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CROSSOVER SETTINGS AND GAIN ADJUSTMENT
18
© 2002 Directed Electronics, Inc
Your Viper Audio power amplifier needs to be adjusted carefully to achieve maximum
performance. These are some guidelines to follow when fine-tuning the amplifier.
Because this amplifier is only designed for subwoofer applications, the low-pass
crossover is active at all times. The crossover point is adjustable to allow more
precise system operation.
Try and keep the setting low enough to prevent image smearing (you should not
be able to hear male voices from the subwoofer) but not so low as to create a gap
between the subwoofer and the mid-bass/midrange speakers. It will be to your
advantage to spend some extra time with this adjustment, listening to familiar
music or system set-up discs to achieve the kind of musical reproduction that you
prefer.
The gain adjustment allows you to set proper signal match for clean, quiet ampli-
fier operation. Start by playing some music you are familiar with. With the gain
adjustment on the amplifier in the middle of its rotation, bring up the volume on
your head unit to the 3/4 volume setting or until you start to hear distortion or
clipping. If you hear distortion before you reach the 3/4 volume setting of your
head unit, reduce the gain setting on the amplifier and start to raise the head unit
volume again. When you can listen to the music at or slightly above 3/4 on your
head unit without audible distortion, slowly raise the gain of the amplifier until
distortion is heard, then back off the gain until the distortion is not audible. This
setting will allow you to reach full output with all but the quietest of source mate-
rial, while avoiding excessive noise in the system.
For systems using the Remote Sub Level Adjustment, increase the subwoofer gain
on the amplifier by 25% and set the Remote Sub Level knob to the center position
after making all system gain and filter adjustments. This will give the Remote Sub
Level Control a wider range of adjustment to the subwoofer output.
You should take into consideration the effect that gain adjustment has on system
frequency response and staging. Again, plan on spending some time with music
that you know getting the gain and crossover settings the way you like. Test discs
and analyzers may help with this process, but in the end it's your ears that count
--listen to the music!