Headunit Question : preout voltage important?

[Flowbee V6]

I'm thinking of buying a KDC-MP522 cd player that has two sets of 2volt preouts. I've seen one for $50 more that has 5volt preouts :eek: . Do you think it is worth basing a decision on the voltage strength if you plan on using an external amplifier or is 2volts more than enough?

[96firebird311]

For only $50, I'd upgrade to 5V RCAs. The pre-amp output voltage on a head unit is for noise reduction purposes. With 2V RCAs, you are gonna have to turn the gain up a bit on the amp, there by amplifing any noise in your system. If you had 5V RCAs, the gain should stay close to min and minimize your system noise.

[megabass]

Do NOT buy a deck with less than say 4v pre-outs. Granted, 5V is better. But less than 4v, you're asking for noise problems. :D

[Dominic]

Less than 4V might be bad, I run 2.1V preouts on mine no noise issues... but I know how to ground cable [img]smile.gif[/img]

4V is nice if you can get one though, sure...

[Flowbee V6]

Shoot! This message board has been really buggy the last couple days so I couldn't read this untill today. I was anxious and bought the 2volt version last night :mad: [img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img]

Ill probably have it professionally installed now to minimize the noise issues. It does have a 105 'signal-to decible' rating which I hear is a good thing so maybe that will make up for it. Thanks for the advice

[ July 18, 2003: Message edited by: Flowbee V6 ]

[ July 18, 2003: Message edited by: Flowbee V6 ]</p>

[speedy-v6-camaro]

For a little over $100 you can get a line driver that will bump that 2V upto 8V. I found that the quality increases quite a bit at high volume levels.

[JohnC]

I have a 16 volt eclipse head unit model 5061, and yes it does make a diffrence! my gains are turned all the way down. Its an excellent unit but it retails for $999.99, good thing I got a better deal than that ;)

[camaro_speedemon]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dominic:
Less than 4V might be bad, I run 2.1V preouts on mine no noise issues... but I know how to ground cable [img]smile.gif[/img]

4V is nice if you can get one though, sure...<hr></blockquote>

It has nothing to do with grounding, a 2V signal is obviously less signal than 4V. To get the same volume out of a 2V would have to turn your gains up more, therefore amplifing the distortion.

Even with line drivers, which raise the voltage on the RCAs, it still amplifies the distortion.

If you're not going for a super loud system, it doesn't really matter too much then.