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[Tom Gunderson]

Does anyone use line drivers to get a little more signal output?

[Simon Ryder]

Yes on very long cable runs.

The old Klark Teknik DN8000 had switchable voltage on the outputs I believe that the line drive option was 9.75 volts IIRC. KV2 make a dedicated line driver.

If the length of copper that you are running into is going to cause voltage drop then it is very sensible to step up the voltage.

[Doug Fowler]

Quote:

Does anyone use line drivers to get a little more signal output?

The real issue is not this, but when driving a large number of inputs one may need to use a line driver with extra outputs, or a lower output impedance.

Story:

I was shown an older dbx compressor, one of the 80s vintage IIRC that Showco was using for a system comp/line driver.

"You know, that dbx box will drive every amp rack Showco owns".

This is not quite the issue it used to be, with high power amps driving a large(r) number of loudspeakers each in many cases.  Even if there is a crossover in each rack, still, the number is generally less than it used to be.  

The rule of thumb _used_ to be 16 inputs max, but of course it completely depends on the output and input impedance.

Some devices behave mo' better at closer to matched impedance, others do not.

If you really want to get spiffy, look for a clean Crown D60 :-)

[Tim McCulloch]

How much is "a little more"?  What are your output levels now?

One of the charms of the dbx 160 is the (up to) +20db output gain with a very low output impedance, 20 ohms IIRC.

How many channels do you need?  Perhaps an audio distribution amp is appropriate?

[Tim Weaver]

I have found that my 01v96 struggles to achieve full signal at the crossover when running through my 200 foot fully multipinned snake. However running down a simple 100 foot hardwired snake it works fine.

Unfortunately my crossover doesn't have adjustable input gain (besides the -10 +4 switch on the back). It's a DSC260, BTW.

I am gonna put a couple of old White (Altec branded) cut only eq's in my FOH rack just for another gain stage. Besides, I have to have something retro in such a modern looking rack anyway. Cut only EQ's rule!