do i REALLY need this with my Soundstream?

[95Prober 10+ year member]

Hi

I have a new, older model, Soundstream Rubicon 604. It's a 4-ch amp and I'll be using it for my fronts/rears.

However, The BLT-4 (balance line transmitter) unit, did not come with the amp. I rarely see them for sale, but have came across them for around $150.

My question is do I really need it or will the amp perform fine or just as well without one? This is my first Soundstream and I'm not too familiar with this add-on part.

So I wanna know if this is worth buying or not ??

THX

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

You don't need it.

The amp will perform 100% without it.

You would only need the BLT if you wanted to run balanced into the amplifier.

But it is absolutely not a necessity.

The only way it would really "help" is if you had induced noise you couldn't eliminate via other means.

 

[95Prober 10+ year member]

You don't need it.
The amp will perform 100% without it.

You would only need the BLT if you wanted to run balanced into the amplifier.

But it is absolutely not a necessity.

The only way it would really "help" is if you had induced noise you couldn't eliminate via other means.

so basically its to help with noise issues??

i never ran "balanced" into an amp before. what are the results of doing that?

thx

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The result is that you won't get induced noise which, honestly, I've never seen anyway and you'll have spent another $150 on a component that you then have to wire and mount.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

so basically its to help with noise issues??
i never ran "balanced" into an amp before. what are the results of doing that?

thx

Immunity to induced or radiated noise.

That's it.

Balanced signal transmission essentially "cancels out" any induced or radiated noise that might be picked up by the wires so that the amplifier is only amplifying the pure, clean signal output by the headunit instead of that signal + any noise picked up along the way.

Some will argue against the value of running balanced in a vehicle. Others will claim it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Personally if you are happy with your current noise floor, I wouldn't spend the $150 for it as you very well might not notice any difference.

If you have the money to blow and would like to give it a shot; there's nothing wrong with it and it might be beneficial for you.

If nothing else you could have psychoacoustics on your side //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Blazemore 10+ year member]

I'll seen a few go through ebay just last couple of months. Usually they have "buy it nows" and go quick.