RCA Bass Knob vs. Remote Bass Knob

[ShagggDiesel 25]

Here's the deal, in my previous few installs, I had been using a simple 12$ RCA bass control knob. You run RCA's from the HU to the knob, then from the knob back to the amplifier controlling the input level from the head unit to the amp. Simple. Well I recently got a new amp, which came with a Remote bass control knob. I hooked this knob up to the amp via the telephone jack looking remote cable, while still running my RCA's through the original knob. I've been keeping the RCA knob at 100% and using the remote to control the levels.. My question is, is this a bad idea for any reason at all? Perhaps output voltage from the RCA's or something of that nature? Also, what are the pro's and con's of using a RCA knob and a Remote knob if I were to use just one of them? What should I do in this situation?

Thanks in advance..

[jcarter1885 995]

I have seen people use a remote bass knob that was hookep to their amp and one that was hooked up to the sub to control the subs volume. I dont use a knob period, let alone bass boost. I hope your control is for a gain and not bass boost.

Bass boost and remote bass knobs can be used if you desire just keep your eyes, noise and ears out for distortion or any other bad you can do to the subwoofer. If your confident in your control of the knob and your amp is set correctly to use the knob then it shouldnt damage anything.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

I have seen people use a remote bass knob that was hookep to their amp and one that was hooked up to the sub to control the subs volume.

I'm not understanding what you're saying here.. they had one hooked to the amp, and one hooked to the sub? How do you hook a bass knob up to a sub? :/

[jcarter1885 995]

My fault typing to fast:

I had a friend who used his remote bass knob on his amp and the one on his crossover to control the volume to the subwoofer.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

Gotcha now.. So you don't think I should eliminate either of the knobs? I don't really see a purpose for both being there, other than the fact if I switch out amps and one doesn't have remote control, I always have the RCA one for backup. More or less a lazy bypass of removal and installation.

[jcarter1885 995]

I personally would not use either but that is up to you, mostly a personal preference if you ask me. If you dont see the need for it then I would get rid of the one in the way of your rca's on the way to the amp and use the one on the amp if you want to use at least one of them. If there bass boost knobs then i wouldnt use either but that is just me, I would only use them or one of them if they remote gain knobs only.

[Impious 1,476]

The RCA knob is more than likely a simple attenuator. So all it can do is turn the volume "down", but can never turn it "up" past the original level being output from the headunit (that's assuming it doesn't offer any sort of bass boost circuitry...most of them don't).

Without knowing what amp you have, I have no idea what the knob actually controls. If it's a remote gain control, then those are usually basically the same thing....an attenuator that can only turn the volume "down" but not "up". However, if it controls the bass boost or something of that sort, then you could be in trouble using it.

If they are both just attenuators, then there's nothing really wrong with just leaving them both installed. It'd be a little redundant to leave them both in, but sometimes it's a bigger PITA to remove something from a system than it's worth due to having to rewire. If they are both just attenuators, then you can basically continue doing what you're doing, leave one all the way up and use the other one as the control.

[KU40 173]

If that RCA knob isn't powered, all it can do is cut the signal. So if your head unit puts out 2v down the RCAs, that knob can only adjust the level going to the amp from 0 to 2 volts. Same thing as the regular volume knob on your head unit. It would also be the same as a sub level setting on your head unit if it had a dedicated sub RCA output.

The remote knob for the amp, provided it's not just a bass boost, is an actual gain knob. It adjusts the amp's input level based on the input voltage from the RCAs.

So one adjust the voltage, the other reacts to the voltage provided. There's really no reason to run the RCA knob since you have a remote gain now.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

Thanks for all the input guys. But I got to thinking because I wasn't 100% sure, and I see that the Remote knob that came with the amp is a Bass BOOST knob as opposed to just a level control. What sort of trouble am I looking into now? I didn't think it was that bad because I listened to the system without the remote knob, and it sounded the same as it did with the remote hooked up and turned full tilt. I haven't noticed any distortion that you would hear from an overdriven bass boost.. It seems to me that it's just acting as a volume control, as the RCA one is.

If this helps any, the amp model is a Lanzar MAXP1200d Monoblock.