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-UP-GRADE YOUR CURRENT POWER AMPLIFIER
We have many questions from our readers about how to get maximum performance out of their current amplifier.
Maybe they are right. There are many car amplifier in the market that can be up-graded to get maximum performance. We have worked on some brands, but off course not all of them, and some results are here for you.
The new series of Precison Power amps, starting from ART series (A600, A1200) to the PCX series (PCX2600, PCX21400 etc) are using SMD CARDS for their differential and VAS. Here's the front and rear picture of the CARD :
Now Valveaudio makes UPGRADE CARD for these Precison Power car amps. We redesign the circuit to get maximum performance out of these Precision Power amps. We don't use SMD components, but old-fashioned 1% resistors, WIMA capacitors and ordinary transistors. The result? Well you will have to hear the difference yourself.
-ROCKFORD FOSGATE, ZAPCO, SOUNDSTREAM
These brands don't have internal chip that can be upgraded, but they have features that can be used to get max performance. This feature is the balanced input, and somehow many of the owners don't use them. There are many reasons why the owners do not use this feature, in some cases, they do not get enough information about balanced line (maybe their installer don't tell them, heh?)
Valveaudio makes the BLT (Balance Line Transmitter) that can be used for this brands. Each BLT is stereo unit, consist of 1 transmitter and 5 meter balance cable.
What is balanced line? Balanced line is known for very long time in professional audio. It is the important link for all gears used in pro-audio. Imagine a stadium's audio system, from the control center in the top of the building to the power amps and speakers in the stage. Mixers, processors are in the control room, while the power amps and speakers are in the stage area. So how far are the signal cables being used? Sometimes more than 100 meter (yes, it is right, 100 meter). Maybe you think you can use ordinary RCA cable for this purpose. But remember, it is 100 meter signal line with hostile environment.
Hostile, how? You know in some room or stage, the clean, neat look is very important. You don't want to watch Kylie Minogue's concert with all cables all around you, do you? So they put all the cables in the same path, from the signal cable, electric power cable, and every cable in the room in one channel. So now you can imagine how hostile it is to have the signal cable parrarel with electric power wire for more than 100m. Ha-ha, with only 4 meter you already have dizzy in your head. Remember the whine in your car? It is only 4 meter of signal cable and 12VDC of electricity. So you can imagine how hostile it is to have more than 100 meter signal cable parrarel with 220VAC power line!!
Balanced line is made for this purpose. Basically 1 signal is made to inverting and non-inverting signal. These 2 signals are passed through that 100 meter line. So for 1 signal there will be 3 cables, the inverting signal, the non-inverting signal and ground. The inverting and non inverting cable also suffer from induction distortion along with the line. But at the receiver, all signals are summed up, and all induction distortions are canceled with each other. So the result is the clean original signal without distortion (due to the inductions). Clever way to get good result, don't you think?
For us in car audio, there are also important result from this balanced line. You will get more clean signal from balanced signal, because in the source you have 2 paths of signal (remember the inverting and non-inverting signal?). If you have ordinary RCA for signal you will only get 1 signal path, that is the non-inverting signal only. The result is more detail, cleaner audio signal going to your amp.
Remember that power amplifier acts to amplifies signal. So what ever coming in will be amplified. If you get clean audio signal coming in, you will also get clean audio sound in your speaker, but if you put in some distorted signal to your amp, you will get amplified-distorted sound in you speakers.
Balanced line will give you cleaner signal going to your amp, while RCA is more inducted than balanced line. In balanced line, all inductions will be canceled with each other, but in RCA the induction distortion is fed straight to your amp.
I know that many exotic RCA signal cable manufacturer claims they have the best cables for the signal. And I know that there are so many expensive RCA signal cable out there in the market, made from exotic materials from teflon, silver, oxygen free copper, gold etc. But usually they are still ordinary 1 path RCA, with no resistance to induction. It is OK if we use them in our sound/music room in our house. There are minimum distortion along the cable. But in car environment? We know that there are so many cables in your car that gives induction to your audio signal cable. From headlight cables, horn cables, power cables, etc. RCA don't have resistance to inductions. Balanced line do.
Contact : lumanauw@bdg.centrin.net.id