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What is MOSFET?

1K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  ericspda 
#1 ·
Hey guys im looking into getting a DUAL head unit with the 7" motorized flip out screen. Its got MOSFET, but what I need to know is what is it? im not very familiar with much audio terminology, so any help is appreciated. Also what is the best setup with out breaking the wallet? Im not looking to spend anymore than $600 for a head unit. Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor.

An electrical component that they're using as a marketing gimmick because probably every other comparable piece of equipment has MOSFETs in them too. I'm not an audio guy but you can use them for amplification and high power switching and a bunch of other stuff. "MOSFET" sounds cool though, sorta like VTEC, so they probably plaster the side of the equipment with it, lol. ie, a lot of other companies had variable valve timing technology at around the same time as Honda, but only Honda plastered their VTEC name for it all over their cars. Sorta similar. :)
 
#3 ·
they basically clean up the voltage coming into the amp circuit, since an amp is switching on and off really fast. mosfets were created to mute the switching sounds. i dont think there has been an amp made in the last 20 years without them...

dont buy dual stuff. just save up some more money and buy quality stuff the first time around.
 
#4 ·
Thanks Guys for the help.. But what does MOSFET do for a head unit? Whats the difference if I get an abc deck with MOSFET compared to an abc deck without it? Or am I catching your drift SteVTEC and MOSFET is really in everything, but not all companies let you know it? :eek:

ryan_S what is bad about dual equipment? I mean for $500 it couldnt really be THAT bad could it? BTW ive been looking my stuff up from Best Buy. I dont have any audio shops around here so Im limited on choices. Thanks
 
#5 ·
Thundagoose said:
Thanks Guys for the help.. But what does MOSFET do for a head unit? Whats the difference if I get an abc deck with MOSFET compared to an abc deck without it? Or am I catching your drift SteVTEC and MOSFET is really in everything, but not all companies let you know it? :eek:

ryan_S what is bad about dual equipment? I mean for $500 it couldnt really be THAT bad could it? BTW ive been looking my stuff up from Best Buy. I dont have any audio shops around here so Im limited on choices. Thanks
all you need to know is fet's are just the way amps work nowadays, they alll use them, if not they would prety much have no other option but be tube amps... And nothing in car audio used tubes really.

DUAL BLOWS... And yes, for $500 you would be wasting a good $300 considering what you could get for that. All stores rip you off, but if you want to get it from a store, then i guess dual is your only choice really...

E
 
#7 ·
Thundagoose said:
Thanks Guys for the help.. But what does MOSFET do for a head unit? Whats the difference if I get an abc deck with MOSFET compared to an abc deck without it? Or am I catching your drift SteVTEC and MOSFET is really in everything, but not all companies let you know it? :eek:

ryan_S what is bad about dual equipment? I mean for $500 it couldnt really be THAT bad could it? BTW ive been looking my stuff up from Best Buy. I dont have any audio shops around here so Im limited on choices. Thanks
Less noise(3rd order harmonics) less heat and faster response time than transistors.
 
#10 ·
Well im not looking for something that has 1 billion features ill never use.. I just want a unit that plays cd's, dvd's and wont skip when my subs hit hard lol.. If Dual can meet those requirements, im happy.. Now if Dual has known performance issues with their head units or monitors I would like to know.. so far nobody can give me an example.

Stupidaznmunkey- What kind of Dual head unit do you have?
 
#12 ·
Thundagoose said:
Well im not looking for something that has 1 billion features ill never use.. I just want a unit that plays cd's, dvd's and wont skip when my subs hit hard lol.. If Dual can meet those requirements, im happy.. Now if Dual has known performance issues with their head units or monitors I would like to know.. so far nobody can give me an example.

Stupidaznmunkey- What kind of Dual head unit do you have?
If thats all your looking for, go for whatever you want, most of them at best buy should do that for a year or two without any problems... As far as i know, none of them are known to just blow up after a few months or something...

Eric
 
#13 ·
in all honesty, i would save and buy one of these . ive seen them go for as low as 450. go to a local audio shop, and see if they have any used ones available. a lot of people that work in higher-end shops switch equipment a lot and sell it for cheap, since they get it cheap ;)

every amp circuit comes with mosfets, unless you have a planet audio tube amp or something similar...pioneer has always hyped them and continue to do so...oh well... <3 them regardless :D
 
#14 ·
Like what Steve said, it's all a marketing ploy to make something sound kooler than what it really is to the consumer that does not really know much about it. It sounds kinda dumb to me since all decks have those MOS devices in them.

I'm an electrical engineer and I work with MOS and BJT circuits everyday because that's my job. I help design those little chips (integrated circuits) that are used by a manufacturer that any electrical product. If you take apart your deck, tv, cell phone, computer, etc. you will see all kinds of those little chips, resistors, caps, ect. on a PCB board.

Here's a quick breakdown.
Inside those little chips is a circuit that has a purpose, may it be an ADC, DAC, regulator, converter, filter, small signal amplifier, etc. Each ot those circuits also have different types of circuits inside them also to make it work properly. If you cut open one of those chips, you will see (not really since it's in microns) that each of those circuits is made up of CMOS (Complimentary MOS - means they use a PMOS and NMOS) and BJT (Bipolar Juction transistor) devices.

So you can see why that every modern electrical device has those two type of devices in them. Next thing you know, you'll see company put "BJT" on one of their consumer products.
 
#16 ·
ryan s said:
they basically clean up the voltage coming into the amp circuit, since an amp is switching on and off really fast. mosfets were created to mute the switching sounds. i dont think there has been an amp made in the last 20 years without them...

dont buy dual stuff. just save up some more money and buy quality stuff the first time around.

I'm not sure if you're talking about the board level or the IC level but you kind of have the right idea. At the IC level, it's not actually the MOS device that cleans up the signal. It's actually the type of circuit the MOS makes up. If it's a differential op-amp, the input noise will be cancelled if it appears on both inputs.

Also clamping diodes and low pass filters reduce that high frequency switching noise.
 
#22 ·
wht/accord99v6 said:
I don't know how familiar you are with tube amplifiers, but this is the difference people hear. Solid State amplifiers don;t have it or mask it rather.
I dont know more about tube amps beside how and why they work, i never really used one... I use a tube preamp all the time, but i dont think i have any straight up tube amps... I know what harmonics are, and im still confused as to what 3rd order harmonics has to do with noise, that 2nd....4th,.. 5th.. and so on dont?

E
 
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