CLARION XMD1 Radio HELP Needed...

[Den]

CLARION XMD1 Radio HELP Needed - (in 2001 Sea Ray 280 SS) - ......Need advice on how to connect (reconnect) speakers to Clarion XMD1 radio. There are (6) speakers; two in the cabin; (2) mid cockpit and (2) rear cockpit.  The (2) cabin speakers are connected to the appropriate wires coming from the back of the radio as are the (2) mid cockpit speakers and they work fine.

The(2) rear cockpit speakers are not working and I am not sure how to connect these. There are two loose speaker wires  near the radio back but there is no place to connect them; the front and rear speakers wires coming off the radio are already in use. Is there some special connection? There are two double dongles coming off the radio back with RCA plugs...Do I need to connect these loose wires with RCA plugs to the dongles or should I double up the connections going to the "rear" speakers (eg the mid cockpit speakers)

Also. How do I connect a powered amplifier & subwoofer to this radio? Thanks

Dennis (Buffalo, NY)

[Captain_Rick1]

The XMD 1 control head will power only 4 external 4 ohm speakers. The remaining two are power by an external amplifier controlled by the XMD 1. The owner's manual describes the external amplifier interface.

[Den]

Could not find it in owners manual. Any suggestions as to where I might look for the amplifier?

[Captain_Rick1]

Hang in...Let me find the documents

[Captain_Rick1]

OK...here is the wiring diagram for the CMD5...your CMD1 "should" have a very similar interface. The bad news is the amplifier that Sea Ray used is no longer in production so if this doesn't help figure it out you may be forced to upgrade to a newer control head then interface all 6 speakers. Check eBay for Clarion parts etc. They normally have tons of stuff that could be useful.

[Captain_Rick1]

Also, your CMD1 has the capability of 180 watts/4 channel. You may experiment with splicing the 3rd pair of speakers into the left/right side of the existing 4 speakers. Try this on LOW volume and see what you think about sound quality...

[Den]

thanks Captain Rick.....I am working through it... The CMD5 is quite different. I did locate the Amplifier which is a Clarion APA 4204 and my radio is an XMD1.....still a little perplexed as what to connect to what ...somebody pulled out everything and left it...2 speakers in cabin, 4 speakers in cockpit and 1 subwoofer...a lot of wires OMG

[Captain_Rick1]

I just looked at the installation manual for your amp. It's straightforward on how to connect it to your cmd1. Was the amp defective? Not sure I understand who disconnected and left the ness

[wingless]

Here is the Clarion APA4202 manual.

The amplifier is a 90W x 4 channel amplifier.

It can be wired for three different configurations. A four channel mode, a three channel mode or a two channel mode.

The amplifier is specified for 4 ohms nominal speaker impedance and 2 to 8 ohms speaker impedance range. Most full-range speakers are 4 ohms impedance. The amplifier will tolerate two 4 ohm speakers wired in parallel on each channel, presenting a 2 ohm load to the amplifier.

When I revamped my sound system I went from one factory-installed amplifier to three amplifiers. Past the obvious improvement in volume and audio quality, this permitted rapid segregation in output from the cabin and cockpit, as-equipped on later model boats.

An amplifier has an enable input. When 12V is supplied to that input the amplifier is active, when 12V is removed from that input the amplifier is disabled.

If an amplifier is used for the cabin and another amplifier is used for the cockpit, then two enable wires, wired to switches, permits flipping the sound on and off for each zone. I added these switches to my boat onto the cabinet side at the entrance to the salon.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m52/wingless-pics/Boat/Stereo/SalonEntryRemotewWallPlate.jpg

If the plan is to stay w/ only one amplifier and the Clarion APA4204 is working fine, then my suggestion would be to use that amplifier only for the cockpit. Wire the amplifier for the three channel mode. Put the mid cockpit and the rear cockpit speakers wired in parallel, onto the Left Front Full Range and the Right Front Full Range amplifier outputs and put the sub woofer onto the rear output. The cabin speakers can remain wired to the XMD1 head unit.


http://www.clarion.com/us/en/MungoBlobs/504/358/APA4204.pdf

[wingless]

Here is the wiring diagram for my 2.500W killer sound system. It sounds great from normal levels to ear bleeding volume.


http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m52/wingless-pics/Boat/Stereo/StereoWiringDiagram.jpg

[wingless]

Haven't the cones on the original cockpit speakers disintegrated from sunlight exposure? If the speaker cones are crumbled then plan on replacement. My boat is on the third set because of sunlight degradation.

It looks like the factory did not put speakers on the interior of the arch on your boat. If so, then you are fortunate. The available depth for speakers at that location is shallow, limiting available options. Some owners opt for ugly trim rings to permit using speakers requiring more depth than is available.

http://images0.boattrader.com/resize/1/57/7/5905707_20160815022213345_1_LARGE.jpg?t=1226056

It looks like the speaker locations will not restrict options due to mounting depth.

[Den]

I do appreciate all the time you have taken to help me. The cockpit speakers are new. I tried hooking things up as you suggested but nothing worked other than the cabin speakers. Wondering if the amp is useless as there is a power light on it ,,,but its not lighted. The amp is getting power. And if I connect the wires from the head unit to the cockpit speakers I can get forward ones to work. Not sure what to do next???

[wingless]

The RCA output from the head unit connects to the RCA input on the Clarion APA4202 amp.

The two tools that are handy here are: an old set of powered computer speakers w/ RCA inputs and an old CD player w/ RCA outputs.

Connect the computer speakers to the RCA cables feeding the Clarion APA4202 amp to see if it makes appropriate sound w/ the XMD1 head unit playing.

Connect the CD player to the APA4202 amp, apply power to the amp and to the amp enable to see if appropriate sound comes out the amp's speaker output.

[wingless]

The Clarion APA4202 amp has a three screw terminal power strip, for +12V, Ground and Remote.

Ensure that the XMD1 is wired to provide +12V onto the APA4202 Remote input when the head unit is on.

If not wired that way, then run a quick test w/ only an external +12V wired to the Remote input to see if the amp power indicator illuminates and if it produces sound.

[Den]

I have made some progress in making my connections and getting the amp to work. I ran an RCA wire from the black wire RCA dongle on the back of the XMD1 radio to the APA 4240 amp at the spot marked for Ch3/4. then connected my 4 cockpit speakers in parallel to the speaker lugs ...using a 3 -channel set up. Those work fine now.

My issue is the subwoofer connections and I thought you might be able to advise me. I have a separate amp for the subwoofer but I am not sure where to connect the RCA wires coming from it......
1. Do these connect to my Clarion APA 4240 AMP at the spot marked "Pre-Out" or the Channel 1/2 inputs? OR
2. Should I connect it to the gray female RCA dongle at the back of the radio? OR
3. Should I run another RCA wire from gray dongle on the radio and connect it to the to the Clarion Amp at the Channel1/2 spot and then connect the subwoofer amp RCA wire to the "Pre-Out"?

Obviously I don't know what I am doing ...but would appreciate your help so I don't damage anything.....Thank you in advance
Dennis (Buffalo)

[wingless]

Dennis,

Great news on the progress!

Sorry I am soooo thick, but I don't understand the setup.

When I examine the APA4204 manual, when the amp is configured for three channel mode, the stereo RCA input from the XMD1 are connected to CH1 / CH2 and the parallel speaker connections are connected to the OUTPUT 1 screw terminals.

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/MungoBlobs/504/358/APA4204.pdf

When the APA4204 amplifier is configured for the three channel mode an additional sub woofer amplifier is not required.

In that configuration the APA4204 amplifier has the OUTPUT 2 screw terminals for the sub woofer with the APA4204 CH4 RCA input coming from the XMD1 for the sub woofer.

If an additional amplifier is going to be used just for the subwoofer, then the APA4204 should be configured to the two channel mode. Yes, the additional subwoofer amplifier input may be fed from the APA4204 PREOUT RCA outputs.

[Den]

Probably its me that is confused....I was told that the clarion cannot power a big subwoofer. I connected my cabin speakers directly to the radio. I connected the mid and aft cockpit speakers to the screw terminals...I was advised that the 3 channel route was the right approach.....at any rate the cockpit and cabin speakers work fine.....I can connect the sub speakers as shown in the 3 channel set up for the Clarion Amp....to the tow end terminals. I believe you are saying that I can connect the subwoofer amp to the pre out on the Clarion amp...Correct?
Then what should I set the switches to on the Clarion amp for optimum performance?

[wingless]

The Clarion APA4204 amplifier is rated for:

4-channel mode ...50W × 4
3-channel mode ...50W × 2+130W × 1
2-channel mode ...130W × 2

The manual has a misnomer. The amp can be wired to drive just a single sub woofer. For some reason they call that 2-channel mode. Anyone else would call that one channel mode...

If an additional amplifier is going to be used, then configure the Clarion APA4204 to the 4-Channel mode, per the manual, with each individual speaker connected to its own amplifier output.. Half the available power is wasted if the APA4204 is in 3-Channel mode while driving only two channels of parallel wired speakers! (50Wx4 versus 50Wx2)

The 4-channel mode needs two pairs of RCA cables from the XMD1 to the APA4204. The 3-channel mode driving only full-range speakers needs one pair of RCA cables from the XMD1 to the APA4204.

Try it both ways to see which is louder and which sounds better. The lower impedance from parallel speakers may get more volume even though half the amp is idle.

To be clear, the parallel wiring is done this way: Left Front Speaker Plus connected Left Rear Speaker Plus connected to Left Amp Plus; Left Front Speaker Minus connected to Left Rear Speaker Minus connected to Left Amp Minus; Right Front Speaker Plus connected to Right Rear Speaker Plus connected to Right Amplifier Plus and Right Front Speaker Minus connected to Right Rear Speaker Minus connected to Right Amplifier Minus.

If the additional amp is used for the sub woofer, then yes use an RCA cable from the APA4204 PREOUT RCA outputs to the additional amp input.

Set the switches exactly as-shown in the manual for the configuration used.

[Den]

thank you very much.....I will give it a try the way you suggest.Much appreciated....Den