Does pre-out voltage make a huge difference?

[Intercooler 10+ year member]

I was talking to a guyat the audio shop that does SPL competitions and has a few trophies to his credit and he said the pre-out voltage on a head unit makes a HUGE difference in overall power. He talked about it like it was steroids or something //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Is this a true statement? I am still learning so I just take it all in and be quite. What head unit holds the title for most pre-out? What Pioneer and Kenwood units has the most pre-outs?

BTW... He said Kenwood HU's are the best for SPL //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

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[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

no, it doesn't SQ wise. in a nutshell higher the preout voltage the less your amp has to work (ie lower gain) and hence reduces noise.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

you will have higher head room.

 

[Intercooler 10+ year member]

So you can go louder then.

They also talked a decent amount about the Eclipse line and I think on of those had the highest pre-out from what I overheard. I don't know much about Eclipse but are they good?

 

[double_a 10+ year member]

Eclipse are GREAT hu's and their higher modles have 8v pre-outs.

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

no, you can't get louder because on a 8v preout HU, if you barely turn up the gain and immediately you might send a clipped signal. thats what happened when i was setting the gains on my sub amp, my HU clipped at 77/80, went to amp to turn up the gain, it almost clipped as i just turned the gain knob. it just enables your amp to not work as hard.

and yes eclipse basically has the highest preouts, 8v. Eclipse are awesome HUs.

 

[Intercooler 10+ year member]

This guy had a Kenwood with 5V's. I think my Pioneer is only 2V so am I leaving something on the table by not have 5V + or is it something I won't really see or hear?

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

goin from 4v (panasonic) to 5v (kenwood) i heard a HUGE difference.... had to turn my gains down a lot after hookin up the new HU.

 

[Jdizzle 10+ year member]

i hate having 2v preamps..because i have to turn it up to like 40/63 to just hear sumthing

 

[Intercooler 10+ year member]

I wish I would have found this site before I started. Oh well... now I can change it as I go.

 

[rocky 59 5,000+ posts]

i had 2v preouts but then i got an EQ that up them to 7v i liked it. btw the Eq is for sale //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

its a nice thing to have BUT shouldn't be the sole reason why you buy an HU. its just a nice thing to have thats all.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

what happened to proper gain setting? preout voltage isn't a big deal

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

also during normal listening, you'll never get the advertised preout voltage anyways

 

[PepsiFiend69 10+ year member]

i had 2v preouts but then i got an EQ that up them to 7v i liked it. btw the Eq is for sale //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

ygpm

sorry for the thread jack //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blush.gif.99bc659ee2012b7d826165e26fb5eebe.gif