Date: 14 Mar 2000 01:17:35 GMT From: boylan13nopsamcom (Boylan13) Subject: Re: '93 Clarion stereo REALLY LOW volume
In article <8944pq$9q5$1nopsam1.deja.com>, rnewmannopsamch.com writes: >The radio in my 93-900SE mysteriously has lost almost all volume. With >the volume all the way up, you can just barely hear it through all 4 >speakers. My theory is the amp behind the stereo went out, but I can't >manage to remove it. > >Questions: >-Can I bypass the amp and/or replace it? Hi, Ryan, Yes. If you have the cassette/CD unit, then there is an amp built into the CD unit. If you have the cassette and EQ unit, then the amp is in with the EQ. The amp might not be blown. When I bought my used '93 900T, the CD/amp was working very intermittently due to a short. They fixed the short, however, the CD player was still pretty flaky, and when the CD player went out, it would hold my CD hostage but it would not play the CD. When this occured the radio/cassette unit would work, but only at extremely low, almost inaudible volume. This was caused by the radio unit "thinking" that the CD player was playing even when it wasn't. Anyway, there is a way to remove the CD/amp, or amp/EQ unit and bypass the external power amp so that the internal power amp from the cassette unit powers the speakers. Some kind of a jumper I think. I could never find it myself, but the dealer should be able to do this pretty easily. If you bring the unit into the dealer, then they can remove the faulty amp and send it to Clarion for repair (I believe the fixed repair rate is around $100 these days). Or you can choose not to have the unit repaired and just use the cassette/radio unit stand-alone. The amp built into the head unit is a bit less powerful than the external amp however, so don't expect full power if you go this route. If you want to save the labor and do it yourself, then try again here, with a question of 'How do I bypass external power amp in Claion system?' and maybe one of the experts will chime in. >-Has anyone had this problem / know how to fix it? See above. >-How can I get the front amp out? (I can remove the stereo easily) You will need to remove the radio and the amp with the u-shaped tools in order to get the amp out of the loop. You may need to remove some of the dash in order to comfortably get at the wiring. >-Is this problem going to cost as much to fix as buying a new receiver >might cost? Not usually since Clarion does offer a fixed price repair and the bypass is pretty easily done by the dealers since they know exactly how to do it. If you send it to Clarion yourself then the fee might be a little less, but the warranty will also be shorter. If you bring it to the dealer, I'd guess it will run you around $150-$175 for the labor and the repair, and it may take up to 3 or 4 weeks to get the unit to/from Clarion. The other option, of course, is to just pull it all out, and buy an aftermarket unit. Kenwood, Sony and other make some nice aftermarket head units that will fit perfectly in the '93 900. The Clarion units are OK but their tuners are pretty bad so you can generally do better with an aftermarket unit if you don't mind deviating from 'stock.' The '93 900 takes a standard DIN head unit so you have loads of options. In fact, Kenwood makes (or made - not sure if it's still available) a single CD player which works with any of their cassette head units that include CD changer controls. It is also a standard DIN size. It runs around $199 for the single CD unit, plus anywhere from $150 to $400 for a suitable powered cassette/radio head unit so for around $350 to $450 you can get both a cassette/radio head unit and a single CD player that will fit nicely into the two DIN slots currently taken by your stock head unit and CD or EQ. I was going to go this route if Clarion could not fix by stock CD player, but on the third attempt, they finally got it right, so I have stuck with the stock stuff. >-What's up with the 1ohm speakers they use and how does this effect >purchasing aftermarket components? I was not aware that the stock speakers were 1 ohm. This can put a heavy load on an amp. But you should really replace the stock speakers if you wany decent sound. The fronts are 4" (very common) but the rears are 4"X10" which limits your choice somewhat. I have some Polk 4" coaxials up front and Pioneer 3-way 4X10s in the back and this gets reasonably good sound. I have heard of people getting great results with Boston Acoustics component speakers (4" woofer and 1" surface mount tweeter) up front and plate speakers in the back. Take some measurements in the back if you plan to put non-standard speakers back there so you won't have to cut up the factory mounts. And also be careful on the depth of the front speakers as there isn't a whole lot of clearance if you go with the larger component speakers. My only problem is that the actual road and engine noise of the car are a little too high to hear the music clearly at highway speeds. I'd like to gets some sound deadening material to absorb some of the road noise, but I'm not sure where would be the most effective place to do this so I haven't bothered with it yet. Also, I drive my 900 pretty infrequently (65K miles, of which I've only put on 15K in 2 1/2 years), so it hasn't bubbled up to the top of the priority list. But if others have experimented with sound absorption, I'd like to hear their results. Anyway... good luck with the amp problem. There are a few options depending on whether you want to just have the dealer take care of it or DIY. If you do get a new head unit, I would recommend Crutchfield as they will send you a free wiring harness that will let you plug and play into the existing factory wiring. Later, Chris
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