Line Drivers?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=48354
Printed Date: May 17, 2024 at 8:55 PM
Topic: Line Drivers?
Posted By: Chopndroptx
Subject: Line Drivers?
Date Posted: January 22, 2005 at 11:38 PM
Anyone know where to get ahold of a good quality line driver at a decent price? Thanks ------------- Chris- Kenwood KDC-MP522,2pr-INI 6000CS's,Alpine MRPF240,Viper D1200.1,2-Soundstream VGW-12's
98 Nissan Frontier Minitruck
Houston,TX
Replies:
Posted By: dwarren
Date Posted: January 22, 2005 at 11:45 PM
You just missed my Audio Control overdrive line driver, you could have had it for $60...But ebay usually has a few. If my buyer falls through I will let you know.
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Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: January 22, 2005 at 11:53 PM
You knew this was coming from me. :-)
Why do you think you need one? What exactly do you think it will gain you?
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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 23, 2005 at 3:44 PM
the kenwood deck didnt tip you off?
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 23, 2005 at 3:50 PM
im kidding, kenwood is a pretty good brand, i had my girlfriend get one for her system. there really arent many reasons for a line driver though. the only time i could think of using one would be if you had low volt outs and your gains high and there was a noise coming from the rca or amp section of the car. that way, you would have to crank the gains and amplify the noise. if its a noise from the deck, you will still be hearing it as loud or possible even more. i really see no other reasons to use one
Posted By: Chopndroptx
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 10:19 AM
Hey kfr01 ya i knew you would have some input for this one! Anyway my Kenwood deck has low voltage outputs.I just want to raise the volts a little so i wont have to run my amps as hard.I think my deck only has like 2volt outs,not sure exactly.But id like to atleast get 4 or 5volts. Hit me up dwarren if your buyer doesnt come through! ------------- Chris- Kenwood KDC-MP522,2pr-INI 6000CS's,Alpine MRPF240,Viper D1200.1,2-Soundstream VGW-12's
98 Nissan Frontier Minitruck
Houston,TX
Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 10:28 AM
Bullman hit the nail on the head here.
Low input voltage, and thus a need for more gain, has no impact on how hard you run your amplifiers. This is a misconception. Gain is not a volume control. Gain is simply for matching voltage. If you match the voltage at 2v the amplifier is being run NO harder than if you matched voltage at 8v.
Quote from bcae1.com:
"A piece of equipment that has a higher maximum output voltage is not necessarily going to sound better than one which is only capable of 2 volts output. The higher output will allow you to reduce the gains on your amp (or any down line signal processor) which will lower the noise floor of your system. If you are not having trouble with noise (alternator, hiss...), you may not benefit from the extra output voltage. You also need to realize that the voltage may be more than your amplifiers can handle. The extra voltage will not damage the amplifier but if the lowest sensitivity (gain setting) on your amp is 2 volts, and you drive it with anything more than 2 volts, it will cause your amp to clip!" (emphasis added).
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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder
Posted By: dannyboy10
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 10:42 AM
Hey guys I`m basically going through a similar situation and just recently purchased a line driver (as a last ditch effort to help my problem). I`m encouraged that i`ve made the right decision after reading the quote from bcae. I have hiss b/c I need to crank the gains to match the input voltage from my deck. When I turn the gains of the amp counterclockwise no hiss. So by upping the input voltage I would be able to leave the gains down...right?
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 1:08 PM
like i said before, if it is from the deck, with a line driver you will just be boosting the hiss. if you already bought it, give it a go. what kind of deck do you have?
Posted By: dannyboy10
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 1:41 PM
Its an Alpine 9813. I measured the output and the most I could get out of it was 0.8v w/ a clipped signal... 0.5v unclipped. How do I tell if the hiss is from the HU or from too high of a gain setting on the amp?
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 2:23 PM
what kind of car do you have and do you have the deck hooked up to the stock power and ground wires?
Posted By: dannyboy10
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 2:33 PM
Its an Acura rsx the pos and ground are going through the wiring harness. The internal amp is off but I am going to reground it to the chassis up front. The hu is going to a DQX then the DQX sends the signal to 2 amps one for the subs and the other for the comps. I`m also going to measur the rear outputs to see what they put out as well.
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 2:37 PM
try taking the dqx out of the picture and seeing what happens. definately ground the deck to the chassis. and even run a new power wire to it for a bit of overkill. is the dqx grounded to the same spot your amps are?
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 2:38 PM
check the gains and output levels on the dqx.
Posted By: dannyboy10
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 2:49 PM
I just added the dqx to the picture...the volume was low before that too. One of the reasons I got the DQX was b/c it boosted the signal to the amps....but what I didnt realize was that I still needed more signal at th input of the DQX to properly level match it. The most I`m getting out of the DQX is 1 volt.
Posted By: bullman96
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 2:55 PM
i thought that deck was a 4 volt anyways. ground everything to the same point, wire the deck from the batt. and try turning up your gains using a dmm. hopefully the hissing will be gone. i tried to find a picture of a shorting plug(whatever it is called) to check if it is the amps but couldnt find one. i can never remember the name of it. if anyone has a pic please post it here.. if it ends up coming from the deck even when the wire is all perfectly clean, get the deck checked out at your local audio shop. try benching all your stuff on a friends car
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 3:14 PM
Like I said in your other thread, sounds like your HU is defective and a line driver will probably only make things worse. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: Chopndroptx
Date Posted: January 24, 2005 at 10:42 PM
I just want another line driver,just because! I use to have an old school phoenix gold and i liked it.It seemed to clean up my sound quite a bit. Just though is try one agian.Dont have any problems with my sound now,but just want to see if it help make it even better. I havent played with one in about 6 years though. ------------- Chris- Kenwood KDC-MP522,2pr-INI 6000CS's,Alpine MRPF240,Viper D1200.1,2-Soundstream VGW-12's
98 Nissan Frontier Minitruck
Houston,TX
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