Joined
·
8,951 Posts
I have been reading some old posts about when to use line drivers and I wanted to revisit the topic a little. Is the only time that a line driver is beneficial when you don't have enough volume? Can a line driver be a benefit to an install even when the gains on the amps are already set low and the desired volume can be reached?
The reason that I'm curious is that I have a Xenon 600.1. A lot of people talk about them needing really high input voltage. I have a Pioneer 880, so the output voltage isn't bad. Mine is running a pair of 10's IB, so I get plenty of volume even with the gains very low.
So other than volume, is there a benefit to using a line driver? If a system is already able to reach the desired volume with the gains low, will a line driver clean up the signal from the HU, or will it just be an unnecessary addition?
I figure that the amps job is to increase the voltage and if it can do that without being maxed out then there isn't a need to increase the signal before it gets to the amp.
The reason that I'm curious is that I have a Xenon 600.1. A lot of people talk about them needing really high input voltage. I have a Pioneer 880, so the output voltage isn't bad. Mine is running a pair of 10's IB, so I get plenty of volume even with the gains very low.
So other than volume, is there a benefit to using a line driver? If a system is already able to reach the desired volume with the gains low, will a line driver clean up the signal from the HU, or will it just be an unnecessary addition?
I figure that the amps job is to increase the voltage and if it can do that without being maxed out then there isn't a need to increase the signal before it gets to the amp.