Car Radio Speaker Outputs

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2003clk240

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Clk240
Hi.

I am looking at Pioneer car radio models to replace my becker audio 10 and speakers in a 2003 CLK.

As much as possible I would like to maintain the number of speakers I currently have installed in the car which are 7 (2 tweeters + 2 front + 2 back + 1 Subwoofer).

Some pioneer units have RCA outputs. Can someone who has a Pioneer unit please confirm if these RCA outputs are in addition to the main speaker outputs or if they are the total number of available outputs?

Thanks.
 
Hi.

I am looking at Pioneer car radio models to replace my becker audio 10 and speakers in a 2003 CLK.

As much as possible I would like to maintain the number of speakers I currently have installed in the car which are 7 (2 tweeters + 2 front + 2 back + 1 Subwoofer).

Some pioneer units have RCA outputs. Can someone who has a Pioneer unit please confirm if these RCA outputs are in addition to the main speaker outputs or if they are the total number of available outputs?

Thanks.

Yes they will be in addition to the usual speaker outputs. To use the RCA's you will need an amplifier aswell.

Have a look at Alpine units they are streets ahead of Pioneer in terms of quality and reliability. Plus if you get an Alpine excellent partner to install the unit you will get a two year warranty.
 
Yes they will be in addition to the usual speaker outputs. To use the RCA's you will need an amplifier aswell.

Have a look at Alpine units they are streets ahead of Pioneer in terms of quality and reliability. Plus if you get an Alpine excellent partner to install the unit you will get a two year warranty.

Thank you for you reply. Am I correct in assuming I need another amplifier because the head unit only has power to drive 4 speakers at a time? If two of the RCA outputs are for front speakers could I hook up two twitters to them?
 
Wouldn't it make more sense to install some cross-overs and put the tweeters on the same channel as the door speakers? - Then you can use the RCA output to drive an amp for a sub-woofer.
 
The RCA points are are for Audio Amps only, the output level is just 1v so will not drive any speakers directly.
 
In some Pioneer head units you can drive a subwoofer directly from the RCA output but you have to give up two of the main speakers (in case you are using four of them).
 
Wouldn't it make more sense to install some cross-overs and put the tweeters on the same channel as the door speakers? - Then you can use the RCA output to drive an amp for a sub-woofer.

Are you suggesting bridgeing the 2 tweeters with the 2 front main speakers and installing the crossovers in the tweeter paths so they reproduce only the high frequencies?
 
Are you suggesting bridgeing the 2 tweeters with the 2 front main speakers and installing the crossovers in the tweeter paths so they reproduce only the high frequencies?
Yes. - Tweeters are designed to handle the high frequencies, so why not let the bigger units in the door do the low frequencies?
 
I had no idea what a crossover was until I read your post! :thumb: I thought that to drive 6 speakers I would necessarily have to have six outputs from the main unit! Won't splicing an output for front speaker + tweeter make the whole system loose power?
 
From my dim and distant past when I was doing sound mixing. Crossover power figures.

1. First order (-6dB /octave) reduces power to 1/4 per octave, adequate for cheap low power systems.

2. Second order (-12dB /octave) reduces power to 1/16 per octave. Provides the best technical accuracy with the least complications and harmonic distortion. For mid and high speakers the cone or driver diaphragm movement is kept constant as the frequency decreases (constant excursion).

3. Third order (-18dB /octave) reduces power to 1/64 per octave. Is good for protecting speakers at higher power. Also helps reducing bass energy from harming compression drivers with truncated horns.

4. Fourth order (-24dB / octave) reduces power to 1/256 per octave. Is best for maximum control of speakers, but requires critical alignment which is rarely achieved.
Fourth order has become the standard crossover for professional systems.
 
Typical speaker setup, (sorry about the colours)
 

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From my dim and distant past when I was doing sound mixing. Crossover power figures.

1. First order (-6dB /octave) reduces power to 1/4 per octave, adequate for cheap low power systems.

2. Second order (-12dB /octave) reduces power to 1/16 per octave. Provides the best technical accuracy with the least complications and harmonic distortion. For mid and high speakers the cone or driver diaphragm movement is kept constant as the frequency decreases (constant excursion).

3. Third order (-18dB /octave) reduces power to 1/64 per octave. Is good for protecting speakers at higher power. Also helps reducing bass energy from harming compression drivers with truncated horns.

4. Fourth order (-24dB / octave) reduces power to 1/256 per octave. Is best for maximum control of speakers, but requires critical alignment which is rarely achieved.
Fourth order has become the standard crossover for professional systems.

I wish I could understand your post, I really do. Unfortunately it's somewhat above my paygrade! :dk::dk:
 
Basically if you use a sophisticated crossover setup and lots of specialised speakers that cover different parts of the audio spectrum you'll lose more volume than if you use a cheaper tweeter woofer setup.

The more expensive crossover setups produce more accurate sound but they'll consume more power doing it.
 
I've no idea how the origional set up is wired but if you simply bridge/wire up tweeters and woofers in parallel the tweeters will be killed very quickly when they attempt to reproduce low frequencies.

On cheaper/more basic stuff whether the tweeters are seperate or combined in the same housing as the woofers (co-axial speakers) a simple 'band pass' (specifically a high pass) filter is used to protect the tweeters. This is simply a capacitor or capacitor and resistor wired in series and is sometimes visible either as a 'lump' in the wires going to the tweeter, on the back of the tweeter or attached to the basket with co-axial speakers. I'd have thought the origional set up was like this with seperate tweeters and woofers at the front and coaxial rear speakers?

Vid isn't great and it's using an even cheaper 'full range' speaker but demonstrates the distortion that happens when speakers try to reproduce frequencies lower than they can handle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70zCiaU_ABU

'Proper' speaker crossovers take this a stage further, explained in more depth but (mostly) without getting too technical here The Crossover - Brain of your Loudspeaker System | Audioholics
 
I've no idea how the origional set up is wired but if you simply bridge/wire up tweeters and woofers in parallel the tweeters will be killed very quickly when they attempt to reproduce low frequencies.

On cheaper/more basic stuff whether the tweeters are seperate or combined in the same housing as the woofers (co-axial speakers) a simple 'band pass' (specifically a high pass) filter is used to protect the tweeters. This is simply a capacitor or capacitor and resistor wired in series and is sometimes visible either as a 'lump' in the wires going to the tweeter, on the back of the tweeter or attached to the basket with co-axial speakers. I'd have thought the origional set up was like this with seperate tweeters and woofers at the front and coaxial rear speakers?

Vid isn't great and it's using an even cheaper 'full range' speaker but demonstrates the distortion that happens when speakers try to reproduce frequencies lower than they can handle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70zCiaU_ABU

'Proper' speaker crossovers take this a stage further, explained in more depth but (mostly) without getting too technical here The Crossover - Brain of your Loudspeaker System | Audioholics

Thank you so much for your tips. I'll have a look at the article. I don't think other users were suggesting bridging between the tweeters and the subwoofer. I think they were suggesting bridging between the tweeters and the midrange speakers.

I currently have the stock Audio 10 Becker cassette player unit with 2 tweeters + 4 midrange + 1 subwoofer (I wonder if any of the speakers are bridged in this installation). Since one (or more) of the midrange speakers are bust (probably ripped) I was thinking of upgrading my system a little but of course since the wiring and everything are already there, I would like to maintain the number of speakers. I don't really need a high end system, just something a little better. But maybe it's harder than I was thinking.
 

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