What do the ohms of an rca output mean?

[stones 10+ year member]

I've made it my lifes mission to learn everything there is about car audio, and after 7 years, I like to think that I know quite a bit about it, But when i read the specks on a head unit and see something that says that the decks rca pre outs have an impedance of , say 60ohms, I have no idea how that effects the performance of the cd player, I only pay attention to voltage.

So what is that "ohms on the output" thing all about??

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[Unregistered]

Simply put the lower the output impedance and the higher the voltage the better.

Lower impedance is like lower resistance (impedance is kinda like resistance but in AC we don't say resistance we say impedance). Lower impedance means that the signal gets across better with less noise and signal losses down the RCA line.

Good 4V outputs often have an impedance of 200 Ohms or less. The latest head units offer down to 60 Ohms or so at 4V or more which is even better. Many Panasonic Heads sport 60 Ohm impedance on the pre-outs.

4V and 200 Ohms should be a "standard" mark for very good quality, but more voltage and less impedance is better than that.

Hope that helps.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

Thank you. I am now a wiser man because of you.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif