To Ven or Not to Ven -- for ICE experts

OK guys, I've done the usual add an amp and Stealthboxes to my ride, and now need to work out that annoying detail: do I need a line output converter or not?

The system works right now and sounds good, but I have the gain turned all the way down, and not sure if it's going to get "iffy" when I turn it way up (haven't done that yet).

So I have an Alpine MRV-T420 driving the Stealthboxes, and it accepts up to a 4V input signal at the RCAs (it doesn't have speaker inputs, the T320 does).

I've heard, but haven't been able to verify, that the HK head outputs (I spliced in before the amp in the back) put out as much as 11-12V? Is this correct?

So if I do need to bump the signal down, other than the Vendettas, what other LOCs do people recommend (and models)? PAC? PIE? Soundgate? Others?

Thanks.

I've read many posts on this forum that state the stock HU sends out a balanced output, which can run up to 12volts. Since you got the signal before the stock amp, you may run into noise if you turn up the gains on the alpine. Since you're just using this to run subs - couldn't you splice into the signal after the amp going to the stock midbass/subs, and connect that to your LOC. The signal would already be lower freq. passed, but that's ok since that's what you want anyway to go to the stealths?

I'd rather not run any LOC at all, so that automatically eliminated the speaker-level outputs. Also, as you mention, the stock amp has the crossover built in, and I don't want to use that, I want to be able to control the crossover frequencies at the new amp.

Unfortunately, short of replacing your Headunit, you'll be forced to use some sort of line out convertor to get an RCA connection which you can feed into an amp. Some of the higher end amps like JL Audio and xtant accept a dif. input. So in theory, just use a normal LOC to grab a signal before the stock amp, run RCAs into the JL or Xtant amp, and then you can use the amp's crossover and whatnot to tweak the signal to your sub.

Originally posted by johnhab
I'd rather not run any LOC at all, so that automatically eliminated the speaker-level outputs. Also, as you mention, the stock amp has the crossover built in, and I don't want to use that, I want to be able to control the crossover frequencies at the new amp.

Right now I've spliced into the head unit preamp outs in the factory harness in the trunk and have wired those to RCA plugs directly into the Alpine.

Sounds like you agree that the HK head puts out 12V (right?), so while it works ok at low volume with the Alpine's 4V input, I need to splice in an LOC.

So any recommendation on a specific one? Lots have used the Peripheral VEN4, and I only need a VEN2. Have any experience with Soundgate or PAC?

It's just that if I'm going to go the trouble of wiring something in there, I want it to be the best.

I finally wired my Ven4 today. See here http://forum.e46fanatics.com//showth...threadid=36842

Sounds good. I don't have any problem with noise yet.