Ag02M5

Trying to get some good sound with the stock HU.

How bout a line driver such as those offered by Audio Control or Phoenix Gold.

They claim the a 500mv signal can be bumped up to 8v.

Anyone with experience or facts or opinions can reply.

Does the Audiolink LLC do this same job? It can only boost the signal to 2.14V. Is this the max you can get anyways?

Thanks.

Ryan

Aslo, anyone know the output voltage that the stock amp can supply after the LLC?

Are there any balanced line drivers with speaker level inputs?

BananaGS

I was thinking about this also, but the line drivers are expensive, and I have not seen a 4 channels line driver that accept speaker level input from the head unit, so you have to get a LLC and a line driver.
That would probably set you back around $200, you can get a good headunit for just alittle more.

why line driver when you can get a signal processor or equalizer instead, if you really want to do this.


i ended up getting the Line level converter from Peripheral VEN-4
and a audio sense turn on unit from Peripheral also. My may be an equalizer (the hide away type later) keep every look stock is my goal

5 channel PPI amp is in
TV is in
DVD player is in
Need sub
need LLC's
need time to put everything together

hee hee, I am thinking out loud
Anh

jpmotdyn

I was going to use the factory HU with an Audio Control EQS. It has speaker level inputs so you would tie it in after your factory amp. It also puts out a high output. Check out their site for specs. I actually listened to a factory HU with the EQS and it sounded pretty good (It was the Nav HU) I decided to go with an aftermarket HU because after all the money i had spent on the entire system it would not have made sense to keep the factory HU.

jpmotdyn

BTW the EQS is an 18 band EQ, with built in Line driver.

Ag02M5

Thanks for the input.

I was thinking about using balanced line driver with something like an Audio Control EQX.

Only 2 channel off the front speaker leads and then run the front separates and the sub out of the eqx. Leave the rear speakers on stock amp.

Hopefully the front speakers aren't crossed over and this setup will work.

Late.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

1) Do you have the Pioneer (standard) head unit???

2) the Audiolink Powerlink 2 is a PASSIVE device - it does not boost the signal at all. It has a pair of adjustment pots on it to allow variable ATTENUATION of the high-level L/R speaker inputs. What you may have seen is a spec for the highest output signal level it will provide - but this is never higher than the input signal, in this case.

3) What you're saying about running the factory amp's signals to an EQ/crossover that has high-level inputs, just so you can get balanced line outputs, is pretty confusing and you may be about to make a mess. Balanced line drivers with speaker-level inputs??? Why? You can run a speaker level signal to anywhere in the car, especially if shielded, then convert it to line level, you don't need balanced line drivers, just twisted pair and maybe a balanced line receiver on the amp or EQ you're feeding. You don't want to take a crossed-over, factory amp output and attenuate it to line-level and then cross it over again either. Either take the already crossed factory amp outputs and use them, or bypass the amp entirely. One way to do it is to get amplifiers with high-level speaker inputs (or insert LLC's here), then you don't need a crossover or balanced-line-inputs. You drive the front/rear/sub with the new amps, same cross-over freqs as the factory amp provides. IF you choose not to use the factory amp, then the better way to do it is to grab the full-range input to the factory amp, preferably at the back of the head unit itself (I did this with the Nakamichi head unit, but can't comment on Pioneer...), then run this into an EQX or other EQ/crossover, then into your amps. You can yank the factory amp out of the car at that point. You don't want too many pieces of equipment in the signal path. It is better to keep your signal path simple and clean (routing and installation) than to worry about balanced-line or not, which is mostly beneficial if running from the dash to the back of the car. Good quality cables with good shielding and savvy equipment placement and cable routing will mean more to your installation than trying to convert your signals to balanced-line.

AudioControl equipment is excellent quality. There may be better out there for pristine audiophiles, but to my knowledge they don't make any lousy stuff.

Ag02M5

Thanks for the input. Stock pioneer here.

I would love to take the preamp output and go straight to the amp...not sure how easy that is to do.

I plan to use an eqx with a 4 channel amp...2 channels for the front speakers and the rear two bridged for a IB 10".

With that being said, what is the cleanest way to get the signal back.

I don't mind using the LLC. If so, where is the best place to put it? Right after the amp in front and run RCAs back...or splice speaker wire in and run it back to the LLC.

The reason I brought up the line driver was to bump up the signal a little. Maybe the eqx will provide all I need.

The stock HU is what is throwing me off here and I am not going for competition sound but I want it DAMN good.

Thanks.

Ryan

BabaBooey

Before you purchase a line driver, realise that 12 volts to a 4 ohm speaker would result in 7 volts from an LOC. 4 volts could be produced by a measly 4 watts. IMO, a line driver would be a waste of money. But that's just me.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, what I forgot yesterday (since I have the Nak) is that the Pioneer stock unit has separate signals to the amp from the head and the CD player, so not easy to grab preamp out in this case, or to combine the signals.

Apparently the EQX is set up for speaker-level inputs, at least that's what their blurb on the web page says. So one option is to take the front speaker outputs from the stock amp directly into the EQX and select its high-level input option. Then take the HF/LF outputs and run them right into your new amp. This will only work if the front stock amp outputs are not high-pass filtered (crossed-over) already (I'm sure someone else on this board knows whether they are or not...you'll definitely need to get that question answered.). If they are, you might consider an EQ with more input channels, so that you can take the sub output from your stock amp as well.
Best place to put a LLC is at the destination end of the run, that way the signal remains high-level for most of the run, and any noise it picks up along the way becomes attenuated by the LLC right before going into the amp. You might even consider shielding the speaker-level run(s) from the amp to keep things squeaky clean. In contrast, if you put the LLC at the source-end of the run, then you have to worry about shielding more and noise pickup in the RCA runs.
You shouldn't need a liine driver for any of this, especially since it can all be done in the back of the car.
Hope that helps.