Just bought a headunit and it says that i can connect a subwoofer to the unit itself?

Question

hi, its a new headunit. and the instruction diagram shows that i can connect a sub without the need to use an amp. will the effect be bad? its output is 52*4.

Answer 1

they meant that it has RCA outputs for a sub because some radios don't, you have to buy a line output converter to hook up your sub to the radio

if you hook up a sub directly to the radio (as in the subs speaker wires hooked up to the radios speaker wires) you WILL do damage to the sub and CAN damage the radio

a radios internal amplifier dos not have the necessary RMS (continuous) wattage to power a sub so when you hook it up you will immediately send the radios amplifier into clipping (because it does not have enough wattage) which will cause the output signal to be distorted and distortion is the main cause of speaker damage

its safer to over power a sub than to under power it because when the volume is turned up and the amp doesn't have enough power, the signal becomes distorted, or "clipped." This distorted signal can cause parts of the speaker to overheat, warp and melt. Not good!, and it could cause the radios amp to over heat  

Answer 2

RCA preouts to power your subwoofer have no real power behind them they are only meant to provide a signal to a separate Amp.  If you were to directly connect a subwoofer of any size to these preouts you would not get any sound from the woofers.  I don't think you would see any damage to the head unit but you certainly wouldn't see any improvement in sound.

Answer 3

well i have never ever heard that you can hook up a woofer straight to the head unit. as far as i know you need to run a amp , unless its a small woofer like a 6 inch or 8 inch.  

Answer 4

Sure...it is physically possible, but electrically unreasonable.  The power output of a normal head unit is not capable of providing the needed power to a subwoofer for proper cone displacement and quality sound output.  Subs need power, more specifically, current to move air, head units just don't provide the capacity for proper supply.