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All the head-units I see have different voltages for their preamp outputs, anywhere from 1-6volts.

I guess my question is, how much is enough, and what's the SQ at different voltages.

Also, don't some amplifiers have a maximum voltage input rating? I mean you wouldn't want to blow your amp for something other than thumping to loud.

 
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IMO, if you want good SQ, go with a headunit that has 4v or higher. The average headunit has about 2 volts, which seems to please please enough people. It all depends on how serious you are about your SQ. Now if you have a REALLY good amp and good cables to transfer the signal, then a 2volt preamp should be adequate.

 
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some eclipses have 8 volt outs... the higher the voltage, the lower the gain on your amps is... my HU puts out 4 volts, but the amp for my subs (piece of crap replacement till my new one) has a max of 2 volts for the input... my gain is at like 5%... i cant even turn it up 1/4 because i'll get nasty distortion, but no problems with blowing or anything... its been like that for some months

 
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my eclipse puts out 8v [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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The HU I just bought today has 4V. It should be enough for me.

 
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Silverdevil said:

Then Silverdevil said:

Well, how things have changed since last night

To get back to the post, I would say 2V minimum but prefer 4V. The cleanest sound will come from the HU that do not have speaker outputs or an internal amplifier.

 
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like the higher end eclipses and nakamichi's... although mine has a switch to turn off the amplifier... i wonder if that helps...

 
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Just get a line driver. It will solve all your problems

 
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i believe line drivers tend to distort the signal

 
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Line drivers, like Phoenix Gold's PLD1 usually help to clean up the signal by delivering a more powerful signal to the amplifier.

If I am wrong then sorry, but I thought the whole idea of the line driver was to help clean the signal up even more, and at the same time give it a nice boost of voltage for more power.

Mohawk, is that correct??

 
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both possibilities seem to have their logic... i've never dealt with one first hand, so i cant say i'm an expert, but your explanation makes sense, but also mine seems to make sense to me because the headunit is what it creating the signal, and a line driver is just adding more power to it, and with a car's unsteady power supply (fluctuation between 14.4 and 13 volts) would make me think that it would cause a lot of disturbance... dont take my word for it...