What kind, and how much of a difference would i notice with 2v , 5v, or 8v preouts??

[BlkonBlkFG 10+ year member]

Just like it says, what kind and how much of a difference would I notice going from 2v to 5v to 8v preouts?? Right now my deck has 2v preouts, and i'm wondering if its worth it to sell it and get a unit with either 5v or 8v preouts. Is it?? Would you notice the difference from 5v to 8v??

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[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

none at all. proper gain setting is all you need

 

[BlkonBlkFG 10+ year member]

I have "heard" that with a higher preout voltage that the amp wouldnt have to work as hard, and that I would get a stronger and cleaner signal which would make it louder. Is there any truth behind what I've "heard"?

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

I have "heard" that with a higher preout voltage that the amp wouldnt have to work as hard, and that I would get a stronger and cleaner signal which would make it louder. Is there any truth behind what I've "heard"?

nope. what it does is if you have a higher input voltage, you don't need to turn up the gain, and therfore less chance of hearing induced noise. if you have induced noise, higher voltage preouts are just a bandaid to the problem

 

[Daher2323 10+ year member]

when i switched from 5v to 8v preouts..my bass was noticably louder....i mean alot. this switch was from a panasonic to an eclipse unit though so it could have just been much better quality unit. I'm sure with proper gain setting, you wont notice much difference if they are both good hu's

 

[BlkonBlkFG 10+ year member]

So it is easier on your amp then, b/c then you dont have to turn your gains up as high? I set my gain on my amp based off of the formula SQRT ( RMS * ohms)....turned my volume up to 28 (80%) and adjusted to the voltage i figured. Also did the same for my subwoofer and sounds like I have no bass at all, it sucks. So I was wondering if that stronger signal would make that much of a difference.

 

[xploit2 10+ year member]

Ok now what kind and how much of a difference would I notice going from 55ohms indepence from an eclipse unit and a 100ohms indepence in a pioneer unit.

 

[BlkonBlkFG 10+ year member]

Bump to the top......what kind of difference are we looking at guys with different preout voltages?? It seems different people have different opinions, what are the facts here??

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

when i switched from 5v to 8v preouts..my bass was noticably louder....i mean alot. this switch was from a panasonic to an eclipse unit though so it could have just been much better quality unit. I'm sure with proper gain setting, you wont notice much difference if they are both good hu's

the brand change and settings accounted for bass increase, IF you played the same track.

amplifiers to exactly what they are called, amplify the input signal.

Say you want 100v output, so you're different decks output 2v, 4v, and 8v.

100v= 2v * 50

100v= 4v * 25

100v= 8v * 12.x

the 8v deck causes the amp to make less of a change. If induced noise is always a very small number, say .1% of that signal, the more you increase that signal the 'louder' that noise will become as well.

cliff notes: higher input voltage = less amplification of the BAD and the GOOD signal.

No noise to start with = no problem with low voltage inputs.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

So it is easier on your amp then, b/c then you dont have to turn your gains up as high? I set my gain on my amp based off of the formula SQRT ( RMS * ohms)....turned my volume up to 28 (80%) and adjusted to the voltage i figured. Also did the same for my subwoofer and sounds like I have no bass at all, it sucks. So I was wondering if that stronger signal would make that much of a difference.

the stronger signal would just mean you don't turn your gains as high.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

the stronger signal would just mean you don't turn your gains as high.

I think his question is "Does gain level cause the amplifier to work harder/harder on the amp/ etc"

 

[BlkonBlkFG 10+ year member]

Well right now I have the Alpine 9857 and to me it sounds pretty good. I have a memphis m-class MCA300.4 interior amp and have the gains set a little over half way to get my calculated voltage. Alpine of course has the 2v preouts...so would it be smart of me to sell that headunit and get one with a 5v or 8v preout, or should I just leave it since it sounds pretty clean to me right now? Will the sound be a lot cleaner if i was to go with an 8v preout HU ? Thats mainly what i'm trying to get at.

So really theres nothing wrong with low voltage preouts as long as its a clean signal? Am i following this correctly?

 

[GrnEydDvl 10+ year member]

I think his question is "Does gain level cause the amplifier to work harder/harder on the amp/ etc"

No. It does not. It works just as hard - assuming the gains are matched properly for whatever voltage you are using at the time.

As said earlier - there is no real benefit from using higher voltages aside from not amplifying the noise floor as much.

 

[BlkonBlkFG 10+ year member]

So basically it sounds like I should just stick with what I have. EH??

 

[Notwerk 10+ year member]

If your only reason to switch is the input voltage, then yes, stick with what you have.