HOW TO TUNE A MONOBLOCK AMP

First off, let us start by talking about what an amp is? Usually, when musicians play instruments on stage, an external device is required to amplify the sound produced so that everyone in a large audience can hear properly. However, the use of an amplifier isn’t restricted to just musicians. Everyone from DJs to school students aspire to become musicians and use an amplifier. Some even have amps at their home that aid them in practice. But, you must first know how to tune a monoblock amp before playing the instrument.

An amplifier is just an advanced version of a speaker. Just like a speaker, an amp also comes with some external knobs and switches which need to be adjusted from time to time in order to assure proper functioning and good sound quality.

Done with amplifiers. Now coming to their types. In this article we talk about monoblock amplifiers. What are monoblock amplifiers? As the name suggests a mono block amplifier resembles a small block and is usually used in cars. It makes sure all those long car journeys are filled with beautiful music and memories. Then the question arises, how to tune a monoblock amp?

• Firstly, keep all your head unit settings at flat i.e. all bass boosts and other effects should be at the minimum level.
• Turn the head unit volume to the loudest it can go without any distortion.
• Turn down all gains and bass boosts to the minimum.
• Turn up the low pass to the maximum level.
• Put a 50 hz 6Db tone on a CD and increase the gains till you notice some change in the output.
• Adjust your subsonic filter to a level where your subwoofer is tuned to.
• Put the low pass filter down to 80.
• If your subwoofers are normally mounted, then keep the phase at zero degrees. Otherwise adjust the phase at one hundred and eighty degrees.
• Continue to adjust in the same manner till you get the desired output.

Always remember to keep the volume at a moderate level during tuning, not too loud for comfort, yet not so low that you have trouble hearing.

In order to tune a subwoofer amp, the following steps should be followed.

1. Turn down the volume of the head unit to the lowest level. Make sure it is not at mute because you need to be able to hear how the amp sounds while tuning to make the perfect adjustment.
2. If there is a bass boost option, remove or turn it off.
3. Adjust your low pass and set it to about a level of about 100-140 Hz.
4. Turn down the level of the amp to the minimum.
5. Now, slowly and steadily start increasing the volume of the amp to the loudest it can get without distortion.
6. Do the same with the level of the amp i.e. set it at the maximum level where you reach the desired output.
7. The above points are for basic tuning. However now, if you wish to add some bass to the required output, you can do so by adjusting the bass on the deck unit.

This is how to tune a monoblock amp at the basic level. Sometimes, the amp may shut down due to overheating. In such case, you want to first let it cool off before trying to tune it any further.

Conclusively, we can say that tuning is that to musical instruments what oiling is to machines. Regular tuning would ensure that the amp produces amazing quality sound. Not tuning the amp would result in substandard quality of music and would not result in optimum utilisation of the amps features. However, no matter what, always remember to treat your musical instruments and accessories very gently. Don’t be too harsh while tuning because that would result in damaging the amp instead. If you ever feel that tuning instruments isn’t your thing, make sure you do some proper research on the internet or take help from someone who is professional and knows their way around instruments.