source unit............

[Tropikal_Knight]

I have a major issue.

I was using an Old school Pioneer 4050ub for 2 years with Alpine SPS 600 speakers and a solid audio amp and a kenwood sub. I had a warm sound in the car and some good bass even when I had the sub switched off.

I recently wanted a source unit with bluetooth and so got an Alpine CDE 133 CBT without prior research due to the vendor who was praising it to the high heavens.

Well I guess it was because I was using Pioneer for so long but the Alpine sound both disappointed me and there were some things I liked.

Pros: Great clarity. Crisp sounds and lots of definition. Great bluetooth clarity be it on calls and great A2DP streaming of songs.

Cons: At reasonably loud volumes hurting my ears, thin sounding, as well as very, very little bass. 1 preout only of 2vt

I have read alot on pre outs and whereever I have read it says that the more the better. Be it two or three preouts then the gains can be put low on the amp and the amp would not have to work so hard so to speak resulting in crisper, cleaner sound.

Well I want to change my Alpine as firstly I dont want the ear splitting sound, more bass but not sacrificing clarity too much. Want more pre outs as I can control the sub separately and maybe I would get a deeper, better sound. Is this true? that the more pre outs you have the sound would be better?

I was looking at the Alpine 138 bt(would it satisfy what I want in a system i.e. good warm sound clear but with lots of bass?. The kenwood x996( heard it is abit hard to use) or the pioneer 80prs maybe?

The first two are expected soon in the shop.

The guy at the shop told me my source unit is perfectly fine not to think about changing it but maybe I should change my amplifier. He said a much more powerful amp would solve the sound quality issue. But from what I have read wont the problem be the same that if the gains have to be put high on my new amp due to the one preout issue the sound will not improve?

Should not I change the source unit first?

He seems to say that the source unit change will not improve the sound but the amplifier change would.

He is recc:

1. Hifonics amp.

2. Soundstream

I think what would be better would be:

1. Alpine 4 channel

2. Focals 4 channel

What do you people suggest change of source unit or amplifier or both which I am thinking of also.

In addition I wanted to install the type R Alpine speakers but the guy said that the sound difference would be nil between the sps 600s and the type Rs

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

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[Tropikal_Knight]

Come on peeps.....a little love......why no replies even though people viewing

 

[husker77 10+ year member]

The number of preamps have nothing to do with it, with one you usually get sub out, and then you can get front and rear preouts, they are for running amps basically. I'm guessing only has a sub preouts, so you should be able to adjust your sub separately. The 2v output does kinda ****, both my kids run alpines with the 2v and we had to turn the gain up, but if you are not overdriving your amp it should be fine. You need to google how to set your amp gain with a dmm. It sounds like only your sub is amplified and you are running your other speakers off the hu? What wattage output did your original unit have compared to this one? I googled the model you listed and came up with nothing. I wanted jump into a new amp yet.

 

[Tropikal_Knight]

Thanks so much for the advice. My three main questions are :

1. Do more preouts make a difference? (this you have answered)

2. Or better amp?

3.Would the the Alpine type R speakers sound way better than the sps 600 alpines I am rocking at the moment? (this I am curious about) or Focals?

Source unit I was using: Pioneer 4050ub Pioneer DEH-4050UB Clearance @RM499nett - Zerotohundred.com

Source unit I am currently using: Alpine CDE 133 CBT Alpine CDE 133BT Specs (radio / CD / MP3 player / digital player) - In-dash car stereos - CNET Reviews

the installer at the shop whom I have known for a while sets it up for me. I did not like the first two set ups with the Alpine so I went back to him and he retuned it. Better but still not what I want. He seems to think I do not need to change the head unit just the amp. My amp is a very basic Solid Audio 600 watts. I want to change both the head unit and the amp. IF you are saying the pre outs do not matter than maybe the newest pioneer would maybe be better for me more warm sounding. I am just hesitant on the kenwood x996 as they say it is xtremely diffo to use.

I just know that the older pioneer sounded much more powerful than this with lots more bass. But the drawback is that the Alpine clarity is from another world . Makes my old pioneer sound very distorted. I dunno I guess what I am trying to ask is should I change the amp or would that still make this Alpine sound very bright which I do not like. I want something that sounds more warm but not sacrifice too much clarity.

Also would the focals or the type Rs make a difference?

thanks

 

[Tropikal_Knight]

very disappointed with this site as there is a clear lack of help or sound advice from anyone bar a couple .