Pre amp outputs
 

I was just wondering why my 5v pre outs sound way better than the 2.5vs i had before? Just trying to figure it out.

twice the signal power = cleaner signal at volume which means cleaner sound :) well something like that...

and less work for your amps there for keeping them cooler

More of a marketing gimmick, than anything else... Larger digits make some people feel warm and fuzzy. I think they have a pill for that now. More expensive units have better internals, which is attributed to main differences in quality, not preout voltage.

So i have a clener signal because it makes less work, and a nothing at all. Thoes replies void eachother out now. Anyone actually know the real answer?

Put a Pioneer AVIC-D3 on any amp and you will know really fast why you need more voltage.

go to this site and scroll down to number 90 on the right side...read it and you'll have all your answers.

http://www.bcae1.com/

And to answer your question why your 5v unit sounds better than 2.5v unit is probably because you just did a direct swap and did not change amp gain settings. Now your system is louder all around, and maybe cleaner cause the unit itself is more expensive made with better components. Other than that, way too many other smaller variables.

p.s. bcae1 is the audio bible. Read it and you will be getting more answers than you need. :)

Hear it goes...

preouts are measured from 20hz-20k hz, manufactures use the highest peak voltage of preout voltage as their rating. For example 2 volts @ 400hz. If you look in the back of every manual Panasonic, Sony whatever, it will have its highest rating @ xx hz. But they do not tell you that at 100 hz it might be .5 volts! That is why you hear a difference, you might have a mid-bass hole in your system because a head unit might only have .1 volts at 400 hz. While a different brand might have 2 volts at 400hz...hence making it some better. Some companies like Eclipse rate their preouts from 20hz-20k hz instead of only one frencency. Eclipse has always sounded better because of this, no other manufacturer will state their rating from 20hz - 20k hz. That is why preout voltage is better, but not all preout voltage is the same. My opinion (which I have tested)

1 - eclipse
2 - pioneer
3 - JVC
4 - Alpine (3 years or older will places them in second)
4 - Sony
5 - Panasonic (the absolute worst in the sub range!)

This is all I have tested...

Or

Add the good quailty line-driver and solve all the issues. Keep in mind some amps cannot take a high voltage preout in...but that is another topic.

Cheers!

Westec, have you measured the outputs of the Alpine audio processors like the pxa-h700, 900 etc...? Curious as to their performance.