I'm thinking about getting another deck for my other car and I'm going to run some mbquart dsd 216 components in the front off an amp and I'm wondering how preamp voltage would effect the sound quality.

I was looking at the alpine 9856 and it only has a 2v preamp output vs. the kenwood KDC-MP4032 or even the eclipse DXZ465MP that has a 5v preamp out put. I love the controls and the setup of the Alpine, but the others have a higher preamp out put so I'm confused on which one I should go with.

 

You'll get the best sound quality with the Eclipse. If you're running MB Quartz, run Eclipse.

I'll let the others chime in with the technical explanations, but IMO, anything over 4 volt preamp is good. The good Alpine decks start at 4v, almost all Eclipses are 5 volt. I have an Alpine 9813, love it. It was one of the best decks at that level when I got it, but if I were to buy a stereo today it would be an Eclipse.

Alpine, like all other stereo manufacturers, builds their stereos with off the shelf chips. Eclipse is owned by Fujitsu Ten, which manufactures chips. The high end Eclipses are made of custom made chips. Also, a lot of people are reporting that Alpine's quality control standards have laxed.

Eclipse makes the stereos for Toyota. Ever notice how the Lexus nav systems are pretty much the best there is?

 

Thanks suspendedHatch. I was always wondering why my friends eclipse deck always sounded better and cleaner than any other persons I've ever heard, but I haven't listened to too many nice systems. Eclipse it is.