I have an audiocontrol overdrive in my car that I was using for my subwoofer and I tried it out today on my front soundstage and HOLEY CRAP it makes everything sound a lot better. The line driver is only turned 1/3 and the gain on my amp (8 volt input max) is all the way down. All of a sudden the JL 300/2 has no problem squeezing everything out of the 6 speakers it's pushing.

If any of you SQ lovers haven't tried a line driver out I recommend it big time.

great to hear...

regards, Mark

Line drivers make a HUGE difference...I'm glad your enjoying it!

what did it cost ?

I bought mine used for $100. Brand new they are around $180 for the 2-channel and 370 for the 6 chanel. Phoenix Gold also makes a set of line drivers and I think they retail for a bit less. Definately worth every penny.

Hey Kevin (zzzzzzz)

Phoenix has a 4-channel line driver that will give you up to 11 Volts RMS on the output. (yes your Tantrum amps can handle that)

You can get that for around $249

2-Year warranty on that piece too. Talk to CEM if your'e interested. I can arrange for them to get you one.

Yeah my brother just took one of my line drivers he is running James's(Westec) 3 old Nak's with an XS2300.He is very suprized with the difference.It rips pretty good now.

Any signal noise associated with the addition of the line driver?
I never had any luck in SPL with boosting the input signal voltage; it always added noise to the system ie, almost faint sounding hum, or on/off pop. This was with a PLD1.

Pat from our office uses the Phoenix Gold line driver and he has no problems with it.

His car is stupid loud and I think he took third place at the USAC finals.

A line driver will reduce signal noise significantly when installed correctly because it increases signal/noise ratio. To reduce noise from existing system and to avoid boosting an already noisy signal a line driver should always be mounted near the source unit (usually front of the car - say glove box if it will fit). This gives the signal from the deck the least risk of picking up noise that is usually associated with long lines of cable running from the deck to the amp at the rear of the car. Also, use a 0 noise cable from the deck to the line driver. From the line driver it is safe to run a crappy cable because the signal/noise is boosted so high. If you run regular (even relatively high-end) from the deck all the way to the rear where a line driver is the line driver will boost the noise the system generates to that point so it's ability to improve SQ is limited.

[ December 18, 2005, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: fatty matty ]