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Best spot for a Line Driver ?

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Old 10-30-2012, 09:54 PM
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Best spot for a Line Driver ?

Hello guys I just put in a Audiocontrol Line Driver placed it in the back right beside the sub amp would that be the best place for it ? or right in the front close after the deck ? what spot would I get the best results from it ?

Thxs !
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Old 10-31-2012, 01:12 AM
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Hey Jeff,
I did a quick Googling, as I wasn't exactly sure what a line-driver was. I found this, which may be of some use to you. I have put the important parts in bold.
Also, I did a search on your JVC head-unit. It has 5V pre-outs. So I have to ask, is the line-driver for this source unit?

Description

This article is from the Car Audio FAQ, by Ian D. Bjorhovde (ianbjor@mobileaudio.com) with numerous contributions by others.

3.31 What is a Line Driver? Do I need one? [LC,IDB]


A line driver is a device that amplifies a signal, such as the low-level
signal output from a head unit. Line drivers are made to amplify the
line level signal to as much as 10 volts or higher. This, of course, is
useless unless the receiving end can handle 10 volts as input. To solve
this problem, there are line receivers which bring the line level
voltage down from 10 volts or more to about 1 volt. Usually, the line
driver and receiver are placed as close to the sending signal source and
destination as possible, to minimize noise pick up.


The automobile is an inherently noisy electrical environment. So RCA
cables may pick up noise as it makes its way to the amplifier. Note
that noise here refers to the induced noise, not ground loop noise such
as engine whine. A simple way to fight against this noise is to make
the signal level carried in the RCA cable very high, thus increasing the
signal's resistance to induced noise and resulting in a higher signal to
noise ratio at the destination of the RCA cable. Most head units
produce a fairly low output voltage (< 1.5 V), although recently high
end head units advertise 4 volt or higher output, and won't usually need
a line driver.


Read more: 3.31 What is a Line Driver? Do I need one? [LC,IDB]
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Old 10-31-2012, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by TragicMagic
Usually, the line
driver and receiver are placed as close to the sending signal source and
destination as possible, to minimize noise pick up.
This is the best answer. Also make sure to get a very clean ground or noise will be a factor!
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Old 10-31-2012, 12:42 PM
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I'm not familiar with this type of equipment. I'm wondering in what instances this type of product would be recommended if you're already running a source unit with a high pre-out voltage?
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Old 10-31-2012, 02:23 PM
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Here is good explaination in terms of this topic, also check out the other papers
GlassWolf's Pages
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Old 10-31-2012, 11:58 PM
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The other advantage to having a higher line voltage from your pre-outs is a higher resolution signal. The more amplitude (Y axis) you have in your source signal, the more detail you'll be able to squeeze into that waveform. Think of it like zooming in on a JPG image. If the original image is high resolution to start with, then when you expand the image to a larger size (as the amplifier does with the audio signal) then your resulting, larger image will be sharper, whereas if the original image is a low resolution thumbnail type image, then when it's enlarged, the image will not be as clear or detailed.
I think that this is a great way of explaining what the purpose of a Line-Driver is.
So for SQ builds, do guys generally try and find amps that have higher input voltage ranges, so they can feed them high voltage sources?
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Old 11-01-2012, 11:01 AM
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From my understanding, the try to find a source unit that have the highest line voltage that can work with their amp's max input voltage (input sensitivy) to lower the noise floor, hence, better sq.
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Old 11-01-2012, 02:36 PM
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^ High output voltage with as low an output impedance as possible.
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Old 11-01-2012, 06:09 PM
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Originally Posted by TragicMagic
Hey Jeff,
I did a quick Googling, as I wasn't exactly sure what a line-driver was. I found this, which may be of some use to you. I have put the important parts in bold.
Also, I did a search on your JVC head-unit. It has 5V pre-outs. So I have to ask, is the line-driver for this source unit?
Hey thxs for the info I did check the outputs on my JVC they are high on the front & rear but where low on the subout rca thats why I wanted to try it on that channel seams to do good. The linedriver lights are saying 7.5v going into the amp.
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Old 11-07-2012, 05:10 PM
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hi output voltage isnt always best, niether is low output impedence. Whats the most important is matching the output voltage/impedence with the input impedence of your amplifier
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