XMD-3 "hop up"

[Grant_West]

This is for anyone that wants to stick with the stock XMD-3

I to think the Clarion XMD-3 is some what outdated compaired to what is out on the market. With many units pushing 8V of pre out power and other units that can controle a I pod the XMD-3 is some what lack luster

But the waterproof remote makes up for its short comming's IMO and makes keeping it worth while.

I think the #1 problems with the XMD-3 is the low voltage from the pre out's this is a easy fix.

I went with a Audio Control. Overdrive Line driver.

what this does is boost the voltage comming out of the unit from a stock 1-2 volts to a adjustable 5-12 volts so that your amps are boosting a strong signal, Not trying to boost a week signal.

What this means is you can adjust the volume of the signal that your headunit sends to your amp's

Before I installed the overdrive in my system my gain's were at 3/4 full on all my amps. After I installed this I had to set all my gain's to ZERO

This has made a huge differance in power consumption and lowering distortion on a all readdy very clean system.

Take my advice, If your going to install a big system and your going to stick with the XMD-3 you should consider a Line Driver,

IMO audio control makes some of the best signal processer's . IE eq's crossover's line conditioners ect.

[Hollywood]

RE: XMD-3 "hop up"

That's a pretty neat toy, didn't even know something like that existed. How long have they been around?

[FatBoy]

RE: XMD-3 "hop up"

Hey Grant, where is the best (cheapest) place to get one on line? Also after looking closely at the picture I see one set of RCA's in and one set out. Do I need one of these for both sets of RCA's out of the head unit?

[clubmyke]

agree with grant...the audiocontrol gear is very, very good gear..adding 5v-12v preout will make a huge difference.. zapco also makes a great pre-amp line driver...

audiocontrol also make units with cross-overs and a phase control for the sub(phase control is a big deal)...if i remember the 2x model had it (dont hold me to it)

when intergrating the sub there are crossover frequency overlaps (generally the subs is further away and suffers from poor transiant repsonse).. when there is overlap from the mids at the crossover points, the sound is "cancelled".. doesnt matter how many watts you throw at it...when oppposite sound waves run into each other
you can try this wiring one speaker out of phase and have them face each other or run one sub out of phase..there is practically no output..... the sound is cancelled..that is why most mobile system have low-lows and high highs...the midrange and midbass( very hard to get right) is gone..

by changing the phase of the sub (135 degrees is a general setting). you will get more bass output with less watts..

[Grant_West]

when intergrating the sub there are crossover frequency overlaps (generally the subs is further away and suffers from poor transiant repsonse).. when there is overlap from the mids at the crossover points, the sound is "cancelled".. doesnt matter how many watts you throw at it...when oppposite sound waves run into each other

Yes very true, I wouldnt belive this unless I saw it for myself.
After we hooked up Harolds system (3" W7-12's) and started adjusting crossover points on his sub's one of his 12's just stopped working???. We had adjusted the crossover points on all the subs to the same points and the opposite subs and the sub box that had 2 12's in it was cancelling the box with 1 - 12 in it as soon as we turned the 12 that was being cancelled around 180 degree's it started working again.
It was really werid, seeing is believeing
I had never seen this only heard about this,

[Grant_West]

You can find most anyting think like the "Overdrive" on the web, I think I payed like $120 for it from a local shop. It is called Street Beat in Hayward Califorina, If your intrested they have one in stock now. Phone #510 940 5683 ask for Sam, Thell them Grant sent you. They are a solid company

[Grant_West]

BTW. If you are going to go with a line driver, I highley recomend only using the Audio controle unit. Line drivers can be a source of noise and cause distortion so if you get a cheep one you can be causeing more problems than its worth

[clubmyke]

Grant,

yep, the system phasing for subs is needed for intergration of the subs to the components (though wiring a speaker out of phase and facing them is great way to break them in)

i would also look at audio control 24xs with the "speaker wave alignment technology" , it is pretty cool. it can be adjusted for 0-180 phase control of the subs (allows to minimize the "dead" phasing spots between the component and subs.....with this dialed in... you wont use as much amp power - both sub and component) and the unit will put out 9.5 volts, has two sets of outputs, and a crossover. other wise you will have to use y adapters or run the unit just to sub only or go with multiple units.

i think time alingment (speaker wave alignment technology) is crucial... most newer decks have it built it and it is in the digital domain (can really dial in the timing.. to the millisecond and also the ouput to .1db)

if the deck doesnt have the time alignment built in then the 24xs is the next best thing and it covers alot of other functions too.

[unclejessie]

Has anyone had problems with their XMD-3? I just finished adding 2 amps and sub-woofer and now the XMD is changing modes mid-way through a song when the volume is up high. Clarion tech support believes the problem to be RF interference with the remote control cable. They think the RF is distorting the digital signal coming from the remote, making the head unit swith modes to "scan", "mute", "aux", etc. One theory is that the amps are putting out too mucg RF. The amps are a Kicker ZR460 and an Elclipse 3242, both are 4 channel amps.

Any ideas?

[Grant_West]

I have heard of this before with 2 diffrent set up's
Try disconecting the Remote control and see if if it still does it. I was told
that you need sheald the remote cable and that will stop the RF interferance, this was what clarion told us

[unclejessie]

It does not happen if I dis-connect the remote.

The tech guy at Clarion told me the remote cable "was" shielded... How would I shield itif it isn't already? I could make a totally new cable... or better... have them send me one that is shielded. I have already wrapped the exposed wire in tin foil and grounded that but it did not fix it. There is still way too much cable behind the carpet that I could not get to.

I will contact CC tomorrow and continue with Clarion.

Thanks.

UJ