Should I run an amp turned up to full power to run a pair of components, a pair of 5"x7" and either 1 or 2 subs or should I run a bigger amp turned up half way?
Crutchfield suggested the 1st option and a local stereo place said that a bigger amp turned up half way would bring more clarity. I use to DJ and I was always told to run the amp to full power.

Thanks,
Blake

 

When you say "turned up", do you mean the gains on the amp itself?

 

He has to be talking about the gains, cause you can't "turn up" an amp. The only way to get the amp to push its max power is to wire the subs/speakers to the lowest ohm load the amp can handle.

Turning the gains up will make it louder, but I don't recommend it. If you want the subs to be louder, turn the bass boost up and adjust the gains accordingly.

John

 

You never want to turn the gains up all the way. The purpose of the gains is to match the output voltage of the source unit (head unit, crossover, eq, etc.) to the voltage of the amp. If you turn the gains up too high, it will be louder, but when there is a big demand of the amp (a big bass hit, crescendo, etc.) the amp will clip. Also, you don't want to keep it turned too low for obvious reasons. Your system will NOT sound good if you try to over drive it.

 

Never say never, if you have a piddly rca output voltage from the deck, for example .5 volts or below, then you can get away with turning the gains way up, but most of us have deck that put out at least 1 volt preouts. Like you said, the gains are supposed to match voltage of the deck to the voltage of the amp, so if you have REALLY low deck preout voltage, then you have to crank the amps gains.