McIntosh stereo

[chriskan]

does anyone know what type of outputs the mac uses between the deck and the amp?

Yes, there are 5 channels, using line-level differential connections.
It wouldn't be hard to make up a little interface board with 5 small audio transformers to convert these to the "unbalanced" inputs used by most other car audio equipment. You might even dispense with the sub woofer channel, and just feed four inputs to an external amp.

That would be ideal Ric! I'll have a google. There are plenty of boxes to convert unbal -> balanced, but going the otherway is rarer.

For a balanced setup, the Mac is bloody noisy too.. isn't one of the benefits of using balanced line-level that it's supposed to reduce background noise?

EDIT: Something like this might work:

http://www.crutchfieldenespanol.com/cru ... ailed_info

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=403

[Ric]

For a balanced setup, the Mac is bloody noisy too.. isn't one of the benefits of using balanced line-level that it's supposed to reduce background noise?

When is your's noisy?
I think mine is brilliant. All volume control is done at the head unit, so any noise would be present all the time. The only noise I can hear is the cooling fan on the amp, which seems to run all the time, not just when it's hot.

[chriskan]

Even with the volume at "01" there's a annoying hiss. Not sure if it's with the newer models? I haven't heard the pre 07 Mac to compare. I dare say it's being introduced at the headunit, as going to "00" makes it dead quite. At "01" the hiss is there for all source modes - fm, aux, cd. Its not a big deal, just an observation. Obviously such hiss is negligible in a car enviroment anyway, with all the other noise influences! My previous deck was a Nakamichi CD-700 connected to a Soundstream balanced line transformer and was dead quite.. however totally different kettle of fish (and dollars!)

What do you think of the JL amp? There's a Sony as well (4channel) with differential balanced inputs.

[jp928]

I finally got around to cutting some MP3 cds for my McIntosh. It might be just my ears, but the sound seems richer somehow than std cds with wav files....
A bit happier with the audio now...random over all discs would be nice, but slower between tracks...
Also noticed that the random setting is lost every startup. bugger, thats a pain.
jp 08 gtb 6mt wagon #068767, waiting for the knocking to start, but not driving it any differently

[CheesyMong]

Even with the volume at "01" there's a annoying hiss. Not sure if it's with the newer models? I haven't heard the pre 07 Mac to compare. I dare say it's being introduced at the headunit, as going to "00" makes it dead quite. At "01" the hiss is there for all source modes - fm, aux, cd. Its not a big deal, just an observation. Obviously such hiss is negligible in a car enviroment anyway, with all the other noise influences! My previous deck was a Nakamichi CD-700 connected to a Soundstream balanced line transformer and was dead quite.. however totally different kettle of fish (and dollars!)

What do you think of the JL amp? There's a Sony as well (4channel) with differential balanced inputs.

Hey mate I had that hiss as well and it turned out to be that the treble was running at max (I think) may pay to check the volume settings for bass, treble etc...

[Ric]

Even with the volume at "01" there's a annoying hiss.
...

Are you coming to the photo shoot on the 10th?
You can compare to mine there

[chriskan]

I should be there for some part of the night

[cpitts]

I will dig out my workshop manual tonight and check my facts.

FYI: (The "DIN cord" (top right) carries all the balanced low-level signals from the head unit to the amp.)
<snip picture>

Colin and Ric, you guys seem to have a good knowledge of this Clarion interface, wondering if you can help me here with breaking out this DIN cable to something I can feed a couple of decent amps.

I'm only interested in RCA level inputs (pref higher voltage) or better. I gather the 'balanced input' your talking of is XLR-Balanced type of thing or is it something else? Ideally, we'd be able to get optical out of the HU for much cleaner signal but I'm guessing that's been completely nobbled at the factory?

Any advice here would be good, dunno if I can live with the standard stereo for a long time.

[Ric]

Yes, it is "balanced" in the same way that XLR inuts can be "balanced" or "unbalanced".
A small coupling transformer could be used to convert each channel into an unbalanced signal. I know all the theory, but haven't tried it yet