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Marty
 
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Default 5v pre-out head unit worth it?

Hey everyone, I currently run a Clarion 545 head unit with a RF Punch
401s amp running JL xr components in the front. I have another RF
Punch 401s running 2 10" JL's in a sealed enclosure. Everything
sounds mint. However, upon a recent talk with a sales guy he says my
head unit is the weakest link in my system because the pre-outs are
only 2v. He wants to sell me a Kenwood Excelon 679 deck that has 5v
pre-outs and claims way faster mp3 seeking/scan.

Would it be worth it to upgrade? He basically said that it won't get
louder but the sound will be cleaner. Please any help would be
appreciated as I just bought this Clarion deck and would be taking a
loss by upgrading. And if it is worth the SQ in upgrade, just how
much will i notice it?

TIA!!!

M.
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MZ
 
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Default 5v pre-out head unit worth it?

Hey everyone, I currently run a Clarion 545 head unit with a RF Punch
401s amp running JL xr components in the front. I have another RF
Punch 401s running 2 10" JL's in a sealed enclosure. Everything
sounds mint. However, upon a recent talk with a sales guy he says my
head unit is the weakest link in my system because the pre-outs are
only 2v.


He's either a liar or a moron. Or maybe both.


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Scott Gardner
 
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Default 5v pre-out head unit worth it?

Marty wrote:

Hey everyone, I currently run a Clarion 545 head unit with a RF Punch
401s amp running JL xr components in the front. I have another RF
Punch 401s running 2 10" JL's in a sealed enclosure. Everything
sounds mint. However, upon a recent talk with a sales guy he says my
head unit is the weakest link in my system because the pre-outs are
only 2v. He wants to sell me a Kenwood Excelon 679 deck that has 5v
pre-outs and claims way faster mp3 seeking/scan.

Would it be worth it to upgrade? He basically said that it won't get
louder but the sound will be cleaner. Please any help would be
appreciated as I just bought this Clarion deck and would be taking a
loss by upgrading. And if it is worth the SQ in upgrade, just how
much will i notice it?

TIA!!!

M.


All else being equal between two different head units, the only difference
between 5V preouts and 2V preouts is an extra 4dB on the signal-to-noise
ratio. The S/N ratios for all modern decks are already so high that
there's *no* way you'd hear the difference from an extra 4 dB. To use your
Clarion 545MP as an example, it has a S/N ratio of 100 dB. That means that
the signal voltage is ten billion times higher than the noise voltage. I
promise you that you can't hear one part noise mixed in with ten billion
parts music. 104 dB S/N ratio would be one part noise to about 25 billion
parts signal. So, 104 dB S/N is technically "better" than 100 dB, but
they're both just varying degrees of overkill.

I think a lot of the confusion regarding preout voltages dates back to the
introduction of the Alpine 7909 CD player (early 1990's). The 7909 was a
phenomenal-sounding player, *and* it had high preout voltages for the time.
But, the high preout voltage wasn't the *reason* the 7909 sounded so good.
The choice of preout voltage was just one of the many decisions the
engineers had to make when designing the 7909, and it probably had the
smallest effect on sound quality.

The Kenwood may or may not sound better than your Clarion, but if it does,
it won't be because of the higher preout voltage. As for the faster MP3
seek/scan times, the salesman should be able to demonstrate that to you
with a display model, and you can decide for yourself if that's worth the
upgrade.

Scott Gardner

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Eddie Runner
 
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Default 5v pre-out head unit worth it?

If you like how your current headunit sounds, upgrading(?) to a
5 volt headunit wont help you... If you dont like how your headunit
sounds,
upgrading to ANY OTHER headunit might help, but still not having anything

to do with a 5 volt headunit... ;-)

On the other hand, the faster MP3 (between tracks) is kinda neat, and
might be worth the upgrade... I have had several Pioneer units (I work
at a car adio place) and my last change the headunit doesnt have a long
delay between MP3s when I switch manually like the old ones did, that
is great since I like to explore my MP3 cds...

Good luck
Eddie Runner

Marty wrote:

Hey everyone, I currently run a Clarion 545 head unit with a RF Punch
401s amp running JL xr components in the front. I have another RF
Punch 401s running 2 10" JL's in a sealed enclosure. Everything
sounds mint. However, upon a recent talk with a sales guy he says my
head unit is the weakest link in my system because the pre-outs are
only 2v. He wants to sell me a Kenwood Excelon 679 deck that has 5v
pre-outs and claims way faster mp3 seeking/scan.

Would it be worth it to upgrade? He basically said that it won't get
louder but the sound will be cleaner. Please any help would be
appreciated as I just bought this Clarion deck and would be taking a
loss by upgrading. And if it is worth the SQ in upgrade, just how
much will i notice it?

TIA!!!

M.


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