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#1
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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. |
#2
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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. |
#3
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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 |
#4
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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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