Do line output converters always sound bad?

[jdub486 10+ year member]

I tried to get my brother set up with a system in his Mazda 3 for christmas. Had local shop install line out converter and run rcas to a 4 channel amp, with the front channels powering new alpine coaxials and the rears bridged for a small sub. The sound is horrific, signal cutting in and out, static, distortion, echoing. The shop is baffled, they say everything is hooked up well. It sounds worse than before I spent $400! Any ideas?

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[azeroth123 10+ year member]

well obviously everything is not hooked up well or something is broken, i'd say try a different input into the amp, like an ipod or something, that you know works, if this turns out sounding bad, i'd say get your money back, otherwise you'll know it is something upstream like the locs or maybe the stock hu...

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like an install problem for sure. There have been SQ champion installs based on a stock HU and a LOC.

 

[skmfkr 5,000+ posts]

my gf's has a loc with the substage setup and it sounds fine, everything else is stock

 

[htownplaya456 10+ year member]

I had an issue like that a few years ago on my 96 taurus. It might be too little or too much power going through the LOC. Most LOC are up to 25 watts so if the headunit is sending a clipped signal through the LOC and that is totaling higher than 25 watts then it won't work. Some headunits don't put out enough power to make a direct shot to the amp sound good. It will vary from car to car too. I would try a signal amplifier, crossover, or EQ and I bet it will even out. There are people that have put together some awesome SQ systems like a previous poster stated but for it to not send a clipped signal in the first place through the LOC then it might not be enough voltage to make the amp sound any good.