Low preout=bad SQ?

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

hi i hear all the time that higher pre out voltages means better audio quality

my question is if my 9815 is having it's SQ affected by the low voltages on the preouts?

i have to crank up the amplifiers gain too much to get sound and i think it sucks to //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Click to read more...

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

i hear all the time that higher pre out voltages means better audio quality

They don't...

unless you have an inducted noise problem in your install, having more preout voltage does nothing to help the SQ.

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

i have to crank up the amplifiers gain too much to get sound and i think it sucks to //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

describe your setup to us, its probobally a different problem. I've been running 2v pre-outs for quite some time with outstanding SQ and no noise problems whatsoever.

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

k

Head-unit: Alpine CDA-9815

Component Speakers: Visteon 6"

Amplifiers: Alpine V12 MRV-F407 for the component speakers and Alpine V12 MRV-1000 for the subwoofer

Subwoofer: Pioneer Premier 12"

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

Well i've never heard of the Visteon components... have any more info on them?

do just the components sound bad or does the entire system sound bad alltogether, because your feeding it plenty of power with good amps.

also, what kind of premier sub is it, and in what kind of box?

 

[stones 10+ year member]

Isn't the Apine CDA-9815 one of the new head units thats having build quality issues including bad preouts?

Go back to the place you purchased the HU from and tell them that the Alpine HU is not putting out proper voltage on its RCA pre outs.

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

lol im hopeless about that... bought it used heh //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

everything i bought on my system was used... everything works fine but i have set the gain of my component speakers woofers below 0,5v isn't it a little bit high for a unit with 4v preouts?

if i just set it to 4v i can go to volume 35 and it still sounds too quiet in my opinion... even the way it is its sounding a little quiet... on my friends setup they dont need to increase the volume as much as i need to to listen to music at the volume i do...

i know the 9815 has a notorious issue of low preouts im just concerned if that is affecting the soudn quality on my system

thanks

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Alpines have a history of doing that...so I bet they'd simply laugh at you if you said your Alpine deck had low preout voltage.

It's something that goes back to the 78xx and earlier lines, because my 7894 and '93 before that did the same thing.

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

wow i thought the 2002 line was safe from this crap

so the 2003 line didnt have this problem, right?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I believe they did...

 

[cappy72 10+ year member]

I think you might want to look into a line driver or signal booster... I have the 9830 and I use an audiocontrol three.1 which can boost the rca voltage up to 13 volts max...

and yes low voltage can affect SQ, because if it is not sending a powerful signal then the entire signal is not reaching the amplifier, or it is too weak to be properly reproduced....

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

where do you guys leave your component speaker gains?

i use 3way mode and my tweeter is on 2v and the woofer is a little below 0,5v

im having problems with the subwoofer preouts too i guess... well on bass test tracks the sub pounds but on regular music i listen to (not electronic or rap) the subwoofer barely thumps... i leave it on nominal...

i once tested the voltage of the sub pre out and it showed 5v //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif but i guess i did it wrong because i just used a voltimeter connected to the rca... do i need a resistance or something to check the voltage correctly?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

They don't...
unless you have an inducted noise problem in your install, having more preout voltage does nothing to help the SQ.

Jack, I'd have to say I disagree. My last HU upgrade was from a KDC-X569 to the X679 I use now.
There are 1.8v preouts on the 569 and 5v outs on the 679. The only sound-shaping difference was a more extensive HP cutoff selection for the rear channels and going from quad 1-bit DACs to the 24-bit Burr-Brown circuit. I had no inducted noise prior to buying the 679 and in a straight A/B comparo (nothing changed but the HU) the overall SQ improved dramatically. On the same speakers driven by the same amps, after re-adjusting the gains, I observed the entire soundstage being much broader and everything I played had a heckuva lot more 'presence.' I don't honestly believe all the noticeable difference can be attributed to the improved DAC and the only other difference was the increased preout voltage.

Preout voltage can very much make a difference in SQ, IMO.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

They don't...
unless you have an inducted noise problem in your install, having more preout voltage does nothing to help the SQ.

While I do agree that higher voltage alone will not make a bad system good, I would say however that higher pre amp voltage lowers the system noise floor simply because the gains on the amps can be turned way down. Obviously if you have amps with a really high s/n ratio it wouldn't be as much but EVERY amp has less hiss when the gains are turned down.

So in a sense less noise (not distortion or engine noise) can be considered higher SQ. Just a thought from my empty head...LOL. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Jack, I'd have to say I disagree. My last HU upgrade was from a KDC-X569 to the X679 I use now.
There are 1.8v preouts on the 569 and 5v outs on the 679. The only sound-shaping difference was a more extensive HP cutoff selection for the rear channels and going from quad 1-bit DACs to the 24-bit Burr-Brown circuit. I had no inducted noise prior to buying the 679 and in a straight A/B comparo (nothing changed but the HU) the overall SQ improved dramatically. On the same speakers driven by the same amps, after re-adjusting the gains, I observed the entire soundstage being much broader and everything I played had a heckuva lot more 'presence.' I don't honestly believe all the noticeable difference can be attributed to the improved DAC and the only other difference was the increased preout voltage.

Preout voltage can very much make a difference in SQ, IMO.

What you experienced was definitely not related to having a higher preout voltage. Preout voltage doesn't have the ability to adjust your soundstage.

Not to mention, too many variables in your situation (including psychoacoustics) changed to be able to absolutely relate the "differences" solely to the preout voltage even if it were true.

FYI: I just switched from a ~2V deck to a >8V deck.