Quote Originally Posted by jcarter20 View Post
I have thought about this same scenario also. I feel like the kicker amp has much more capacity than the speakers can handle. I only have the gain turned up to just over half way before it clips. So, am I thinking about this correctly....theoretically with the wet sound speaker, I could then the amp all the way up without it clipping?


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There is a difference in a clipping signal and an over driven speaker, although they can both can sound the same out of the speaker.

Lets start with some specs. The Kicker 800.5 has the ability to deliver 50W rms (and 100W peak) to any given 4 ohm speaker, which the boat is outfitted with. The OEM speaker I believe has an RMS of 65 (195W peak). So under normal operating conditions, the amp cannot deliver a wattage thats able to over power the speaker.

A gain dial is not a volume dial. Its not linear either. 50% gain is not half amp power and 100% is not full amp power. THIS is how speakers get blown.

A clipped signal is easily seen on a scope. Basically its an erratic audio signal. Think of an engine hitting the rev limiter. Once it gets to the speaker, we hear it as poor audio quality. This can happen regardless of amp wattage and/or speaker rated RMS, as its a result of the upstream audio signal. A clipped signal can begin at the head unit and be sent down stream to the amp, or we can clip that signal at the amp level, due to incorrect tuning settings.

Excessive wattage to a speaker can force the speaker to work beyond its physical parameters. This too sounds like poor audio reproduction. A non-clipped signal can over drive a speaker if the amp output greatly exceeds the speakers capacity.