Are crossovers also line drivers?

[Godzilla311]

Hey all. Do crossovers work as line drivers?

Was considering this for my step-daughter's car:

PAC LD-10 Line Driver with Signal Booster - Sonic Electronix

But I have these from my car way way back:





Do these work as line drivers or... no.

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You'll ask why I think a line driver might help her case?

Because I threw in an ancient pioneer HU into her car we had laying around and even turning up the amp's (Alpine mrp-450; says 250w @ 4ohm) level to the max it doesn't match what the volume should be for the music playing. She ended up putting the bass level on the HU to max, the treble down, and putting the fader to the rear 6x9s to get more bass. I don't like it but it is what it is. So I've read it may be remedied by adding a line driver to boost the signal to the amp so that proper levels can be set.

Click to read more...

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

They work as line drivers if the output signal is higher voltage than the input signal voltage. Most of them do both, the specs should say

here's a good example http://www.amazon.com/SX310-Pre-Amp-Electronic-Crossover-Subwoofer/dp/B001TE5YWU

if your hu puts out 4v max, 2v rms then the crossover i posted would amplify the signal to 8v max 4v rms (if the manufacturer doesnt lie about its output).

measure the max voltage out from your headunit RCA's with a DMM set to ac volts to see how bad it really is

 

[Godzilla311]

Thanks. I'll check in an hour or so and post results

 

[Godzilla311]

Just wanted to update that a line driver completely fixed the issue. All the threads I read about them with negative comments almost made me not do it but since I had them laying around I tried it. Previously gain at 100% just didn't match the volume of the music. Crank up the volume and ... Meh, hardly any bass. Now with the gain at around 1/4 and its perfect and hits.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

not sure why there would be negative comments, the only problem with adding a line driver is inducing external noise into the system.