Clarion G-501 (old School)

[RJMBurgess]

Hi there - I'm new to the forum, and just purchased a Clarion G-501 set-up. New Old Stock, still in original boxes, and along with original documentation. In a word, amazingly cool. 2 words actually.



But I need some help in setting it up.

Here's the set-up diagram.



I have all the units except the 2 amps, but I was thinking to connect to a more modern amp. Output connector is a DIN 5-pin plug, and included is a DIN splitter, so it splits to two 5-pin DINs each going to an individual amp.



So my question is, how would you set this up and what would be your recommendations? Ideally I was thinking I would like it going into a 5-channel amp feeding 2 front, 2 rear and a subwoof; i was thinking an Alpine PDX-5. But what do i know?

Thanks in advance. I'll post more eye-candy pics in the near future

[1moreamp]

WOW that should be in a museum. Seriously its that rare and pristine. Nice grab, very "old school". Thanks for the pics and the reminisce....

[Perry Babin]

That's exactly what I thought. These should be in a museum.

[RJMBurgess]

Thanks guys. well, my car is like a museum...



It's an 1984 500SE AMG. AMG optioned Clarion systems as part of their upgrades, although they optioned the digital version of the system I just bought - see here -

[1moreamp]

Well I see why you would want to install this setup now, But I still think its too rare to put in use. Plus interfacing a modern car amp will be a chore as this setup was meant to be used as-is......

If I was bent on hooking this up to a modern car amp I would go as far as to pull all of the signals directly out of the system head unit internally so they would all be the same level and typically able to just directly attach RCAs. Worst case scenario you might have to use a 4 channel line driver to balance the interface with and match circuitry impedance and drive level issues. These are a blister pack item on most car audio shop walls and are made by many different manufacturers nowadays, so nothing special to pickup or come by.
But it will require a knowledgeable tech to pull your signals out to RCA level directly off the HU board. Again this is just me thinking out loud but the SQ would be better going this method rather then mismatched hi-lo converters and what not...Again this is just the picky way I would be approaching your issues..

[RJMBurgess]

Thanks 1moreamp.

Technically, I think, what you are describing is probably beyond me, even though i studied some electronics at university, and I'm not sure I would want to open these units up

So it's onto Plan B - I have (thanks to a fellow 80's Mercedes enthusiast) a set of two Clarion G80 amps on the way to me and I'll bench test these to see how they work. The G80 model was made at the same time these units were made, but apparently they are stereo and not the monaural amps my schematic called for.



These amps have speaker outputs so should be easier to use.

Plan C would be to get the G-501 amps

Plan D would of course would be to go to a reputable tech.

[1moreamp]

Sweet, looks like your set then. Hope it all works out for you.....

[RJMBurgess]

I'll keep you guys posted. Anything I should watch out when I bench test car audio equipment?

[tedzwedz]

Originally Posted by RJMBurgess

Thanks guys. well, my car is like a museum...



It's an 1984 500SE AMG. AMG optioned Clarion systems as part of their upgrades, although they optioned the digital version of the system I just bought - see here -

Any more pictures of your car, interior etc? Recaro seats?

I am a big 1980s AMG fan