Hello, I've been slowly setting up my system since implementing a Helix DSP.3 into the midst.
I have a semi-active three-way system, planning to go fully active soon. Tweets and 3" are on a passive crossover, 6.5" midbass and subwoofer are separately amplified - so three amplifiers total (two two-channels and a mono).
It occurred to me that after balancing listening levels for each driver, the system is rather...quiet. I find myself using mid-3/4 of the head unit's volume scale in "normal' listening levels, without actually wanting to get "loud". I started from the beginning and re-did the gains. Both the tweeter/mid amp and the subwoofer amp seemed ok, taking a bit of turning the gain knob before clipping, but I came across a problem with the midbass amp - it clips at anything above minimum gain.
The midbass amp is a Focal FPP2100 which claims to do 2 x 100wrms @ 4 ohms (my midbass are 4 ohms). I have been running this amp for years, it's kind of old now and I haven't adjusted the gains since originally installing it in the vehicle to run the stock system, a passive 2-way setup (which of course didn't sound awesome, but was problem-free and could go "loud").
I played a 100hz -3db test tone at 38/40 volume which I know produces a clean signal. Clipping light also green on the DSP.3. What I can see on the oscilloscope, when connected to either channel of the amp, is that it does produce a clean sine wave, but only when the gain is turned to absolute minimum. As soon as I turn it clockwise, a square wave is produced. Vrms never goes above 16, which by my calculation is 64wrms, massively shy of 100wrms.
Is the amp broken? Why is this happening? I guess it's not a problem in that it works and produces sound accurately enough, but it's simply far too quiet and can't keep up with the rest of the system (which is turned right down in the DSP).
I have a semi-active three-way system, planning to go fully active soon. Tweets and 3" are on a passive crossover, 6.5" midbass and subwoofer are separately amplified - so three amplifiers total (two two-channels and a mono).
It occurred to me that after balancing listening levels for each driver, the system is rather...quiet. I find myself using mid-3/4 of the head unit's volume scale in "normal' listening levels, without actually wanting to get "loud". I started from the beginning and re-did the gains. Both the tweeter/mid amp and the subwoofer amp seemed ok, taking a bit of turning the gain knob before clipping, but I came across a problem with the midbass amp - it clips at anything above minimum gain.
The midbass amp is a Focal FPP2100 which claims to do 2 x 100wrms @ 4 ohms (my midbass are 4 ohms). I have been running this amp for years, it's kind of old now and I haven't adjusted the gains since originally installing it in the vehicle to run the stock system, a passive 2-way setup (which of course didn't sound awesome, but was problem-free and could go "loud").
I played a 100hz -3db test tone at 38/40 volume which I know produces a clean signal. Clipping light also green on the DSP.3. What I can see on the oscilloscope, when connected to either channel of the amp, is that it does produce a clean sine wave, but only when the gain is turned to absolute minimum. As soon as I turn it clockwise, a square wave is produced. Vrms never goes above 16, which by my calculation is 64wrms, massively shy of 100wrms.
Is the amp broken? Why is this happening? I guess it's not a problem in that it works and produces sound accurately enough, but it's simply far too quiet and can't keep up with the rest of the system (which is turned right down in the DSP).
