Need a new head unit with specific needs

[klavender1]

Pardon my ignorance, but I have a stupid question. Since I'm getting the Jensen amp and may upgrade the rest of the speakers down the road, do I need a HU with 3 RCA outs? Front/Rear/Sub?

[dwvw]

That would probably be best for future upgradeability.

[klavender1]

Great. So now the only choices I can find with 3 RCA outs, doesn't have rear AUX. which means I would have to purchase a semi-functional XM kit too. And spend twice as much money. Starting to think I would be happy just running an amp for the sub so I can get the $100 deck with rear AUX and run my XM commander.

[German Audio Specialties]

Actually, that Jensen has an "input mode" switch. You must have 2 pairs of outs, but you can put that amp into "4 channel input" mode and use the sub level controller that comes with it. I have done several that way, they work flawlessly..just make sure the high pass is off on the deck, and that front and rear are putting out full range signal.

So, the rest of the story: We will fairly soon start actual work on our custom 10 channel passive crossover. It will be $300, but if you fed your stock E34 speakers from that Jensen and my crossover, it will kick the crap out of most any speaker kit you can come up with...and if you want better, you could upgrade the speakers later using the same crossover.

So, you will be enrolling in the "guinea pig" program whether you like it or not...all part of my nefarious plan to rule the world of BMW audio...

Luke

[klavender1]

Gee thanks Luke! :D Getting deeper in this than I imagined. I do like the expandability options. Just want to make sure to start off right so when (not if) I upgrade later, it can be done easily and inexpensively as possible. I'm not running a show system, just want clean sound for a DD. Sounds like the $100 JVC HU I found may fit the bill. It has 2 pairs of RCA outs and a high pass filter.