Headunit Preout only .2v?

[Hosted]

My new amp recently went up in smoke and I was doing some testing on my head unit today with oscilloscope and DMM to figure out where my head unit clips and found it is only putting out .2 volts when playing test tones. It is just an old Aiwa head unit that I had back in high school and just assumed it was 2 volts but was reading .2 volts with two different DMM. It has a front and rear output and they were both the same. Is there something wrong with it or is it just old and cheap? Not sure what to do now. I'm only hooking a subwoofer amp up to it right now and would rather not upgrade head units so was wondering if I should look into a line driver or something else? Thanks in advance.

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[BoomTaco64]

trash that aiwa radio. buy a good replacement like a kenwood/alpine/pioneer. aiwa=jensen,dual,craig, pyle=//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/dont.gif.ed5870f9483b695f9745036963f41c24.gif

 

[Hosted]

Dang, I was afraid you would say that. Tested it again on 40hz tone just below clipping and got .6v. Didn't have volume up as high the first time. Putting an amp and a 10 in my car is becoming a very expensive venture.

 

[marcos65]

I bought an amazing deck on here for like $50,

http://www.caraudio.com/forums/head-unit-classifieds/604681-alpine-cde-136bt.html

Keep a look out.

 

[I'mPoor:(]

Brand New 2014 Kenwood Excelon KDC X798 Single DIN in Dash Car Stereo Receiver | eBay

4v pre-outs & HD Radio Built in, also with Bluetooth.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Dang, I was afraid you would say that. Tested it again on 40hz tone just below clipping and got .6v. Didn't have volume up as high the first time. Putting an amp and a 10 in my car is becoming a very expensive venture.

you really should have started with a good head unit first before an amp. Those old aiwas are horrible. Dont underestimate what a good head unit can do. you can have 2000 dollar speakers and a 5000$ amp and they will still sound like garbage on a cheap head unit.

 

[fatboytyler]

JVC is also a good budget route. Some people hate on them, but I have a JVC KWR500 and my friend also has a cheaper JVC unit and both do great.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

You can get a good name brand head unit with a switchable rear/sub pair of RCA jacks for $69.99 from an authorized dealer. I don't recommend that if you ever want to add an amplifier for your speakers, but head units are very cheap these days.

You also need to realize you may not be turning the head unit up high enough to get close to 2V. If you can get at least 500 mV at a volume setting that doesn't make your speakers sound like trash you can use a modern subwoofer amplifier. Sometimes the minimum input voltage is lower than 500 mV, so a new head unit might not be mandatory at this time.

 

[Hosted]

I looked at tons of head units in the last 24 hours and ended up buying a Clarion cz702 on eBay for $120 new in box by ended up trying the square trade 3 year warranty for an extra $20. Not the newest or prettiest but has 5v outputs and more options than I'll ever use. Looked really hard at a lot of kenwoods but this clarion logos like a pretty sweet unit. Putting the aiwa in one of my semis with a broken radio as soon as it gets here so wont be a total loss. Thanks for the help guys. Now just have to listen to my wife yell at me for spending more money!

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Nice choice!

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

My new amp recently went up in smoke and I was doing some testing on my head unit today with oscilloscope and DMM to figure out where my head unit clips and found it is only putting out .2 volts when playing test tones. It is just an old Aiwa head unit that I had back in high school and just assumed it was 2 volts but was reading .2 volts with two different DMM. It has a front and rear output and they were both the same. Is there something wrong with it or is it just old and cheap? Not sure what to do now. I'm only hooking a subwoofer amp up to it right now and would rather not upgrade head units so was wondering if I should look into a line driver or something else? Thanks in advance.

A line driver will boost your output voltage ?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

A line driver will boost your output voltage ?

its a dirty signal to begin with so he'll only be making a dirty signal bigger then it is.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

its a dirty signal to begin with so he'll only be making a dirty signal bigger then it is.

Maybe a line driver EQ combo so the dirty signal can be dialed out....

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Maybe a line driver EQ combo so the dirty signal can be dialed out....

well that would be a JL cleansweep or an audio control one but that costs more then a good head unit lol. But yeah with the clarion head unit he has can go active, has time alignment, 5 volt preouts, crossover controls and everything else you need for great car listening. Even has modern day features like bluetooth calling and stuff. He'll definitely enjoy it lol.