CD43 Head Unit & Audio Amp Fundamentals - A Primer [LONG]

[bmwman91]

BMWMAN91,
a question for you ?:

As you have well depicted the CD43 in this thread can you tell me how is the equalisation curb on the CD43 straight out of the unit ??

I plan to ass the JL Audio cleansweep if the curb is not flat.
If the curb is flat then I guess I can just use the Bass/Treb of the Unit itself right ?

lets say if i use the CD43 speaker wires straight to my alpine 4-chan amp Hi-level inputs, and then to 2 good component fronts and 2 coax rear, with a Sub, will i have decent sound ?
Would that be an improvement to add an external curb flattening processor ? Or the Cd43 will perform good enough ?

Cheers Pierre

I have not done any tests with the onboard EQ. If you plan to run a system using passive crossovers, then yeah you can probably try to use the CD43 EQ. If the system is going to be multi-amped & use an active crossover, then just leave the CD43 flat since EQing that will affect all channels. Any decent active crossover will allow gain adjustment too.

[pegase747]

Oups double post...

[pegase747]

Yup, that's how you would do it.

BMWMAN91,
a question for you ?:

As you have well depicted the CD43 in this thread can you tell me how is the equalisation curb on the CD43 straight out of the unit ??

I plan to ass the JL Audio cleansweep if the curb is not flat.
If the curb is flat then I guess I can just use the Bass/Treb of the Unit itself right ?

lets say if i use the CD43 speaker wires straight to my alpine 4-chan amp Hi-level inputs, and then to 2 good component fronts and 2 coax rear, with a Sub, will i have decent sound ?
Would that be an improvement to add an external curb flattening processor ? Or the Cd43 will perform good enough ?

Cheers Pierre

[StereoInstaller1]

Pierre, the speaker level inputs sound far worse than the RCA inputs.

[pegase747]

A better AUX in? I say if cheap is the goal, grab a broken changer, do some testing with a DVM and see if you can "turn on " the changer mode, and hijack audio into the deck. Audio from the changer to the deck is simple analog, so it should sound the same no matter what you do. I have never heard much complaint about aux input being any real issue though, it only feeds the preamp.

Y'ever look at an Audiocontrol Four.1 or Three.1?


Pierre, we don't have that model in the US, apparently.

I have done that same deck into a couple of different Alpines, should work fine, just be aware that you can easily overdrive the preamp of that amp...the sound will get really "flat" and sound poopie, but I have no clue if it can actually break something. None of my customers are so deaf as to not wanna turn it down a bit when blasted to that extreme, it really sounds bad when overdriven.

Luke,

For the AUX in for the other poster I will use the Grom interface, apparently works fine and can play USB, IPOD and has a AUX in jack.
The USB and IPOD can be controlled from the deck directly...

As for my amp, it has the Speaker level input, so i will play safe and will run the CD43 Speaker wires to the SPeaker level input of the Amp.

Then when budget allows, I will add a processor in between. Probably an Alpine PXA-H650 unless there is something better, the good thing with imprint is that you can also do an auto adjustment.
I know there are other but i havent dug deep yet, I will when time comes.

in the mean time, i will run the CD43 to the 4 CH amp, then 4 speakers ( Comps front and coax Rear ), and I will have Bass, Trebble, Fader and Balance plus Amp gains to adjust the sound, weak i know but that will do, pending further developpements....

Thanks all for the answers you gave me.

Cheers Pierre

[StereoInstaller1]

A better AUX in? I say if cheap is the goal, grab a broken changer, do some testing with a DVM and see if you can "turn on " the changer mode, and hijack audio into the deck. Audio from the changer to the deck is simple analog, so it should sound the same no matter what you do. I have never heard much complaint about aux input being any real issue though, it only feeds the preamp.

Y'ever look at an Audiocontrol Four.1 or Three.1?

So Luke you think i can run the CD43 Speaker wires striaght to my Alpine PX-F650 ( 4V RCA input max ) withgout a LOC ?

Pierre

Pierre, we don't have that model in the US, apparently.

I have done that same deck into a couple of different Alpines, should work fine, just be aware that you can easily overdrive the preamp of that amp...the sound will get really "flat" and sound poopie, but I have no clue if it can actually break something. None of my customers are so deaf as to not wanna turn it down a bit when blasted to that extreme, it really sounds bad when overdriven.

[BeirBrennerE30]

Luke... Whats a better way to get an AUXIN in a CD43. For a sat Radio module or an ipod? I was thinking DICE for the ipod but I head the AUX in on it isnt so great.

[pegase747]

So Luke you think i can run the CD43 Speaker wires striaght to my Alpine PX-F650 ( 4V RCA input max ) withgout a LOC ?

Pierre

[StereoInstaller1]

No, Audiocontrol product is fine with hi levels like that. 9VRMS or 13V peak with no clipping on ALL audiocontrol product.

BTW: I have fed DOZENS of amps with 4V input just fine, clean and clear, no issues for YEARS with no shitty LOC. ALL LOCs under $150 suck ass...and if you have $150, buy a better amp!

[pegase747]

In that case you would need to get a converter, or an amp with line-level inputs. The CD43 will put out voltages up to the battery voltage (12-15V) when cranked up.

Thanks for the tip, I will likely use a LOC. also I believe some processors are actiong as LOCs with some extra features added ( Eq, Xovers etc ).
Is that wht the 6XS you are using doing ?

Cheers / Pierre

[BeirBrennerE30]

The 7 I can see as it does much more, but even that is pointless. AUX in can be done a lot better than that.

.

Luke... Whats a better way to get an AUXIN in a CD43. For a sat Radio module or an ipod? I was thinking DICE for the ipod but I head the AUX in on it isnt so great.

[bmwman91]

Luke,

The CD43 can give quite a high output Voltage on its speaker wires right ?

My Amp accepts a max of 4 Volts, does that mean I need a Line-Out converter in order to run the Amp safely from the CD43 ?

Cheers Pierre

In that case you would need to get a converter, or an amp with line-level inputs. The CD43 will put out voltages up to the battery voltage (12-15V) when cranked up.

[pegase747]

Luke,

The CD43 can give quite a high output Voltage on its speaker wires right ?

My Amp accepts a max of 4 Volts, does that mean I need a Line-Out converter in order to run the Amp safely from the CD43 ?

Cheers Pierre

[StereoInstaller1]

Do you ground it at both ends?
IE; headunit and amp.

No, just the deck end, but I suppose it doesn't matter. If you grounded it at both ends it would only act as a shunt

[pegase747]

So Luke,

is that the proper way to connect RCA female plugs to the speaker wires of a CD43, if I want to connect straight into an aftermarket 4-channel amplifier ?? Then I use a standard RCA pair of cable to connect the RCA inputs on the amp ?

Basically the speaker "-" are not used and must be stowed and isolated right ?



I will go ahead if that is correct.

Cheers / Pierre