okay big question.

i'm installing a focal 165 k2p setup with an alpine pdx 4.150 in my roadster (if you know you're audio equipment that's extreme top of the line).

the guy at the installation store said that he highly recommends i go with an audiocontrol lc6 since i'm not going with an after-market head unit (i want to stick with stock). but i hear the stock head unit is pretty good, but he argues that if i'm going with high quality speakers/amp like i am, that i should go with a line output converter like the audiocontrol lc6... i still think it's an extra unneeded waste of money so he can earn his income.

what do you audio guys think?

thanks so much!

 

The stock head unit is manufactured by Harmon / Becker Automotive Systems and is very limited compared many available aftermarket systems. There are only front and rear channels. No sub pre-amp output.

Loose the stock head unit if you're serious and want some real audio control.

Good Luck!

 

that did not answer my question by any means, and like i said in the first post... i want to stick with stock...

thanks for the reply though.

 

if money is the issue... what's an extra $120 when you're already spending $1,000+ ?

if money is not the issue, then the fact that you're sticking with the stock headunit makes me think you should include the LC6.

 

The K2p are nice speakers and the installer if he was worth his snap on tool set would be making other recommendations other than the lc6. I certainly understand why he is suggesting the lc6 but it is not needed.

The idea of taking the six outputs from the amp (keep in mind the front channels are full range and the subs are crossed over on the range of 80-120 hz) to sum that all together and send out six full range outputs to one amplifier is a total waste of both his time and your money.

The only reason to do it was if you are bi-amoping the speakers and using multiple amplifiers where it would be nice to have dedicated outputs, which in that case the installer would want to bypass the factory amp insert a high end processor capable of slopes in the realm of 24db, Eq, time delay, spatial averaging, ect. Something the lc6 does not do, nor does anything from Audio Control.

I can't speak to the input stages of the Alpine amp, that is better left to them. However if you can confirm with them they use differential type inputs then you should be assured of noise free interface between the factory amp or the head unit when connected to the 4.150.

That leaves the issue then to sound quality and this is most likely the reason behind the lc6 suggestion vs the heavily used Pac SNI35 or other such step down converters. Converts in general have a high degree of roll off at the top and bottom of the frequency range, better ones have less cheap ones have more and that is why most systems that use them don't sound very good.

If the amp uses balanced differential inputs then you can take the factory amps speaker outputs and run them directly into the amp. depending n the input voltage restrictions you will either have to use a speaker level input or sulfur on some RCA connectors and go in on the low level side. The only difference is the internally the amp is stepping down the voltage in line with how the amp company needs it to be to sound and work properly.

 

Awesome speaker dude! The install guy wasn't trying to boost his income, he is actually right. The problem factory head units tend to have with aftermarket speakers is that they create voltage irregularities (among other things) causing distortion in you speakers. The amp isn't going to be able to correct that. What you might want to look into is this new piece from alpine called the "Imprint". It's a 512 band EQ that eliminates the need to replace the factory head. It basically levels everything out and filters out all the distortion that the factory head causes. The model number on it is PXE-H650, I would check it out if I were you it's only $400. I know that Tweeter carries it.

My other suggestion is looking into a Focal/Audison amp. they're so clean sounding.

Let me know what you end up doing.

 

The LC6 looks like magic, improve to "high-quality, low-noise". 35 years as an EE tells me this is not possible. It can certainly change a "speaker-level signal from an amplifier or source unit and convert it to a pre-amp signal". That only takes a few resistors and maybe an op-amp. There is no noise to remove at this level. It cannot remove noise without losing sound quality without pre-emphasis, aka Dolby. This has to happen in the head unit, not a down stream add-on. Anyway, their website says this unit it DISCONTINUED! Probably for good reason.

In my option, what you are installing will sound very little different from the stock set up, just louder, maybe.

I too want better sound, but nothing else looks right in the dash. Becker has better units, pre amp I/O, blue tooth, iPod, but not in the X-fire silver.
http://www.caraudiodiscount.com/acatalog/becker_cd.html.
The stock amp is four channel, but the head unit is only two channel. So the LC6 is an expensive solution that will do little. There are several posts on how to run a second input cable to the amp, but you need a head unit with four outs.

Let us know what you do and how it turns out.