I've had a Pioneer Premier DEH-P920R for the past 4 years and absolutely LOVE it. For a while now, I've wanted to add MP3 capability to the car but haven't been able to find a HU that I like. I would love to get the Pioneer Premier DEH-P940MP, but I've read that the read time between MP3's is slow and the silver face clashes with the black interior of my car. Right now, I'm looking at the Alpine 9815 but concerned about the difference in sound quality. The PioP-920R has 6.5v preamp outs and the Alpine only has 4.0v. I've also read that Alpine has overrated it's subw preout and that it is no where near 4.0v. I don't want to add MP3 at the cost of sound quality. Do you think the 2.5v (possibly more on the subw) preamp out difference would be noticeable and if so, how much?
What other HU's would you recommend?
Just as a point of reference, the rest of my audio setup consists of the following:
Alpine V12 MRV-F407 Alpine V12 MRV-T707 Infinity Kappa Perfect Components (6 1/2") Infinity Perfect 12" Sub Tons of Dynamat
you shouldn't really notice any degradation from the voltage difference if you properly re-set the gains on the amplifiers to match the new line drive voltages.
RattleMax
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Thanks for the reply GlassWolf.
Another q, wouldn't raising the gains on an amp to compensate for low preamp voltage introduce noise into the system? I was always under the impression that preamp voltage is directly related to the amount of noise that could be picked up/introduced into the sound. The higher the voltage the cleaner the sound?
Do you think a line driver is worth the extra money....mainly for the SubW channel? Every forum I read says that the Alpine SubW channels are overrated and only put out 1.7v.
I have a 9813. the sub out is weaker, but as I said, not an issue with the gains set to match on the sub amp.
no, the gains won't introduce noise. they are there precisely for the purpose of balancing the line voltage to the amp inputs. what gains can do if set too high compared to the line drive voltage, is cause the amplifier to clip, which can cause distortion and speaker damage.
a line driver can help a bit, but if you get one, get a good one so you're not wasting your time. Audiocontrol is good, and you can get the driver built into things like an EQ or crossover.
RattleMax
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I think I'll start with the 9815 and reset all the gains. If need be, I can always add a line driver later.