One of the big things that changed while I was gone from car audio is the 4volt plus rca outputs from head units. My situation is I really want to use an Alpine 7904s or 7903s as my source. These units do not have high voltage line outs but can an Audiocontrol Three.1 fix that for me or is there a better way?

Pre-Amp Line Driver: Amplifiers require a high voltage input signal (generally 2 to

5 volts) to operate with maximum dynamic range and the

best signal-to-noise ratio. On the other hand, typical source

units only produce 1 to 2 volts, if your lucky. In a system

where the source unit is located in the front of the car and

the amplifier(s) are located in the rear, the length of the

connecting cables can have an negative impact on the

strength of the signal.

The THREE.1 includes a line driver that takes the weak

output voltage of a head unit and increases it 20dB (up to 13

volts peak) and then delivers it downstream to the amplifier

inputs.

I really like the sound of the Alpine 7900 series from yesteryear along w/ the analog volume, and analog sliders for bass and treble. Seems to be able to fine tune your system at high db's when you want that slightest extra adjustment when the newer decks take you an entire step(ex. treble from plus2-plus3 when you might want it somewhere in between for a particular song. I've always felt a non powered analog controlled headunit has its advantages so if the AC Three.1 would work for my application or something else would work better I would like to know. This system will be used with a Sundown SAZ3000D running 5000 watts to 4 Fi 18s either SSD or Qs (Still undecided but currently leaning towards the Qs) for a solid DD type system.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Ro...dSSApics177.jpg

You probably dont need the line driver to get full power out of the amp. That would be the only purpose of one. Most amps will do full power with only 250mV of input. The old Alpines will do that easily.

I think he wants a high voltage output so that the Signal-to-Noise ratio at the amp will be higher.

They are nice if your HU is not that clean at higher volumes or stresses, so you can run more line voltage and keep sound clean. I like external processors that dash mount so I can adjust any time.

I think he wants a high voltage output so that the Signal-to-Noise ratio at the amp will be higher.

With decent cables and decent amps, this isn't an issue unless the preouts are REALLY weak.

I think he wants a high voltage output so that the Signal-to-Noise ratio at the amp will be higher.

With decent cables and decent amps, this isn't an issue unless the preouts are REALLY weak.

I agree, these days line noise is hardly ever an issue like it used to be. I still have never run over 2v HU in my car and have had no problems, and a 2v HU often is much less rms mv than 2. I have noticed that some amps, like explode and dual I have tested, don't seem to go low enough (or high actually) in the amp gain for 2v HU. You end up with the gain way up.

are the Alpine HU good as far as keeping the signal clean because i too have a 3.1 i got from a friend but havent used it yet