will i hear a dif from going from a 2 volt pre out to a 4 volt pre out head unit.

im looking for a new cdplayer and some i am looking at have 2 volt some have 4 volt how does this affect the sound quality?

sorry if this is a stupid question.

thanks

 

No, totally not a stupid question. I had a 2v preout deck a few years ago, upgraded to a 4v, and I was shocked at how much louder and cleaner music reproduction was without changing anything else.

But preouts only make a difference if you are running an external amplifier, say for a sub or to power the rest of your speakers. If you are going to be using the deck's power (and never plan on upgrading to an amp) then preouts will not factor into it.

However, if you do go with an amp, I strongly recommend the 4v preout deck. It's not the only sound quality factor in decks, but it really does make a world of difference.

 

Well, it's unusual to be able to tell a differance. The higher voltage allows the amps gain to be lower, therefore lowering the amount of noise heard and allowing a cleaner sound.

 

i figured as such being though the higher priced units have 4V outs. and yes i am running amps as discribed in my sig.

im looking at an alpine CDA-852 only 2V outs on ebay the 855 and 857 are out of my price range. im tyring to stay with the 1.5 din unit i was also looking at the pioneere DEH-P77DH has many features more than the alpine but i dont know anyone who has one. so its hard for me to compair the 2.I know i cant go wrong with alpine!!!

does anyone know where i can get a flush mount install kit for a single din unit. where the cdplayer wont stickout ??

thats the main reason im looking at 1.4 din units.

thanks again

 

i was running a 2v front and sub preout on my pioneer at one time. I split the fronts into a 4 channel amp, and the rear for the subs. Put my excelong with 3 4v preouts in and OMG. My ears were starting to hurt.
~Tim

 

The reason for higher voltage pre-outs is to reduce noise. If you adjust the gain on your amps properly then a 4v pre-out will not be any louder than 2v. You should not hear a difference unless you have noise problems (which should be dealt with separately).

I'd look into HU install kits made by Metra. Many car audio shops carry them and (I think) Best Buy does. They can also be found on the internet. At least one of their kits (which I am using)allows you to adjust how much the HU sticks out allowing you the best possible (non-custom) flush mount.

 

do you have a part# on that kit by metra? by any chance.

 

Yeah, that was certainly a factor. All I did was swap the decks and run a quick test; didn't change the gains at first. On top of that the deck I swapped out was about 5 years older than the new one, so noise was probably an issue. Several specs (output impedence, signal to noise ratio, etc.) were a big improvement.

Regardless, I would say that upgrading to 4v preouts from 2v is worth the money.

 

Like others have said, 2 volt vs 4 volt outputs doesn't make anything louder. All it does is lower the noise floor of the amp by 3dB, which is completely useless in anything but the most strict competition standards.

 

Really? Man, I've always been told that there are at least some decent gains from increasing the preout voltage.

So essentially it's just a gimmick unless you're competing in an SQ competition or something?

 

If you have an amp that can make 100 watts, the most you're going to get out of it is... drum roll... 100 watts. The gain control just compensates for different input voltages.

 

Well of course. Obviously it wouldn't change the power output of the amplifier.

But what I was saying was I had been under the impression that higher input voltage would lead to an audible difference at equivalent volume due to decreased noise from being able to turn down the gains in the first place. Is that not the case?

That's the "gimmick" part I was asking about: if there's no audible difference, then it's a pointless upgrade except on paper.

 

No. The noise floor on any amp with high enough quality to turn on twice is going to be virtually inaudible with NO music, and absolutely, 100% not noticable with music playing.

 

Wow....

Well, that's news to me. Thanks man.