What is clipping the amp mean?

Question

dont give me like a wikipedia link or nothin i want ur definiton or somethin because i need 2 know what 2 look 4 so i dont clip my amp.....i was told from the guy from circuit city that a way 2 tell it is to see if the lights r dimming....anyways i got my gain 7/10 bass boost 5/10 crossover 1/10.........sub rms=720........amp rms=400

Answer 1

It's when you're pushing the amp to work too hard by setting your main volume too high while your input signal from your stereo is set too high coming into your amp. So what I'm trying to say is if you lower your input signals, or your channels, you should be able to turn up the volume to a higher level without clipping your amp. Basically, you should trun down your gain to avoid clipping your amp. Good luck with your amp!

Answer 2

It just means the amp can't put out anymore. The nice sinusoidal signals will get "clipped" because it hits the power rails and this clipping makes the sound distorted. However, some amps will distort the sound in other ways before actually clipping, for example if the power supply is undersized. If the power supply can't supply enough power to the audio amp transistors, you'll see the lights dim as it sags. Another related term is "headroom", the amount of extra power available before the amp clips or distorts. All of this is avoided by using an amplifier well-rated for your goals.

Answer 3

wow circuit chity told you that,lol, lol, your lights dim from from your amp using more power than your alternator can put out, if your lights do dim you need a high out put alternator, yellow top battery and up grade the big 3 Grounds. and this wikipedia answer When an amplifier is pushed to create a signal with more power than it can support, it will amplify the signal only up to its maximum capacity, at which point the signal will be amplified no further. As the signal simply "cuts" or "clips" at the maximum capacity of the amplifier, the signal is said to be "clipping." The extra signal which is beyond the capability of the amplifier is simply cut off, resulting in a distorted waveform. whats wrong with this, You can hear clipping when it gets bad and then you need to turn your amp down,

Answer 4

When you clip the amp, the transistors are saturated and cannot conduct anymore current. They are wide open. Picture a sinusoidal waveform, now take the top part and push it down so that the tops and bottoms are flat. The waveform will start up and go so far and then just go straight across until you get to the point where it is going downhill, then it will follow the waveform until it again saturates and can not conduct anymore and goes flat.

You are distorting the signal, you need a little larger amp to prevent the clipping or turn the volume down, either way. good luck.

Answer 5

Car Audio Clipping

Answer 6

Clipping is bad. A very simplified definition would be that the amp hits its output limit and sends dc voltage directly to the speakers voice coil. This is a very bad thing for a speakers voice coil because the only thing keeping the wires from shorting out against each other is varnish. If too much dc current is ran through the coil it will fry the varnish and your speakers will sound like s**t. If your lights are dimming, get a capacitor. 1 farad for each 1000 watts of power.

Answer 7

If your lights are dimming, check the air in your tires.

This will work about as good as a capacitor, since caps don't help either. Caps are meant to improve sound quality.

Other than a larger alternator, you need to get a dual-battery isolator and an extra battery, preferably a deep-cycle marine battery. With an isolator, your amp's current draw cannot touch the original battery and a lot of extra strain is removed from the stock electrical system. You want to be drawing power from your batteries mostly, not from the alternator. Add more batteries if you need more current.

Answer 8

idk. what does that mean.