-
Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator,
Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
Register Today It's free!
How important is Pre-Amp Voltage?
- Thread starter MarkB
- Start date
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!.
jgriffin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- September 11, 2000
- Messages
- 187
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Salina, KS
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 Sport 4x4
To me preamp voltage is important because a higher voltage gets you better sound quality and louder music and a subwoofer output lets you hook up three amps and control the level of the sub seperately and has built in low pass crossover incase your amp doesn't.
pacman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- June 8, 1999
- Messages
- 108
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Milpitas, CA (SF Bay Area)
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 EB
Actually I thought that pre-amp output voltage had nothing to do with "loudness" of the sound and everything to do with noise rejection??? In cars, with the ignition systems and DC based power, noise is a real problem. The high voltage pre-amp signal is a way around this problem. (Correct me if I am wrong)
As for the sub pre-amp, it is great to have. Most will let you adjust the settings (like jgriffin said) and you can even turn some off from the head unit to give the ears a rest if needed...
Pacman
As for the sub pre-amp, it is great to have. Most will let you adjust the settings (like jgriffin said) and you can even turn some off from the head unit to give the ears a rest if needed...
Pacman
jgriffin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- September 11, 2000
- Messages
- 187
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Salina, KS
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 Sport 4x4
That may be the case i am not sure, but when you get rid of the noise you will have a much cleaner sound with less distortion, thus letting you turn it up more.
MarkB
Active Member
- Joined
- March 23, 2000
- Messages
- 90
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- PHX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 91 XLT
Thanks for the input. One HU I'm considering - Pioneer DEH6200 - seems to have a lot of features but only 2.2V pre-amp out put, and the other - Blaupunkt Casablanca - does not seem to have as many features but has 4.0V pre-amp out put. Is 2.2 versus 4.0 a significant difference? I just want quality stuff, quality sound and I don't need it competition loud.
DocVijay
Meow
- Joined
- February 8, 2001
- Messages
- 3,470
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Tampa, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1999 Sport 2WD
High pre-amp voltage.
Having a high preamp voltage helps to reduce interference from the cars electrical systems. I'm sure that everyone has heard a stereo with that annoying background hum. That is interference from the other electronics. The main problemis that everything in the vehicle uses the chassis as the negative ground. This opens up the stero to all kinds of "ground loops" that can cause humming, crackles, static, etc... In my old truck there was actually interference where every time I put on the brakes my subs thumped. Ground loop interference. The high voltage raises the floor of the music signal farther above the background noise. The higher the voltage, the farther away from the noise, hence the cleaner the signal. Some head units put out up to 5-6 volts. You need to get an amp that has high voltage inputs. Now days most do, but check to make sure. You can also adjust the gain on most amps to balance out all the signals, so your subs don't drown out all the high frequencies and so on. Man that was long winded. Anyways, hope that helps.
Having a high preamp voltage helps to reduce interference from the cars electrical systems. I'm sure that everyone has heard a stereo with that annoying background hum. That is interference from the other electronics. The main problemis that everything in the vehicle uses the chassis as the negative ground. This opens up the stero to all kinds of "ground loops" that can cause humming, crackles, static, etc... In my old truck there was actually interference where every time I put on the brakes my subs thumped. Ground loop interference. The high voltage raises the floor of the music signal farther above the background noise. The higher the voltage, the farther away from the noise, hence the cleaner the signal. Some head units put out up to 5-6 volts. You need to get an amp that has high voltage inputs. Now days most do, but check to make sure. You can also adjust the gain on most amps to balance out all the signals, so your subs don't drown out all the high frequencies and so on. Man that was long winded. Anyways, hope that helps.
DocVijay
Meow
- Joined
- February 8, 2001
- Messages
- 3,470
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Tampa, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1999 Sport 2WD
Sorry forgot something.
Also, the output voltage has nothing to do with the actual volume of the music. The head unit and the amp do that separately. The input voltage is merely the strength of the signal. Kinda like being close to a radio station. The farther away, the weaker the signal. But once you get close enought o get a full signal, it won't get louder even if you park under the antenna of the station.
Also, the output voltage has nothing to do with the actual volume of the music. The head unit and the amp do that separately. The input voltage is merely the strength of the signal. Kinda like being close to a radio station. The farther away, the weaker the signal. But once you get close enought o get a full signal, it won't get louder even if you park under the antenna of the station.
Explorer Features
Explorer Features
Similar threads
