Purpose of Quality Head Unit w/ external Amp?

[nrgy 10+ year member]

Just curious, what benefits are there to adding a high quality head unit if you use an external amplifier to power all the speakers? And assuming someone is not buying it for in dash cd capability. Since the amp is powering the speakers, then wouldn't it be difficult to tell a difference in sound quality by simply adding an aftermarket head unit? Is a better head unit just good for additional features in this case?

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[violator5spd 10+ year member]

Better head units come equipped with 3 or more sets of hi-volt preouts...which allow you to do things like hook separate amps up to your speakers. Some units also have built-in features like 13-band equalizers, mp3 decoding (not that expensive), and LOOKS! Lots of people want cool h/u's with stuff flying around and their own pics on it...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif but yea, additional features are the main thing.

 

[violator5spd 10+ year member]

Originally posted by Jmac That's a good question //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

Better head units not only have better internal amplifiers (If they have them at all), but they also have better processors, digital-to-analog converters, cleaner pre-out signals, time alignment, sound stage enhancers, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. This is why you see most high-end head units don't have an internal amplifier at all (Pioneer P9, Alpine CDA-7995, etc.). They need all the room they can get so they can get the best processors, biggest capacitors, biggest inductors, etc. in the chassis.

Well...that too lol

 

[GSteg 10+ year member]

built quality. you don't want a headunit that will shut down or break when you're competing.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[GSteg 10+ year member]

Originally posted by Jmac Another reason why there isn't an internal amplifier in most high-end head units. Amplifiers produce a lot of heat, which, as you know or should know, greatly reduces the durability of an electronic instrument ...

very true..thats why i like my Alpine CDA-7965. only 5A for fuse