You are presenting this as though voltage = power. While it is true that voltage is part of the equation to measure power, it is only half of the equation. The other half is amperage. And, when you split an RCA cable into two, whilst also providing a load to both connections, you will deliver HALF of the amperage down that wire, meaning you have halved the power. There's no free lunch. The law of conservation of energy governs this behavior. I will also add that once you have reached the peak amperage that the deck will deliver down that RCA connection, your voltage will drop off. Increasing the load will cause this earlier.
@choosetherightify That is 100% incorrect. 1. You are referring to power. Power is a term for watts. Not voltage. Not Amperage. Not resistance. Power =watts Intensity=Amperage. Shows you need to brush up on Ohms law and Watts Law. 2. Law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant. You have indicated it is much different. 3. Do you know the difference between a series circuit and a Parallel circuit? If the Rca cables were wired in series then you would loose amperage. Think of daisy chaining amplifiers. That is a series circuit. Signal goes into one amplifier, some of the signal is used by one amplifier then sent to the other amplifier at a reduction. If resistance goes up amperage goes down and voltage will remain the same. 4. Y splitting is a parallel circuit. Because each branch in the 3 way Y splitter will measue the same amperage. Why? At most that y split will have 1 ohm of resistance maybe up to 2 or 3 if it is poorly made. At 1 ohm of resistance and 2.6 volts you will have 2.6 amps at each branch. Total wattage of that circuit is 6.76. This how basic electrical systems work. You can't change the rules because you can't figure it out. With your claim every automotive manufacturer is wrong. Every electronic engineer and designer is wrong.
All depends on the signal source output impedance. If you split the signal to two amps that have a preamp input impedance of 10k ohms the source would see a 5k ohm load so it would need to supply twice the current for the same voltage.
Finally someone ACTUALLY knows the truth. So many know it alls who don't actually know. Just using a voltage divider calculation such as this one www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-voltagedivider.htm will tell you what you are losing in output based on the impedance of rca output and amp. I know my kenwood hu is 4v and 10k ohm and my 2 sub amps are also a 10k ohm impedance which is giving me a -6db reduction! Might be getting same voltage but with the impedance loading it reduces output significantly. So the statement that it doesnt reduce voltage is absolutely true but it will lower your overall signal output depending on impedance ratings of your rca output and amplifiers.
It don't matter if it splits or not if everyone out there is setting there amp gains wrong and you got a distortion buck rolling on wheels seems like everyone makes the simplest things hard there's no more sound quality in car audio like we had in the 80s and 90s china has litter the market with cheap and low quality audio products that this generation has to listen to china has litter the whole market with trash including everyday houses hold appliances. But hey chinas making money and so is the ones buying and rebranding the shit as there own crap everyone wins except for quality thats today's lesson boy's and girl's or whatever you identify as .
There is a very easy explication of this. The splitter creates a parallel circuit. In a parallel circuit voltage across the separate load resistors stays the same, current is distibuted across each resistor of each branch. What most don't understand is that when you parrellel enough amps that the impedance at the head unit or signal source will be too low and cause loading on the source, Thus output voltage dropping. When impedances are matched you get maximum circuit signal transfer to the load. When the load impedance is mismatched you get a reduction in the signal. In the audio frequently spectrum you don't have as large of an issue due to the low frequencies due to line loss, only then dealing with very small voltages. But even at 2v that isn't that low of a signal.
Well at least 3 people seem to understand this. I believe the term is impedance matching for what is going on here. Not all devices have good RCA Preouts that can handle driving more then 2 sets of RCA's without problems as I have witnessed in my Android Win Ce head unit MP5 model I have tested for over a year. just connecting the second set of RCA's gives me a significant output drop. tried with different brands of amplifiers same thing. this is something that's more common with inexpensive equipment then something with a good solid Pioneer Sony or other name brand car audio device or piece of gear. for example my topping ATC 10 and my aimpire dac don't really show the audible problems of hooking or splitting up at URC outputs as the car stereo deck does there seems to be a slight reduction of output but it's nothing like from the head unit.
Great video! 100 percent agree with everything well except with buying expensive rcas! Lmao my crappy ones work just fine lol ..I have my amplifiers strapped right now but tomorrow I'm going to split my RCAs and run one amp per voice coil cause I dont feel the strapping is really doing what it should ..2 JBL club A 1000.1 and a American bass VFL-18 in a dodge ram quad cab
Yes that wasn't a true test. Voltage drop happens under load. He should have split the signal into channels 1,2 3,4 on an amp. While playing tone through speakers.
@@buffcookie I don’t think he was trying to be fake, I think he truly didn’t know what he was doing. Did you hear how arrogant he sounded when he says “ I can’t believe this, I can’t believe that.....
@@robechstenkamper4149 that’s not what they meant. They are talking about the second split signal. The one that is not plugged in during the test, so it will be the same as if not plugged into second amp or non existence. You need to plug both signals into amp the do the test again.
I’ve been doing this 40 something years. So much bad information out there. It’s nice to see one start to set people straight. Kudos to you. Try to relax when you’re doing these don’t get so tense. You know you can have a heart attack getting too upset. You’re a great guy and I love what you’re doing.
I see what they prolly see.. start with 2.6V, and place a DRAW on both split ends ought to divide the 2.6V in half. Explained like that makes more sense. Key thing is to place a draw on both ends at same time.
Lets thing about it like it a river. If you split a river do you have a the some amount of water flowing? Nope...But we aren't talking about voltage we are talking about current. Which is why you do the big 3 and the install alternates...because when you split your amperage will drop... To make voltage drop you make the wire longer.
Could you please test the tweeter/capacitor method of finding clipping/distortion points against an O'scope? Would love to see how accurate it is. Thanks
Thank You I have had heated debates about this for years. Unfortunately I didn't have a meter to prove it during these arguments but this debunks the myth. I used to install systems in high school as a side hustle in the 90's and I'm in the process of building a new system in my Lowrider mini truck at the moment can't wait till it's done! Keep the vids coming guys!
To really test this one, should connect cables to amp(s). When there’s no load at all sure it doesn’t affect to voltage. RCA dividers probably work, but this test doesn’t proof anything.
I agree. Yes multiple runs of power wire won’t effect t your voltage but if you run one or two amps and then test your voltage you will see a drop because there is a current pull on it. I would like to see the same thing done with the RCA’s. Power on an amp and put a draw on the power and then test the splitter to see if the voltage drops on the splitters while the amp or amps are using that current. That would be a good video to add to this one.
I had a setup back in the late 80's into the mid 90's that used four splitters and was told the same thing. I ran them anyway and had the best seasons ever. This is definitely a myth. Good video.
I’ve always noticed that when I use a splitter the amp doesn’t seem to be as strong as if I just ran straight rcas it might be Bc I use cheap splitters idk 🤷🏼♂️
Yes on my mono amp it’s a sundown if I plug one rca in it’s literally half the power it sounds like your head unit can only output so many a volts and amps once you surpass that guess what happens I love all these videos but this one bro you are wrong
Why won't he test current or impedance drop come on Jake hook it's a river if you put a fork in a river both forks split the flow of the water think about my man for fuks sake you r wrong test all v c and a
So if i have 6 bass amps and i pair of rca cables... and 6 pairs of splitters... with all my amps running ill get the same output from each amp as if i was running the rcas individually?
Wow. Thanks for clearing that up! I like this content. Can you debunk capacitors? Weather they work well for a daily system or are they a waste of money?
Derrick is spot on; splitting one output to multiple inputs is a relatively risk free. It is making an electrical difference, but that difference is negligible for these purposes. If you’re wondering what’s happening, the head unit output will be low impedance, here 2.6v at maybe 500 Ohm, with the amp inputs presenting a much higher load, typically 10k - 50k Ohm (this deliberate imbalance of impedances is exactly why you can’t use a splitter in reverse and try to merge two outputs to one input with the same cable). You could go crazy and stack up ten amps on the line out using splitters and your head unit would still see over 1k Ohm and probably be ok. It wouldn’t all be plain sailing; the lower load impedance would make the output work harder - output more current - so you could introduce distortion where it would be a clean signal otherwise. The lower impedance load would be more susceptible to capacitance noise from poor quality cable. If you’re not splitting to more than four amps don’t worry about it (although consider adding RF chokes at the Amp end for $1 to try and stop the hiss of RF noise). If you’ve got more than four amps, you should be serious enough to get a proper distribution unit or do the mathematics to check if it’s OK for your particular setup. Some of the Sundown Audio monoblocks have 56k Ohm input, which would chain together really well, where your home hi-fi amp might be a fraction of that…
I'll just quote your words so that people might be able to read it and hopefully get educated. *_"the head unit output will be low impedance, here 2.6v at maybe 500 Ohm, with the amp inputs presenting a much higher load, typically 10k - 50k Ohm (this deliberate imbalance of impedances is exactly why you can’t use a splitter in reverse and try to merge two outputs to one input with the same cable)."_*
I never believed in that voltage loss theory in using y splitters! I am just saying more videos because it’s a really old untouched topic! Great video!!!
Thank for this brother. This totally answers my question and in fact, since I pretend to be a scientist I am going to check this for myself. Very cool!!
I looked more into this and found this page: handcraftedcaraudio.com/rca-y-cables/ It is super informative and goes deep into the math of line level electrical theory. The bottom line is there IS in fact a voltage drop when using splitters but it is so small that it can be easily fixed even on a bunch of amps of one source by just turning up the gain a tiny bit.
@@Widowmaker2828 excellent find so I had an output voltage of 3.7v I had 4 amps hooked up one for each sub and played it at 1/4 volume according to that article (I had a weak output signal obviously) there would be a significant voltage drop due to it only gets max output signal at max volume if my math is correct I had .9v at each amp which would explain perfectly why I could obviously hear a volume difference when I unplugged 2amps. Jacob these are facts backed by data I love sundown with all my bassheart but if he doesn't acknowledge the facts you provided and and take the small humility in admitting being wrong I will never purchase Sundown equipment again and that's going to destroy my love for music thanks for the valuable info.
@@RollingThunder85 I am not sure how you came up the .9 volts per amp. (I'll bet it's more if you checked it with a meter.) But even if it was .9 volts per amp the would be perfectly fine as long as the preout voltage is greater than the minimum input sensitivity range which on most amps is 150-250mv. The only other reason not to go with splitters is if you have unwanted noise. Then if it really bothers you spend the $100-$200 for a line driver and increase the RCA voltage and headroom.
It actually makes perfect sense, pee over i r, it depends on the ohm load of each leg, and RCA's they are quite high, so essentially it's like dividing the water hose against a bunch of closed spray nozzles. Think about speakers, and home load, currents and voltage
Love you for this finally some intelligent info I thought it would lower the voltage I mean it comes out at a set voltage if you split like a speaker it goes down you taught this man a lesson today
some amps have 10k ohm resistors across the rca inputs, most of them its after the filter caps. but some like the wolfram 4500 do. say you have 5 amps and split it 5 times, that becomes 5x 10k resistors across the rca signal, it wouldn't 'cut the voltage in half' but it theoretically lower the signal voltage. but ALL of the other amps i have worked on they were after the filter caps and didn't effect the signal voltage
If I remember correctly,isn't it voltage X length =resistance....so more wire means more resistance,wouldn't you have to bump up the size of the wire to keep resistance/heat down?
Try testing both ends at the same time, so the have to share the power, you are only drawing from one at a time here, maybe it's different if you draw from both at the same time???
The only yhing thing ive noticed is that you cant use a dd-1 or the cc-1 setting crossovers because it want give me an accurate reading from the output of the amp so i have to take the splitter off to get my correct reading.
It only divides the voltage in half IF you have a 2nd pair of rcas HOOKED Up, in this experiment you only have 1 set of rcas. There's only 1 set, so all of the power has to go to them.. You can't have a real test without the 2nd set sucking up the other half of power. *joking but hey, that would have really shut the lid on this myth
Good demo... totally agree. Would have been interested in seeing you meter the cheap splitter vs the quality one though. I was a distribution rep 22 years ago when Monster Cable came to our office to demonstrate how their shielded RCA cables kept noise out of audio systems. They had this noise induction tube setup where they'd pass a set of RCA's through this tube that was supposed to cause all sorts of electrical noise in the audio system. They were a little thrown off when I asked them to run this cheap, no-name brand cable in the same display and actually wound up with results that were just as good. It may have been smoke and mirrors with what they had set up there but showing factual on camera evidence of this performance or lack there of would have further backed your purpose of this video. Just wondering why you didn't take a second to do that?
So does it make a difference if your amp only has 1 RCA input, will it be better to use a splitter to use both RCA from the headunit or will it be the same with just the 1 RCA?
Splitting don't make no difference 🤗 but, if you load one end in the amp, will you still get 2.6 on the other? So will both amps get 2,6v? This i have never tested 🤗 the amplifier uses the signal voltage for reading, does this take effect? 🤔 maybe thats what they mean? 🤔
Distro box for sure, every connector can add a small bit of interference, so having one in 8 out instead of 1-2, 2-4, 4-8 is way better. Also the unit keeps cables tidier which can help reduce induced noise.
The reason why people think it effects the voltage is because it can. If you are pulling more current than it can handle. Then the voltage will start to be bottle necked. And when you're splitting the RCA's the voltage stays the same, it's the current that it draws more of, which when talking about Low Voltage signal wires, such as RCA's is very minimal
I believe what your saying, but for the non-believers, I would have used 2 dmm at the same time. That way they cant say that the voltage is only going to where there is a draw. 2.6 on the input and 2.6 on both outputs at the same time would prove it.
I guess it doesn't drop the voltage in half but the impedance would drop in half right? Just like if you had speaker wire powering two speakers instead of one.
Why are you putting a load on your RCA cables!? Have you ever seen an RCA cables spark due to power draw? Never right? That's because they're providing a signal to the amplifier. They don't carry much in the way of amperage. If you want load, measure the current to the speakers. Derek, can you put this to rest by measuring current over the RCA from the head unit to amplifier. Then measure current between the amp and speaker?
I used to think this, then my father said "No son, it doesn't work like that" and I said "Yes father, I believe you because you are an electrician." The end
Finally, someone who actually shows ppl how shit works. Wish we had this 27 years ago. Smh. You tell ppl for a long time that shit dont matter ! But someone said on youtube..... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Seen this to many times over the years, that's too much, Alllriiiighttttyyyyyyy then ! I just okay, have a nice day...... #ThatCost2Much!!!!
If I plan to run 3amps for my sound system, would I need to upgrade my alternator and battery? Or does it depend on the quantity of speakers/subs I want to run? TIA 💯
What about on running fuses. Lets say you got amp that recomends 150 amp fuse. And you got recomended wire size ofc 1/0. If you wanna run a dual amp input do you use 75amp fuse for each 0 gauge run or still use 150amp per run. If that makes any sense lol
Mine shows 5 volts on my RCA jacks and I believe it's flipping my protection on the amp does that sound right? 2011 Camaro with Boston's... I have the Crutchfield or Falken splitter system and it still doesn't work
May not drop in voltage, but what about losing miliamps?? When you set 2 amps on 12 volt, you lose amperage and not voltage... Keep em coming. Bass on!
Modern quality amplifiers have op amp buffers what makes them voltage driven devices with very high input impedances (megaohms range). The voltage drop due to currend draw is marginal. Even if the voltage drop would be significant this would affect the volume rather than quality. What contributes to quality degradation is the cable length (reactance), interference, shielding and amplifier design, components quality, internal noise etc.
You really don’t get why we think it would seriously? I know in my truck if I hook up one rca to my amp it’s half as loud as if I do two on a mono amp school me sir enlighten my foolish self
No not like an ohm load but how about when it's hooked to strong amps . Why when you run 4-8 amps Daisy chained each amp down the line need more and more turn of the gain knob to match voltage or ac ? There is some loss but not like an ohm load that splits . One or two won't change but 4-5-8 amps you will notice some difference.
Hello! i am gonna use splitter cables on my taramps tl-1500 3 channel amp with only 1 channel rca's...my headunit is a pioneer with 2 channel rca's...now if i choose rear/sub or sub/sub on my HU the speakers won't play...they play only in rear/rear option and this means that i don't have the sub control option....so that i am asking is if it's gonna work right with RCA splitters!
all cabling has resistance, even your speaker wire induces some amount of resistance. if you have a cheap cable and an expensive cable that share the same conductor material of the same gauge and length you shouldn't be able to measure a difference between them as any given conductive material has a known resistance dictated by it's size and length. strand count can have an effect on this as a stranded 16 awg wire has a larger surface area than a 16 awg solid conductor, but with interconnects you're talking about such small current that it should be practically negligible. the main reason to purchase higher quality interconnects are for durability reasons.
Question. When setting gain do you add the voltage of each rca together? Like your example was 2.6 volts. So would you set gain for 2.6 or for 5.2?? Im just a little confused for monoblock amps. Wiring 2 of them from only 1 subwoofer out from the HU
could you show or tell me i have a pioneer head unit with 4 rca outputs and no sub out, i want to hook up a 4 channel amp and a small powered sub to go under the seat. do i just use the front channel out put and split it at the 4 channel and use the other rca jacks for the powered sub? any suggestions would be appreciated
The potential coming out the back of the head unit is X. Splitting X into parts means that no matter how many parts you split X into the sum of all the parts won't exceed X. We are dealing with Ohm's law here...the voltage does not change, but the current and resistance does. There is loss in splitting RCA signal, but it isn't loss of voltage.
Ok so what your saying is if i run a deck with single rca out and split that to two amps vs using a deck with two sets of rca outs , there will be no difference in sound quality or performance assuming both decks produce the exact same voltage?
i think what the high school kicker fan boys are trying to say about the splitters is that you might be reducing the sine wave by half and not the voltage. in some cases in dealing with electronics , when splitting a signal tone into 2 ways or into a distro block ( multi port from one out sources ) some signals do seem to be less pronounced on the O-scope minor changes but a some what noticeable difference
@@billychapman8711 if you are running 8 awg ofc is the drop significant on a run of say 10 feet compared to say 3 feet? I guess I should have been more specific.
I have 6 amps all with y splitters I noticed every time I hooked up an amp the volume went down? So it does affect it maybe after a certain amount of amps ?
My headunit only has 1 set of rca's. I have a sfb amp powering my Subs. I want to add a 4 channel sfb amp for mid range and tweeters. Can I use Y splitters since they are 2 different kind of amps or should I get a new headunit?
I may be wrong here but if nothing is attached to the split cable, there's nothing to split the signal with, of course it's still 2.6v with a splitter attached to nothing. I bet if you hook 1 split RCA to amp 1 it still gets 2.6v, until you plug the Y cable into amp 2. I've been meaning to try this myself on my home stereo, Amp 1 has in/out, amp 2 only has an input, and i want to split to my powered subwoofer too but can't afford throwing $16 away for science especially if it's going to half my signal from the pre amp. video with sound as you plug in each amp 🎉
Lol that is funny. But hey you might laugh at my question but I am serious so bear with me. Does it make a difference if I ran RCA's from the output from one amp to hook up another amp rather than putting a splitter on my RCAs coming from the head unit
can you run splitters in the opposite direction? for instance, instead of splitting one signal into two, summing two signals into one? The reason I ask is because I'm wanting to run a DSP, but it only has a single R and L input... well my stereo has 6, FLR, RLR, and SUBLR. Can I use a three into one splitter to sum these channels into a single L and single R? I just want to make sure I'm feeding the DSP the full range of signal from my head unit. thank you.
I been saying this for years I’ve had as many as one pre amp rca left and right out of an old head unit and split it into 9 left and right rca’s lol 6 for a 6 channel amp for his and 2 for a 2 channel amp for Mids and 1 for the Amoy that pushes the 2 subs this was all in my wake boat lol
I believe you but my ? Is each amp has an input impedance say 100 ohm, so with 2 amps wouldn't the load be bigger say 50 ohms, would this create an overall voltage drop on the rca' s if split vs. Unsplit, on a single stereo channel aka L & R. My logical thinking is more amps is going to drag voltage down but I don't know how amps consume the signal. Say a 120v outlet has one 100w bulb and you add a 100 outlet powerstrip with a 100 more bulbs there will be a voltage sag, extreme yes, can you enlighten us to why amps don't follow this flow? I get you said half that's wrong but some drop in line voltage seems sensible. ? Show us line voltage while connected to 1,2,4,8 amps when is to many splits gonna affect signal. Thanks for you time. Sorry if digging to deep but it peaked my curiosity.
It’s ran in parallel. Do your electrics in your car have different volts other than 12 volts hint look at the fuse boxes and relay. Everything is 12v lol
The current is was changes. Think about when you have multiple amps wired up. Each amp will pull some amount of current from the battery. Voltage stays the same. Every time you use a y splitter on an rca, you are adding a load in parallel two the other load. This will cause more current to be drawn from the rca output on the headunit. Same way is it would draw more current from a battery. I would think there would be a limit to the amount of current that the rca output that the headunit can supply
So I have two of the same Soundstream ar8000 amplifiers that I have been trying to strap together to hook up to a Soundstream x215. The RCA input on one for the left side has broken off but the RCA input for the right side is still intact along with the left and right RCA inputs to bridge. Because I wasn't getting any signal from the one with the broken RCA input, I bought a duplicate amplifier so I could use the original one more or less as the slave amp. However, when I go to strap the amps together to bridge them so I get higher output, it doesn't seem to change or do much in effect for my sub. Would you have any suggestions or recommendations as to how to fix this?
Have a question need some help badly running a pioneer 80prs and 1 rca for my mids im only getting 1.956 voltage to the back off the rca connection to the amp imputs, and on the bass side im only getting .658 voltage
When an RCA jack has red and white does it matter if you put your red RCA jack on the White and the white on the red right and left. Also is it possible to short out your radio by disconnecting the RCA jacks that run from your radio to your amp when you disconnect them from the amp and they touch couldn't or wouldn't possibly fry your radio subwoofer level RCA output from your radio.
Thats how you blow the pico fuse. Common problem on pioneer headunits. Never connect or disconnect rcas or touch + pin on rcas to chassis ground while headunit/amp is on. And only time white/red jack matter is when your running stereo and want the left and right to be corrosponding to left and right balance on the headunit. On mono outputs it doesnt matter which is left and right(white/red)
They probably also think , tying your shoes tighter makes you run faster. Ain’t no reasoning wit these pros still connecting wires with black tape , or think that alternator whir is an option from the amp manufacturer… I’m wondering how they run mid and highs without splitters ? WiFi ?
You are presenting this as though voltage = power. While it is true that voltage is part of the equation to measure power, it is only half of the equation. The other half is amperage. And, when you split an RCA cable into two, whilst also providing a load to both connections, you will deliver HALF of the amperage down that wire, meaning you have halved the power. There's no free lunch. The law of conservation of energy governs this behavior. I will also add that once you have reached the peak amperage that the deck will deliver down that RCA connection, your voltage will drop off. Increasing the load will cause this earlier.
@choosetherightify That is 100% incorrect.
1. You are referring to power. Power is a term for watts. Not voltage. Not Amperage. Not resistance. Power =watts Intensity=Amperage. Shows you need to brush up on Ohms law and Watts Law.
2. Law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant. You have indicated it is much different.
3. Do you know the difference between a series circuit and a Parallel circuit? If the Rca cables were wired in series then you would loose amperage. Think of daisy chaining amplifiers. That is a series circuit. Signal goes into one amplifier, some of the signal is used by one amplifier then sent to the other amplifier at a reduction. If resistance goes up amperage goes down and voltage will remain the same.
4. Y splitting is a parallel circuit. Because each branch in the 3 way Y splitter will measue the same amperage. Why? At most that y split will have 1 ohm of resistance maybe up to 2 or 3 if it is poorly made. At 1 ohm of resistance and 2.6 volts you will have 2.6 amps at each branch. Total wattage of that circuit is 6.76. This how basic electrical systems work. You can't change the rules because you can't figure it out.
With your claim every automotive manufacturer is wrong. Every electronic engineer and designer is wrong.
No you are right I love how people are arguing with you without ever even hooking it up ive done it and it made the single to both amps weaker
I have crappy RadioShack rca splitters in my system. I keep em to remember the company and their decades of service. RIP
I miss those Realistic tweeters. The best I ever heard.
Still have a RadioShack In my town
@@alphaomega8373 lol those twitters are huge lol. I used them to replace my house tweeters lol
I know this is old but thank you sir! So many people think you need 4 outputs from your dsp for a 4 channel amp...
All depends on the signal source output impedance. If you split the signal to two amps that have a preamp input impedance of 10k ohms the source would see a 5k ohm load so it would need to supply twice the current for the same voltage.
Finally someone ACTUALLY knows the truth. So many know it alls who don't actually know. Just using a voltage divider calculation such as this one www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-voltagedivider.htm will tell you what you are losing in output based on the impedance of rca output and amp. I know my kenwood hu is 4v and 10k ohm and my 2 sub amps are also a 10k ohm impedance which is giving me a -6db reduction! Might be getting same voltage but with the impedance loading it reduces output significantly. So the statement that it doesnt reduce voltage is absolutely true but it will lower your overall signal output depending on impedance ratings of your rca output and amplifiers.
It don't matter if it splits or not if everyone out there is setting there amp gains wrong and you got a distortion buck rolling on wheels seems like everyone makes the simplest things hard there's no more sound quality in car audio like we had in the 80s and 90s china has litter the market with cheap and low quality audio products that this generation has to listen to china has litter the whole market with trash including everyday houses hold appliances. But hey chinas making money and so is the ones buying and rebranding the shit as there own crap everyone wins except for quality thats today's lesson boy's and girl's or whatever you identify as .
There is a very easy explication of this. The splitter creates a parallel circuit.
In a parallel circuit voltage across the separate load resistors stays the same, current is distibuted across each resistor of each branch.
What most don't understand is that when you parrellel enough amps that the impedance at the head unit or signal source will be too low and cause loading on the source, Thus output voltage dropping.
When impedances are matched you get maximum circuit signal transfer to the load.
When the load impedance is mismatched you get a reduction in the signal.
In the audio frequently spectrum you don't have as large of an issue due to the low frequencies due to line loss, only then dealing with very small voltages. But even at 2v that isn't that low of a signal.
Well at least 3 people seem to understand this. I believe the term is impedance matching for what is going on here. Not all devices have good RCA Preouts that can handle driving more then 2 sets of RCA's without problems as I have witnessed in my Android Win Ce head unit MP5 model I have tested for over a year.
just connecting the second set of RCA's gives me a significant output drop. tried with different brands of amplifiers same thing.
this is something that's more common with inexpensive equipment then something with a good solid Pioneer Sony or other name brand car audio device or piece of gear.
for example my topping ATC 10 and my aimpire dac don't really show the audible problems of hooking or splitting up at URC outputs as the car stereo deck does there seems to be a slight reduction of output but it's nothing like from the head unit.
Great video! 100 percent agree with everything well except with buying expensive rcas! Lmao my crappy ones work just fine lol ..I have my amplifiers strapped right now but tomorrow I'm going to split my RCAs and run one amp per voice coil cause I dont feel the strapping is really doing what it should ..2 JBL club A 1000.1 and a American bass VFL-18 in a dodge ram quad cab
This is very well explained! I’m an Electrical Engineer and definitely appreciate your approach. Keep it coming sir!
put load on one plug then check the volts on the other/ plug one lead into the amp then read the other
Yes that wasn't a true test. Voltage drop happens under load. He should have split the signal into channels 1,2 3,4 on an amp. While playing tone through speakers.
100% true without a load it won’t change what a fake test 😂
@@buffcookie I don’t think he was trying to be fake, I think he truly didn’t know what he was doing. Did you hear how arrogant he sounded when he says “ I can’t believe this, I can’t believe that.....
rca's are only for signal. plugging into an amp doesn't "load" the head unit.
@@robechstenkamper4149 that’s not what they meant. They are talking about the second split signal. The one that is not plugged in during the test, so it will be the same as if not plugged into second amp or non existence. You need to plug both signals into amp the do the test again.
I’ve been doing this 40 something years. So much bad information out there. It’s nice to see one start to set people straight. Kudos to you. Try to relax when you’re doing these don’t get so tense. You know you can have a heart attack getting too upset. You’re a great guy and I love what you’re doing.
😂 lol
I like that this was here, im putting 2 amps on my bike and I need to push a signal to both amps... thank you
How does it make sense its going to divide your voltage in half?.........”WEll, WHATEVER”. This had me laughing :)
I see what they prolly see.. start with 2.6V, and place a DRAW on both split ends ought to divide the 2.6V in half. Explained like that makes more sense. Key thing is to place a draw on both ends at same time.
Lets thing about it like it a river. If you split a river do you have a the some amount of water flowing? Nope...But we aren't talking about voltage we are talking about current.
Which is why you do the big 3 and the install alternates...because when you split your amperage will drop...
To make voltage drop you make the wire longer.
Could you please test the tweeter/capacitor method of finding clipping/distortion points against an O'scope? Would love to see how accurate it is. Thanks
bykrdood7 it’s already been tested by extremely reliable sources
Links please
What about RCA current pull? Could that damage the source?
Thank You I have had heated debates about this for years. Unfortunately I didn't have a meter to prove it during these arguments but this debunks the myth. I used to install systems in high school as a side hustle in the 90's and I'm in the process of building a new system in my Lowrider mini truck at the moment can't wait till it's done! Keep the vids coming guys!
To really test this one, should connect cables to amp(s). When there’s no load at all sure it doesn’t affect to voltage. RCA dividers probably work, but this test doesn’t proof anything.
I agree. Yes multiple runs of power wire won’t effect t your voltage but if you run one or two amps and then test your voltage you will see a drop because there is a current pull on it. I would like to see the same thing done with the RCA’s. Power on an amp and put a draw on the power and then test the splitter to see if the voltage drops on the splitters while the amp or amps are using that current. That would be a good video to add to this one.
🤦♂️🤦♂️
The best car audio mythbuster video I have ever seen! You can't prove it any better than you already did bro.
I had a setup back in the late 80's into the mid 90's that used four splitters and was told the same thing. I ran them anyway and had the best seasons ever. This is definitely a myth.
Good video.
G
Voltage may stay sane but current or impedance does change think of it like a river you can't fork a river and it stay the same
I’ve always noticed that when I use a splitter the amp doesn’t seem to be as strong as if I just ran straight rcas it might be Bc I use cheap splitters idk 🤷🏼♂️
Yes on my mono amp it’s a sundown if I plug one rca in it’s literally half the power it sounds like your head unit can only output so many a volts and amps once you surpass that guess what happens I love all these videos but this one bro you are wrong
Why won't he test current or impedance drop come on Jake hook it's a river if you put a fork in a river both forks split the flow of the water think about my man for fuks sake you r wrong test all v c and a
Your logic is wrong. Removing an RCA from input is not the same as splitting an RCA cable
So if i have 6 bass amps and i pair of rca cables... and 6 pairs of splitters... with all my amps running ill get the same output from each amp as if i was running the rcas individually?
Wow. Thanks for clearing that up!
I like this content. Can you debunk capacitors? Weather they work well for a daily system or are they a waste of money?
Like the cheap off brand capacitors vs quality capacitors like xs
Derrick is spot on; splitting one output to multiple inputs is a relatively risk free.
It is making an electrical difference, but that difference is negligible for these purposes.
If you’re wondering what’s happening, the head unit output will be low impedance, here 2.6v at maybe 500 Ohm, with the amp inputs presenting a much higher load, typically 10k - 50k Ohm (this deliberate imbalance of impedances is exactly why you can’t use a splitter in reverse and try to merge two outputs to one input with the same cable).
You could go crazy and stack up ten amps on the line out using splitters and your head unit would still see over 1k Ohm and probably be ok. It wouldn’t all be plain sailing; the lower load impedance would make the output work harder - output more current - so you could introduce distortion where it would be a clean signal otherwise. The lower impedance load would be more susceptible to capacitance noise from poor quality cable.
If you’re not splitting to more than four amps don’t worry about it (although consider adding RF chokes at the Amp end for $1 to try and stop the hiss of RF noise). If you’ve got more than four amps, you should be serious enough to get a proper distribution unit or do the mathematics to check if it’s OK for your particular setup.
Some of the Sundown Audio monoblocks have 56k Ohm input, which would chain together really well, where your home hi-fi amp might be a fraction of that…
I'll just quote your words so that people might be able to read it and hopefully get educated. *_"the head unit output will be low impedance, here 2.6v at maybe 500 Ohm, with the amp inputs presenting a much higher load, typically 10k - 50k Ohm (this deliberate imbalance of impedances is exactly why you can’t use a splitter in reverse and try to merge two outputs to one input with the same cable)."_*
I never believed in that voltage loss theory in using y splitters! I am just saying more videos because it’s a really old untouched topic! Great video!!!
Smh.. the internet really had me believing that I was losing power if I used a y splitter to split signals...smh... thanks for the video
Thank for this brother. This totally answers my question and in fact, since I pretend to be a scientist I am going to check this for myself. Very cool!!
So the voltage stays how about the current?
And or impedance
I looked more into this and found this page:
handcraftedcaraudio.com/rca-y-cables/
It is super informative and goes deep into the math of line level electrical theory. The bottom line is there IS in fact a voltage drop when using splitters but it is so small that it can be easily fixed even on a bunch of amps of one source by just turning up the gain a tiny bit.
@@Widowmaker2828 excellent find so I had an output voltage of 3.7v I had 4 amps hooked up one for each sub and played it at 1/4 volume according to that article (I had a weak output signal obviously) there would be a significant voltage drop due to it only gets max output signal at max volume if my math is correct I had .9v at each amp which would explain perfectly why I could obviously hear a volume difference when I unplugged 2amps. Jacob these are facts backed by data I love sundown with all my bassheart but if he doesn't acknowledge the facts you provided and and take the small humility in admitting being wrong I will never purchase Sundown equipment again and that's going to destroy my love for music thanks for the valuable info.
@@Widowmaker2828 thank you SIR
@@RollingThunder85 I am not sure how you came up the .9 volts per amp. (I'll bet it's more if you checked it with a meter.) But even if it was .9 volts per amp the would be perfectly fine as long as the preout voltage is greater than the minimum input sensitivity range which on most amps is 150-250mv.
The only other reason not to go with splitters is if you have unwanted noise. Then if it really bothers you spend the $100-$200 for a line driver and increase the RCA voltage and headroom.
To get the reading we're searching for, you have to connect the splitters to two amplifiers, you didn't connect any...
It actually makes perfect sense, pee over i r, it depends on the ohm load of each leg, and RCA's they are quite high, so essentially it's like dividing the water hose against a bunch of closed spray nozzles.
Think about speakers, and home load, currents and voltage
Love you for this finally some intelligent info I thought it would lower the voltage I mean it comes out at a set voltage if you split like a speaker it goes down you taught this man a lesson today
some amps have 10k ohm resistors across the rca inputs, most of them its after the filter caps. but some like the wolfram 4500 do. say you have 5 amps and split it 5 times, that becomes 5x 10k resistors across the rca signal, it wouldn't 'cut the voltage in half' but it theoretically lower the signal voltage. but ALL of the other amps i have worked on they were after the filter caps and didn't effect the signal voltage
WEJUST WANNA SEE PART 2 TO THE NIGHTSHADE VIDEO ....THATS IT
I love these videos man. Keep up the good work
If I remember correctly,isn't it voltage X length =resistance....so more wire means more resistance,wouldn't you have to bump up the size of the wire to keep resistance/heat down?
ua-cam.com/video/4B86Shxzar8/v-deo.html. This might help, same general concept.
Try testing both ends at the same time, so the have to share the power, you are only drawing from one at a time here, maybe it's different if you draw from both at the same time???
Rca end comes off in your amp
Rite I heard this stuff in the 90's and I laughed back then!...
The only yhing thing ive noticed is that you cant use a dd-1 or the cc-1 setting crossovers because it want give me an accurate reading from the output of the amp so i have to take the splitter off to get my correct reading.
Lol! You guys sell magic wires that's all. Because there are some people out there that are really just that clueless! Great video
Thanks buddy! I appreciate the information. I was wondering if I would have issues. Thanks for the clarification!
It only divides the voltage in half IF you have a 2nd pair of rcas HOOKED Up, in this experiment you only have 1 set of rcas.
There's only 1 set, so all of the power has to go to them.. You can't have a real test without the 2nd set sucking up the other half of power.
*joking but hey, that would have really shut the lid on this myth
I really hope you are joking here
Good demo... totally agree. Would have been interested in seeing you meter the cheap splitter vs the quality one though. I was a distribution rep 22 years ago when Monster Cable came to our office to demonstrate how their shielded RCA cables kept noise out of audio systems. They had this noise induction tube setup where they'd pass a set of RCA's through this tube that was supposed to cause all sorts of electrical noise in the audio system. They were a little thrown off when I asked them to run this cheap, no-name brand cable in the same display and actually wound up with results that were just as good. It may have been smoke and mirrors with what they had set up there but showing factual on camera evidence of this performance or lack there of would have further backed your purpose of this video. Just wondering why you didn't take a second to do that?
Exactly, he talked shit about the cheap RCA splitter but then didn't test it. :(
So does it make a difference if your amp only has 1 RCA input, will it be better to use a splitter to use both RCA from the headunit or will it be the same with just the 1 RCA?
Splitting don't make no difference 🤗 but, if you load one end in the amp, will you still get 2.6 on the other? So will both amps get 2,6v? This i have never tested 🤗 the amplifier uses the signal voltage for reading, does this take effect? 🤔 maybe thats what they mean? 🤔
Man I freaking love proving people wrong. Nicely done
Next test other than looks what's better bunch of rca y splitters or the rca distribution box like in project spl? Or would there not be a difference.
Distro box for sure, every connector can add a small bit of interference, so having one in 8 out instead of 1-2, 2-4, 4-8 is way better. Also the unit keeps cables tidier which can help reduce induced noise.
The reason why people think it effects the voltage is because it can. If you are pulling more current than it can handle. Then the voltage will start to be bottle necked. And when you're splitting the RCA's the voltage stays the same, it's the current that it draws more of, which when talking about Low Voltage signal wires, such as RCA's is very minimal
Electronics 101, great video, Derrick. Keep it up!
I believe what your saying, but for the non-believers, I would have used 2 dmm at the same time. That way they cant say that the voltage is only going to where there is a draw. 2.6 on the input and 2.6 on both outputs at the same time would prove it.
I guess it doesn't drop the voltage in half but the impedance would drop in half right? Just like if you had speaker wire powering two speakers instead of one.
You need to check voltage with loads on each RCA !! Obviously the voltage will be the same without a load !!!
Why are you putting a load on your RCA cables!? Have you ever seen an RCA cables spark due to power draw? Never right? That's because they're providing a signal to the amplifier. They don't carry much in the way of amperage. If you want load, measure the current to the speakers.
Derek, can you put this to rest by measuring current over the RCA from the head unit to amplifier. Then measure current between the amp and speaker?
I used to think this, then my father said "No son, it doesn't work like that" and I said "Yes father, I believe you because you are an electrician."
The end
Yup👌👌
Finally, someone who actually shows ppl how shit works. Wish we had this 27 years ago. Smh. You tell ppl for a long time that shit dont matter ! But someone said on youtube..... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Seen this to many times over the years, that's too much, Alllriiiighttttyyyyyyy then !
I just okay, have a nice day......
#ThatCost2Much!!!!
If I plan to run 3amps for my sound system, would I need to upgrade my alternator and battery? Or does it depend on the quantity of speakers/subs I want to run? TIA 💯
What about on running fuses. Lets say you got amp that recomends 150 amp fuse. And you got recomended wire size ofc 1/0. If you wanna run a dual amp input do you use 75amp fuse for each 0 gauge run or still use 150amp per run. If that makes any sense lol
Mine shows 5 volts on my RCA jacks and I believe it's flipping my protection on the amp does that sound right? 2011 Camaro with Boston's... I have the Crutchfield or Falken splitter system and it still doesn't work
May not drop in voltage, but what about losing miliamps??
When you set 2 amps on 12 volt, you lose amperage and not voltage...
Keep em coming.
Bass on!
Wow only intelligent comment I see on here that understand voltage and ohms law.
lol 2 amps on one 12 volt supply. Only retards do that. You have two amps must use two supplies and so on.
Modern quality amplifiers have op amp buffers what makes them voltage driven devices with very high input impedances (megaohms range). The voltage drop due to currend draw is marginal. Even if the voltage drop would be significant this would affect the volume rather than quality. What contributes to quality degradation is the cable length (reactance), interference, shielding and amplifier design, components quality, internal noise etc.
You really don’t get why we think it would seriously? I know in my truck if I hook up one rca to my amp it’s half as loud as if I do two on a mono amp school me sir enlighten my foolish self
What about if you combine rca output channels into 1 input does that increase voltage because you are combining multiple sources?
No not like an ohm load but how about when it's hooked to strong amps . Why when you run 4-8 amps Daisy chained each amp down the line need more and more turn of the gain knob to match voltage or ac ? There is some loss but not like an ohm load that splits . One or two won't change but 4-5-8 amps you will notice some difference.
Can you do a small part on line drivers boosting voltage please?
Hook them up to working amps.
Hell yes u made my day
Excellent lesson WOW
Hello! i am gonna use splitter cables on my taramps tl-1500 3 channel amp with only 1 channel rca's...my headunit is a pioneer with 2 channel rca's...now if i choose rear/sub or sub/sub on my HU the speakers won't play...they play only in rear/rear option and this means that i don't have the sub control option....so that i am asking is if it's gonna work right with RCA splitters!
I'd be curious if they had resistance, doubtful but I could see a cheap splitter possibly adding some
all cabling has resistance, even your speaker wire induces some amount of resistance. if you have a cheap cable and an expensive cable that share the same conductor material of the same gauge and length you shouldn't be able to measure a difference between them as any given conductive material has a known resistance dictated by it's size and length. strand count can have an effect on this as a stranded 16 awg wire has a larger surface area than a 16 awg solid conductor, but with interconnects you're talking about such small current that it should be practically negligible. the main reason to purchase higher quality interconnects are for durability reasons.
Question. When setting gain do you add the voltage of each rca together? Like your example was 2.6 volts. So would you set gain for 2.6 or for 5.2?? Im just a little confused for monoblock amps. Wiring 2 of them from only 1 subwoofer out from the HU
could you show or tell me i have a pioneer head unit with 4 rca outputs and no sub out, i want to hook up a 4 channel amp and a small powered sub to go under the seat. do i just use the front channel out put and split it at the 4 channel and use the other rca jacks for the powered sub? any suggestions would be appreciated
Excellent video thanks for posting D!
I like!! Tell us why we dont want to strap amps?
The potential coming out the back of the head unit is X. Splitting X into parts means that no matter how many parts you split X into the sum of all the parts won't exceed X. We are dealing with Ohm's law here...the voltage does not change, but the current and resistance does. There is loss in splitting RCA signal, but it isn't loss of voltage.
low impedance out to high impedance in. do the math
Ok so what your saying is if i run a deck with single rca out and split that to two amps vs using a deck with two sets of rca outs , there will be no difference in sound quality or performance assuming both decks produce the exact same voltage?
i think what the high school kicker fan boys are trying to say about the splitters is that you might be reducing the sine wave by half and not the voltage. in some cases in dealing with electronics , when splitting a signal tone into 2 ways or into a distro block ( multi port from one out sources ) some signals do seem to be less pronounced on the O-scope minor changes but a some what noticeable difference
Please "mythbust" length of speaker wire vs power. Ie shorter wire run = more power.
Longer wire=more impedance=less current
@@billychapman8711 if you are running 8 awg ofc is the drop significant on a run of say 10 feet compared to say 3 feet? I guess I should have been more specific.
Ofc has an impedance gain of about .1 Ohm per foot. Significance is in the eye of the beholder lol
I have 6 amps all with y splitters I noticed every time I hooked up an amp the volume went down? So it does affect it maybe after a certain amount of amps ?
Fair enough yet I tried this on a hifonics 1000.6 and it made the most incredible ground loop buzzing sound Jeez tried in 4 ch and 6 ch mode
Splitting would only change amps right ? Cause now it's Less amp load having to go through 2 wires
Nice bro 👌 thanks for the update now I don't have to try to explain to ediots anymore!!!👏
My headunit only has 1 set of rca's. I have a sfb amp powering my Subs. I want to add a 4 channel sfb amp for mid range and tweeters. Can I use Y splitters since they are 2 different kind of amps or should I get a new headunit?
I may be wrong here but if nothing is attached to the split cable, there's nothing to split the signal with, of course it's still 2.6v with a splitter attached to nothing. I bet if you hook 1 split RCA to amp 1 it still gets 2.6v, until you plug the Y cable into amp 2. I've been meaning to try this myself on my home stereo, Amp 1 has in/out, amp 2 only has an input, and i want to split to my powered subwoofer too but can't afford throwing $16 away for science especially if it's going to half my signal from the pre amp. video with sound as you plug in each amp 🎉
Lol that is funny. But hey you might laugh at my question but I am serious so bear with me. Does it make a difference if I ran RCA's from the output from one amp to hook up another amp rather than putting a splitter on my RCAs coming from the head unit
Nice vid thanks for showing and proving instead of just telling 💪✅
can you run splitters in the opposite direction? for instance, instead of splitting one signal into two, summing two signals into one? The reason I ask is because I'm wanting to run a DSP, but it only has a single R and L input... well my stereo has 6, FLR, RLR, and SUBLR. Can I use a three into one splitter to sum these channels into a single L and single R? I just want to make sure I'm feeding the DSP the full range of signal from my head unit.
thank you.
Only thing I can think, is people thinking the multiple parallel loads of each amp can prevent the headunit from properly driving each amp.
Great content lately 5*
Thanks for the obscure, lesser known audio information
I been saying this for years I’ve had as many as one pre amp rca left and right out of an old head unit and split it into 9 left and right rca’s lol 6 for a 6 channel amp for his and 2 for a 2 channel amp for Mids and 1 for the Amoy that pushes the 2 subs this was all in my wake boat lol
Will it blow SA V2
Does it divide tha voltage on a video rca if you use a splitter thanks
I believe you but my ? Is each amp has an input impedance say 100 ohm, so with 2 amps wouldn't the load be bigger say 50 ohms, would this create an overall voltage drop on the rca' s if split vs. Unsplit, on a single stereo channel aka L & R. My logical thinking is more amps is going to drag voltage down but I don't know how amps consume the signal. Say a 120v outlet has one 100w bulb and you add a 100 outlet powerstrip with a 100 more bulbs there will be a voltage sag, extreme yes, can you enlighten us to why amps don't follow this flow? I get you said half that's wrong but some drop in line voltage seems sensible. ? Show us line voltage while connected to 1,2,4,8 amps when is to many splits gonna affect signal. Thanks for you time. Sorry if digging to deep but it peaked my curiosity.
There will be some loss but it’s from added resistance in the chain. The more splits the worse. Resistance would show a small variance.
It’s ran in parallel. Do your electrics in your car have different volts other than 12 volts hint look at the fuse boxes and relay. Everything is 12v lol
The current is was changes. Think about when you have multiple amps wired up. Each amp will pull some amount of current from the battery. Voltage stays the same. Every time you use a y splitter on an rca, you are adding a load in parallel two the other load. This will cause more current to be drawn from the rca output on the headunit. Same way is it would draw more current from a battery. I would think there would be a limit to the amount of current that the rca output that the headunit can supply
So I have two of the same Soundstream ar8000 amplifiers that I have been trying to strap together to hook up to a Soundstream x215. The RCA input on one for the left side has broken off but the RCA input for the right side is still intact along with the left and right RCA inputs to bridge. Because I wasn't getting any signal from the one with the broken RCA input, I bought a duplicate amplifier so I could use the original one more or less as the slave amp. However, when I go to strap the amps together to bridge them so I get higher output, it doesn't seem to change or do much in effect for my sub. Would you have any suggestions or recommendations as to how to fix this?
With this information, is it safe to say that from a 2 channel LOC I can split that to 2 4 channel amps?
Yeah this was cool. "Myth Buster Monday" Lol!!!!
That's also a good way to chase down signal noise from bad RCA's.
Have a question need some help badly running a pioneer 80prs and 1 rca for my mids im only getting 1.956 voltage to the back off the rca connection to the amp imputs, and on the bass side im only getting .658 voltage
Is there any problem to the stereo when we split output?
Love Sundown Audio
When an RCA jack has red and white does it matter if you put your red RCA jack on the White and the white on the red right and left. Also is it possible to short out your radio by disconnecting the RCA jacks that run from your radio to your amp when you disconnect them from the amp and they touch couldn't or wouldn't possibly fry your radio subwoofer level RCA output from your radio.
Thats how you blow the pico fuse. Common problem on pioneer headunits. Never connect or disconnect rcas or touch + pin on rcas to chassis ground while headunit/amp is on. And only time white/red jack matter is when your running stereo and want the left and right to be corrosponding to left and right balance on the headunit. On mono outputs it doesnt matter which is left and right(white/red)
What when the 4 channel amp start demanding power will the volt remind constant same before the y splittin?
They probably also think , tying your shoes tighter makes you run faster. Ain’t no reasoning wit these pros still connecting wires with black tape , or think that alternator whir is an option from the amp manufacturer… I’m wondering how they run mid and highs without splitters ? WiFi ?