I thought that there might be a gain but i looked everywhere, i assume its on the side of the amp and not the speaker.... i wonder if i turn that down if it will allow the amp to run cooler and not clip the mids as much.
I was half tempted to go the alpine 5 channel route to get the volumn i want but if thats going to increase rattles then no way.
Arghhhh its looking like a 40% max volumn is looking like a reality. Its a shame because theres something phsycological i dont like about being limited to only turning it up so far. At this stage id probably pay VW to change how the progress bar worked if i could!!
It's a small (green I think) philips head screw on the amp. It's possible that could help with the clipping you're experiencing.
You can always re-amp only the speakers and leave the sub, but at that point why are you using the Helix? It's a great budget upgrade but it's not going to win any contests.
I think I get your position on the psychological bit, but like others have said, if you are using more than the Helix can put out, you're either deaf or like pain, and are likely damaging your hearing.
Even the factory system couldn't use much more than half of the volume knob without breaking up, and it didn't sound as good on the way there.
Some of your problem could be your source material as well, if you're using your phone for low quality MP3s or streaming, or overly compressed music, you're going to hear distortion sooner on the volume knob.