Pre-out voltages?

[CrazyKenKid 10+ year member]

hey guys i have a fast question to ask! On the every day best buy decks i notice there pre-outs have a voltage of 2volts!

on high end pioneer decks i notice they have 6volt preouts and on some elciplse deck they have 8volt preouts!

my fast question is with more volts coming from the preout does overall car audio sound better??or on the big scale it doesn't mean to much?

thanks

Kenneth

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[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

yes it sounds better

 

[MTX520 10+ year member]

specially on pioneers...there voltage pre outs are ****ing strong as fack!!!...

 

[CrazyKenKid 10+ year member]

umm i see! thanks for the fast reply's guys you rock!

also has anyone else noticed on the poineers the phr8800 in question the volt meter seems to be out by like 1volt? anyone else notice this?

 

[MTX520 10+ year member]

not me....hey brotha if you see any cheap pioneer HU's or a Pioneer DEH-7000UB over there..let me know...im looking for one...i dont really like my kenwood hu i bought..

 

[CrazyKenKid 10+ year member]

ya man no worries if i see one going i will plug your name in!! and send you a link or e-mail no worries there! but for some reason ppl over here don't use the UB to much..i don't know why for some reason we keep getting defective ones that buzz/humm in our speakers and ground loop fixes it some times lol!!! o well just our luck i guess

 

[RowJoe 10+ year member]

I've read a bunch of times that a higher pre-out voltage does not produce better SQ. There's like a million threads on this topic. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[BlakeWilder 10+ year member]

On the pioneer HU's It costs DOUBLE to go from a HIvolt 4V preout unit to a 5V preout unit....thats the question...and the Burr Brown Converter...together do they both make a noticeable difference??MSRP $229DEH-5100ub VS. DEH-P800PRS $550

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Basically it just means you don't have to turn it up as much on the deck.

I know most my 2 volt decks I would have to crank pretty hight to get them to where I liked it. My 4volt decks and up........(Highest I had was a 6v deck) I didn't have to turn up as high.

Wether or not it makes better sound.......I don't know it might. Just hooked up my 7500 JVC Arsenal 5-volt deck and before this had a 4-volt Kenwood x-492 and seems the JVC sounds better and I haven't even fully tuned it yet and both setups were off the same highs amp and haven't touched the amps settings.

So........in a way I guess the 1 volt helped a little, lol!

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

Someone down at my shop told me the ohms on the pre-outs are important as well. I don't know anything about that yet but need to research it I guess.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

I just searched this topic...."preout voltage" and got 20 threads.

Here are the cliffs since you're a lazy ***...

1) No, higher preout voltage doesn't give you better "SQ"

2) Most HU's DO make their rated numbers if you measure them correctly

3) Pre out voltages are rated at MAX output, just like some amplifiers

4) You will almost NEVER see full rated preout voltage out of a HU when playing music.

5) 2v is plenty to drive your signal

6) A combination between high preout voltage and low output impedance from the HU typically results in a lower noise floor and higher S/N ratio

 

[sdsurfer 10+ year member]

Higher voltage preouts will allow you to turn down the amplifier gain to reduce

amplifier induced noises.

In my car,the difference in pre-out voltage is noticeable; the signal is significantly cleaner, meaning MUCH LESS hiss/noise and LOTS MORE headroom and dynamic range.

But if you do not have random electrical noise coming out of your speakers, then higher voltage head units will not make any difference for your particular installation.

 

[fuster 10+ year member]

If you want to increase the pre amp output voltage going into your amp, you can do it with a number of products from Audio Control that will step up the voltage with a variable adjustment. Stepping up the voltage works well to cancel out external electrical noise from other sources from your car that can interfere with the signal esepcially if the wiring from pre amp to amp run more than a few feet. Audio Control is not the only company that makes this type of product but I am only familar with their stuff and the BLT's from Soundstream that they designed to be used with some of their older Reference amplifiers.

 

[LWW 10+ year member]

6) A combination between high preout voltage and low output impedance from the HU typically results in a lower noise floor and higher S/N ratio

There is the answer and, IMHO, Eclipse HU's rule the world in this aspect.

LWW