker specs. In a perfect world, you want your power amp rms power rated at the speaker's peak rating or (usually) 4 times the speaker's rms rating. This gives you 6db of headroom so you can run your program level -6db before clipping and your peaks can jump 6db without clipping.
If the signal and the amp are not clipping and you are running the power at the cabinet's rated power or lower, the input sensitivity of the amp won't have anything to do with blown components.
Of course, you can fudge this stuff a lot and you can usually get away with cranking it up more.
Setting the sensitivity should depend on a few things. You need to know the maximum output level before clipping that comes out of the mixer/post processing that goes into the amp...this can vary from -10db to +24db or higher, usually +4db to +12db. The amp should have a rating for the input level required to produce full rated output. This is usually anywhere from +4db to +24db.
If your mixer puts out +12db before clipping (assume post-processing is unity gain) and the amp requires only +4 db to get full rated power, then its a good idea to adjust the input sensitivity of the amp to -8db from full on.
You need to know the specs on all your stuff, and you also have to take into consideration the speaker specs. In a perfect world, you want your power amp rms power rated at the speaker's peak rating or (usually) 4 times the speaker's rms rating. This gives you 6db of headroom so you can run your program level -6db before clipping and your peaks can jump 6db without clipping.
If the signal and the amp are not clipping and you are running the power at the cabinet's rated power or lower, the input sensitivity of the amp won't have anything to do with blown components.
Of course, you can fudge this stuff a lot and you can usually get away with cranking it up more.
...Oh, the freedom of the day that yielded to no rule or time...