2v to 4.5v - Interesting

[Grinder1989 5,000+ posts]

Without knowing what headunit you have, it's hard to say.
If you set the gains properly with a DMM with the first headunit, then yes with a higher voltage headunit the gains would be set lower.

But depending on the headunit or which method you subscribe to as for gain setting.....setting it to the "half way" point very well may be fine.

Went from a $150 panasonic (1/2 gain) to an Eclipse 8051 (1/4 gain).

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Louder always sounds clearer due to the 'increase' in dynamics.

Sounds like you didn't have your Pioneer set correctly...

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

Louder always sounds clearer due to the 'increase' in dynamics.
Sounds like you didn't have your Pioneer set correctly...

I literally spent 10+ hours setting/tweaking the Pio and it just never sounded right. Maybe the HU was messed up. Don't miss it that's for sure...

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Well if you like the sound of the other headunit in there then you should have pretty much doubled the gain settings for the pioneer... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

From my experience, a lot of head units sound differently not only due to Preout voltage. But to the actual build parts and built in features. I would venture to say the the increased output and better quality attributed to the difference in sound.

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Very true. I am used to the higher end Pioneer HU so their lower class ones most likely don't sound as good...

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

Well if you like the sound of the other headunit in there then you should have pretty much doubled the gain settings for the pioneer... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Set them with a DMM, then by ear, then tried maxing them out, NOTHING helped. HU was weaksauce //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/furious.gif.fc81ca146dbff91fede3ed290dbc4f4c.gif

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

Yeah I swaped my 7871 for a 9830 and it sounds much better...havn't touched the gain or even checked it with the new deck though...what a difference the t/a makes...really brought out a lot of details that I was missing. Don't know about the voltage I think they were both 4v outs

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Went from a $150 panasonic (1/2 gain) to an Eclipse 8051 (1/4 gain).

I don't know about the Panasonic, but the Eclipse has 8V outputs. I had the 8053 w/ 8V outputs connected to an amplifier that had a "maximum" input voltage of 1.5V with the gain set to minimum.....and I had to really be jamming on it to drive it into clipping.

That Sundown has a pretty wide swing on the input sensitivity...up to 6V. Depending on your listening habits, musical content and other settings (bass boost, etc) you would probably be fine with it set a little higher than you have now with music. Just be careful if you're blasting test tones at a loud volume. If you don't have access to a DMM listen carefully for distortion/etc for a while.....or just run to Radio Shack and grab one of the $10 cheapies.

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

I insist on 5v or more and like ot add line drivers if needed, but not everyone follows that idea.

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

I noticed the same thing......Never using 2V again

 

[Grinder1989 5,000+ posts]

I don't know about the Panasonic, but the Eclipse has 8V outputs. I had the 8053 w/ 8V outputs connected to an amplifier that had a "maximum" input voltage of 1.5V with the gain set to minimum.....and I had to really be jamming on it to drive it into clipping.
That Sundown has a pretty wide swing on the input sensitivity...up to 6V. Depending on your listening habits, musical content and other settings (bass boost, etc) you would probably be fine with it set a little higher than you have now with music. Just be careful if you're blasting test tones at a loud volume. If you don't have access to a DMM listen carefully for distortion/etc for a while.....or just run to Radio Shack and grab one of the $10 cheapies.

I don't blast it all the time and I have no bass boost on. I'll mess with it a little to get it perfect. So let me get this straight the more input the lower the gain correct?

O and the Panasonic was 2.5V with a line driver so about ~8 volts and I had it on half.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

So let me get this straight the more input the lower the gain correct?

Generally, yes.

so about ~8 volts and I had it on half.

Then there's really no difference between the Panny+LD to the Eclipse in terms of voltage, assuming the LD was truly capable of a clean 8V and you had it set to where you weren't limiting it's output voltage.

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

new hu has better sq.

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

hu output voltage varies with volume, so if your listening at 1/3 volume your only getting 1/3 of 2 v = .6? but 1/3 of 4.5 v is 1.4? 'ish'

= clean. er