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High level input help please!!

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 5:00 am
by mr2sam
Hi I have an 04 bmw E46 with standard business cd system, my question is that I have bought an amp which has hi level inputs (to use with oem cd player) so I am assuming I can use this to power the speakers i have bought and then use the line out to power an amp for the subs i have got, only thing is that it has 10 pin contacts not 8 which i would assume would be the 4 speakers so what are the other pin contacts and if anyone knows what order they are eg. would top be positive for speakers? Or even better does anyone know where to download the manual, its a magnat bullpower 4600, i have googled and cannot find it anywhere!

Image

Could it be that 2 of the pins are for negative and remote, then main power goes to the usual place?
Any help would be amazing,regards sam

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 6:36 am
by stipud
Looks very similar to a computer powersupply motherboard connector... but it could be proprietary as well. Not really familiar with those amps.

Negative and remote will be on the other side of the amp. They require much much bigger wire than that little connector can provide.

However, the high level feeds in your car would all be crossed over to the specific range of the speaker they are running to, so you wouldn't be able to get a full range signal out of them. To do that you would have to tap into the pre-amp (low level) feed between the headunit and amp somewhere.

What do you intend to run with this amp?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:19 am
by mr2sam
hi, thanks for the response, i was hoping to run some components for the front off this as the oem cd player has no pre outs and because of the size of it i was hoping to keep it oem which is what a lot of the e46 owners seem to do,every aftermarket cd system just seems out of place,
not a very good photo of the oem cd player:

Image

I was under the influence that i could use the speaker outs on the back of the headunit to this amp and then run my own wiring to the components. I also just assumed i could use the line out on this amp to send the signal to the other 2 amps i have got to power my subs? cheers for your time stipud

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:20 am
by mr2sam
oh yeah i was going to fit a line driver between this amp and the other 2 amps

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:25 am
by dBincognito
You need a line level adapter that will turn the wires coming out of your headunit into RCA Outputs.....then run from the line level adapter to the line driver then out of the line driver and into the amp.....from there you only need to connect the speakers to the speaker terminals, and make sure the amp and line driver have ground, power, and remote sources.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:28 am
by dBincognito
This is what you need

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-Car-Line-Conver ... dZViewItem


This is a 2 channel version....they are also available in 4 channel models.....but I would suggest buying 2 of these.....I have found these to work the best


I would also suggest never using the high level inputs on any amp.....the distortion factor increases quite substantially when using the high level inputs. The exact specifications on distortion level when using the high level inputs is usually found in the owner's manual.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:45 am
by mr2sam
So the best way would be to use 2 of these, one for the above picture amp to run the components usuing the front speaker wires, then use another with the rear speaker wires to run my sub amps off, should i use a couple of line drivers eg. 2xPhoenix Gold TLD22 Line Driver 8 Volt in this setup?My last car i had a very simple setup on the mr2, aftermarket stereo,sub,components and 2 amps:

Image

sorry about the crappy phone picture

So just getting used to working without preouts and planning the system fully before i install it and find problems

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:50 am
by dBincognito
I'm trying to find the manual.....this amp is made by Audiovox right ?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:56 am
by mr2sam
As far as I know its made by magnat(unless that is just a sector of a larger company), and "bullpower 4600" is just the model and channels/power,thanks for your help dBincoqnito

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 7:58 am
by dBincognito
mr2sam wrote:As far as I know its made by magnat(unless that is just a sector of a larger company), and "bullpower 4600" is just the model and channels/power,thanks for your help dBincoqnito

Everytime I search for it "Audiovox Magnut Bull Power 4600" is what keeps coming up for results.....I'm not sure, I haven't had any prior experience with that particular amp

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:01 am
by dBincognito
mr2sam wrote:So the best way would be to use 2 of these, one for the above picture amp to run the components usuing the front speaker wires, then use another with the rear speaker wires to run my sub amps off, should i use a couple of line drivers eg. 2xPhoenix Gold TLD22 Line Driver 8 Volt in this setup?My last car i had a very simple setup on the mr2, aftermarket stereo,sub,components and 2 amps:

Image

sorry about the crappy phone picture

So just getting used to working without preouts and planning the system fully before i install it and find problems
Need to find the manual....you would need two of these to run all 4 channels of that amp....i.e..front channels for tweeters, rear channels for mids.....and then there are outputs on your amp....you could run out of those outputs and into your sub amp

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:03 am
by mr2sam
lol, no wonder i couldn't find it! just searched it myself and yeah thats the amp, feel a bit stoopid now, just gotta find a pdf of the manual and i will be sorted, cheers mate!

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:31 am
by mhyde71
magnat amps is on ampguts
but not the 4600 you are working with

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:40 am
by stipud
dBincognito wrote:You need a line level adapter that will turn the wires coming out of your headunit into RCA Outputs.....then run from the line level adapter to the line driver then out of the line driver and into the amp.....from there you only need to connect the speakers to the speaker terminals, and make sure the amp and line driver have ground, power, and remote sources.
His amp already has a line level adaptor built in.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:42 am
by Bfowler
mhyde71 wrote:magnat amps is on ampguts
but not the 4600 you are working with
:naughty: i know you didn't just use a singular verb with a plural noun....

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:44 am
by mr2sam
Can't find a pdf of the manual anywhere, just found a review of the amp in italian, couldn't understand anything but the 3/5 part lol

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:44 am
by oldskoolmseriesfan
Bfowler wrote:
mhyde71 wrote:magnat amps is on ampguts
but not the 4600 you are working with
:naughty: i know you didn't just use a singular verb with a plural noun....
did the caffein buzz kickstart your noggin this morn? :lol:

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:48 am
by Bfowler
honestly...i think db is right. skipping over the hi level inputs and using a converter would sound better and be easier.

in most bmw's i work on (or any cars with factory heads and amps for that matter)

i like to tap in near the factory amp into the amp inputs.

then run a short (6feet or less if able) interconnect to the new amp.

also, do you have the factory hk sub?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 9:01 am
by mr2sam
hi it doesnt have the hk system just the bog standard business cd player with front components and rear speakers so as far as i know there is no seperate amp just the cd player. Which would sound better, hi level inputs on the amp via the cd player or level convertors from the cd player to the "normal" line in on the amp?2 options just don't know which would be the better of the 2 for sound quality?

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 9:23 am
by dBincognito
mr2sam wrote:hi it doesnt have the hk system just the bog standard business cd player with front components and rear speakers so as far as i know there is no seperate amp just the cd player. Which would sound better, hi level inputs on the amp via the cd player or level convertors from the cd player to the "normal" line in on the amp?2 options just don't know which would be the better of the 2 for sound quality?

In my experience....ANYTIME I have ever used high level inputs on a ANY amp....the results have not been good.....the bass tends to crack up when you put any kind of power to the speakers....at low levels all seems well....but when you start to turn it up...distortion does make itself present.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 9:49 am
by ttocs
this is the start of the signal so if it is not clean it will not get better. When using LOC's I always put them as close to the deck as possible to avoid noise, but I would also recomend a good quality loc which would cost a little more then $10.

I too have found when using the high level input on the amps that often there is alot of noise and just doesn't sound good. This is true except when using JL amps they have a little better loc then most.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:20 pm
by mr2sam
Thanks for the advice, looks like I will be using line convertors then, one more question has anyone used a line driver between a loc and the amp, would it be worth looking at or a waste of money?regards sam

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:27 pm
by Bfowler
the LOC generally have decently high voltage coming off them. i would use a multi meter to see what kind of voltage you are getting out of the LOC. if its low, then go with a line driver.

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:40 pm
by mr2sam
looks like i will be getting the 4 channel lov off these guys then:

http://www.davidnavone.com/cart.asp?24& ... -aux-input

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:41 pm
by mr2sam
2nd one down from the top, didnt realise it would bring everything up lol