Run down to Walmart. They have amp installation kits for dirt cheap. Or you could run down to your local shop and buy 20 feet for $35 or so.

Yeah, raise, lower. I get confused. I meant whatever means you get less noise!

Nah. The noise youre getting from speaker wires isnt induced noise like alternator whine or such but rather the inherent noise they carry in their signal. While speaker wires have strong voltage running thru them (which is what rejects the induced noise) the overall signal has a very low signal to noise ratio which means the noise (hiss) that is present in all signals is pretty loud compared to the actual music. You wont hear this when its running a speaker but when it runs thru an amplifier the noise is amplified as well - plus its already been amplified once before at the source and thats where they get the vast majority of the noise. Thats why RCA's are better for reproduction as they have very low noise compared to the music but because their voltage isnt as strong as a speaker wires theyre more suceptible to induced noise and since RCA signals arent amplified, they have virtually no noise inherent in them.

So the shorter the RCA's, the less likely they are to pass by something that can induce some crud into the signal.

 

Macleod,

Do you have your install shown on this forum?Looks like a great system, I would like to check it out.

 

There is nothing much to show. I have the speakers in the stock locations althought my doors have 4 layers of Dynamat on them and my door skins have not only Dynamat but pollyfill, modelling clay and foam in them. The tweets are in the stock dash locations.

My sub is in a plain sealed box in the front of the trunk firing into the cabin.

I have my amp board mounted vertically directly behind the sub so you cant see the sub at all. When you look in the trunk you just see the amp board with the amps and processor on them and its carpeted in trunk liner.

I hate and suck at installation. I enjoy the tuning and listening. My installs are always bare minimum. Just enough to make it solid and safe. Very little creativity.

 

Macleod so would this convert the voltage from a aftermarket SonyXplodHU that only has 2.2 volt RCA preouts to 11 volts max?

To clarify, would this phoenix gold unit help a head unit with low voltage RCA preoutsgain power/stability/sound quality? Obviously a new HU would probably be the best option...

Thanks

 

the line driver is 8volts output, capable of 11..................... this is cheaper: http://cgi.ebay.com/HUGE-PLANET-AUDI...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Cheaper, yes. PA vs. PG, no comparison!

 

Phoenix Gold is a better piece of gear - plus I stay far away from anything bought off Ebay.

And yes, a line driver will take the low voltage RCA output of say a Sony head unit and bump it up to whatever its spec'd for.