I know the differences. But I still think it should be louder and have more bass than a bolt box I also picked up. First thing I noticed about the conion when I fired it up was how wide the sound was. Then the bass knob did have an effect but minor. Then loudness did what it was designed to do. So I started turning it up. 3/4 volume and just sadness set in lol. Tried line in, and the volume was even lower. That was it, finished polishing up the chrome bits, put it in a bag and on the wall display it went for another day. I picked up 18 radios in 3 days. 2 wheelies,2 jvc 550, a 777, bolt box, this conion, sharp gf800, and a sanyo9935 which sounds better than this conion lol