Any difference going from a 4volt HU to a 2volt?

[Rodeo91 10+ year member]

I am about to switch out my HU with 4 volt preouts to one with 2 volt preouts. What is the main diffrence in this and will I notice a big difference in sound?

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

No difference in sound.

Only difference is that with the lower preout voltage you will need to set the gains on your amplifier higher, which may result in a little bit of noise if the amplifier is noisy. Chances you won't hear a thing.

 

[Rodeo91 10+ year member]

Thanks for the quick simple answer.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

I have to disagree with squeak for the first time. I used to have an old 2volt Blaupaunkt deck and I bought a alpine 4volt (pretty old model) and my sound changed and was very noticable. Matter of fact I took my car back to them and asked what did you guys do to my car to make it sound better. They said it was my deck going from 2v to 4v. So I dont know 100% about this. But this is my personal experience from switching. So might want to get some more info from other people. Good luck!

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Sorry, but you completely changed your headunit. So many variables changed that it's 100% impossible for you to attribute the change solely (or at all) to the higher preout voltage. You said "took it back to them", so I'm assuming you didn't install it. Which means you don't know if they even reset the gains for the higher voltage, how the reset them if they did at all, etc etc. Not to mention all of the other differences that could be associated with the two decks alone (regardless of output voltage).

No offense.....but that "experience" proves nothing at all.

Higher preout voltage sounding better is a long standing myth.........but not true at all. The only thing it affects is where the gain is set.

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

Some amps get really touchy with input voltage at lower ohm loads.

Wont be a factor in this case though.

 

[Rodeo91 10+ year member]

Well basically I am switching out my Alpine 9811 with a Panasonic CQ-VD7001U flip out screen. The alpine is 4 volts while the panasonic is 2 volts. My amps are 2 JBL BP1200.1's each running at 1 ohm.

 

[hcoronado 10+ year member]

you mosdeff will have to reset your gains on all the amps dude!

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Well basically I am switching out my Alpine 9811 with a Panasonic CQ-VD7001U flip out screen. The alpine is 4 volts while the panasonic is 2 volts. My amps are 2 JBL BP1200.1's each running at 1 ohm.

You may "hear" differences between those two units due to various reasons.....but one of them will not be due to the preout voltage level assuming you properly reset your gains.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Sorry, but you completely changed your headunit. So many variables changed that it's 100% impossible for you to attribute the change solely (or at all) to the higher preout voltage. You said "took it back to them", so I'm assuming you didn't install it. Which means you don't know if they even reset the gains for the higher voltage, how the reset them if they did at all, etc etc. Not to mention all of the other differences that could be associated with the two decks alone (regardless of output voltage).

No offense.....but that "experience" proves nothing at all.

Higher preout voltage sounding better is a long standing myth.........but not true at all. The only thing it affects is where the gain is set.

Well that is true. This is was when I was first getting into cat audio a long time ago. It was only about 20 mins of work. That and they said they didnt mess with the gains on my amps cause I asked them. I have also changed out a older pioneer 2 volt deck for my pioneer 9500 and I noticed a difference. Not much but a little.