Is my amp broken?

[llJohnnyll]

Yesterday, I figured I would try to set the gain properly on my amp. Its a BK1300.1D. All the knobs for tuning including the gain don't stop spinning either way i turn them. Am i just missing something here that's a very simple fix? or is my amp completely useless now.

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[Umbra]

Is your amp completely useless now? Are you experiencing other problems, or are the knobs the only thing bothering you?

My guess is if all the knobs do that, it's normal.

 

[llJohnnyll]

It works fine i was just wondering if i could make it better. im using the bass knob as the gain right now, its never up more than a 1/3 of the way though. sounds fine too

 

[Umbra]

If you set the gain using a multimeter then you can only set it to the appropriate voltage. To determine the point where the amp begins to send a clipped signal you'd need an oscilloscope or an SMD DD-1 and a test tone. You could also do it with a test tone and by ear, which isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing.

Here's a good guide with downloads if you want to go that route: Test Tones and Tuning Tutorial - All New Links, Again! - Tunez - All things music related - SMD Forum

If you know where on the bass knob it starts to clip and you can keep it from going passed that point, that's fine. An alternative would be to skip the bass knob, turn it up to the sweet spot on the amp, then use a line level controller (like this one: Amazon.com: PAC LC-1 Remote Amplifier Level Controller: Car Electronics), so you can adjust it to your liking on the fly, but it won't clip even when turned up all the way (so long as the amp's gain is set correctly).