Clarion XC6410 User Manual
E
T
REPORT
T
S
CLARION
XC6410
AMPLIFIER REVIEW
hen most enthusiasts
think about historical
W
car audio companies,
our thoughts tend to gravitate
towards the iconic American
brands. So, it may come as
a surprise to some that one of
the oldest car audio companies
on the planet began in Japan in
1940. Long before even I was
born, the Hakusan Wireless
Electric Company began
manufacturing battery-operated
household radios. Known since
1970 as the Clarion company, the
brand boasts a long list of
technological achievements and
industry firsts.
Continuing that tradition,
the good folks at Clarion
Canada have sent me one of its
latest four-channel amplifiers
– the XC6410 – to put through
its paces.
WORDS AND MEASUREMENTS BY GARRY SPRINGGAY
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FEATURES
The Clarion XC6410 is a class D full range,
four-channel amplifier designed around a very
compact, classy looking two-tone brushed
aluminum chassis. And, when I say compact,
I’m not kidding. Measuring only 8.75 x 6.8 x 2.2
inches, it’s hard to believe the amplifier is rated
at 85 W x 4 at four ohms, and a whopping 125
W x 4 at two ohms. But, thanks to the efficiency of a well-executed class D topology, the
heat dissipation of the amp is easily managed
and the power is very real.
Of course, the amplifier can be used in
bridged mode where you can create four,
three or two channels, depending on the
architecture of your system. Special signal
steering switches configure the amp for fourchannel stereo, three-channel stereo/mono
or true two-channel stereo output.
There are quite a few handy and welcome
features you won’t find on many competitive
products. For example, the ability to turn on
the amplifier with high level input signal when
a remote wire doesn’t exist; or, being able to
have bass boost applied to all four channels
or only two. Convenience features like these
make the XC6410 easy to install in a wide
variety of applications and can really come in
handy. Speaking of a variety of applications,
the XC6410 is also fully treated with conformal coating and nickel-plated hardware for
complete compatibility in marine applications.
Connections and controls are all found on
the front edge of the amplifier and accessible
by removing two small screws holding an aluminum trim panel in place (it normally hides
and protects the connections and controls).
In addition to the aforementioned stereo/
bridged/mono switches, there are more
switches for using one or two pairs of RCA inputs, the “auto sense” feature and, of course,
the usual crossover-type and range switches.
On the XC6410, channels one and two can be
set to full range, high pass or low pass with
a frequency range of 50 to 500 Hz. Channels
three and four are the same, but add a 10
times (x10) range switch for a frequency span
of 50 to 5kHz.
Terminals are basic terminal blocks with
nickel-plated Phillips screws. The RCA input
connectors are also nickel-plated. A special
high level-to-RCA adapter is included to drop
the input voltage down before it enters the
amp to allow connection directly to speaker
level signals.
The XC6410 scores
very high in all
measurements
with exceptional
frequency
response, signal-
to-noise and
stereo separation
performance
78
PERFORMANCE AUTO & SOUND
AMPLIFIER REVIEW
CLARION XC6410
4 OHM POWER vs THD+N 1kHz 14.4V Batt 2 OHM POWER vs THD+N 1kHz 14.4V Batt
4 OHM BRIDGED POWER vs THD+N 1kHz 14.4V Batt MAX FLAT - FREQUENCY RESPONSE
CROSSOVER RANGE - FREQUENCY RESPONSE BASS EQ - FREQUENCY RESPONSE
›
CROSSTALK - FREQUENCY
LISTENING
Connected to my reference listening
system in three-channel mode – with
channels one and two bridged to
a four-ohm woofer and the remaining two channels driving my reference
speakers – I set the subwoofer crossover to about 80 Hz and leave the main
channels in all-pass mode.
In a word, the amplifier sounds excellent. I’m used to having to put up with
a bit of telltale class D “hash” from a
lot of full range class D amps, but the
XC6410 has none of it. As in zero. Nor
MEASURED
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATIONS
MANUFACTURERS
RATED POWER
85 W x 4 @ 4 Ω
125 W x 4 @ 2 Ω
250 W x 2 @ 4 Ω
ACTUAL MEASURED
POWER
@ 1.0% THD+N
@ 12.6 V BATTERY
68 W x 4 @ 4 Ω
113 W x 4 @ 2 Ω
241 W x 2 @ 4 Ω
ACTUAL MEASURED
POWER
@ 1.0% THD+N
@ 14.4 V BATTERY
91 W x 4 @ 4 Ω
150 W x 4 @ 2 Ω
318 W x 2 @ 4 Ω
does it have any type of audible noise
or hiss – even with the gains fairly high
and my ears only a short distance from
my tweeters. Clarion has come up with
a really good sounding amplifier here
and I’m having a great time testing its
mettle with a variety of musical genres
at both low and high volume levels. The
amount of available power is great, the
amp never feels like it’s running out of
breath unless I’m doing stupid things
with the volume control. In fact, the amp
sounds very neutral and has excellent
TECHNICAL DATA
The following power measurements have been obtained using industry standard
methods (1 kHz @ 1.0% THD+N – Battery voltages shown +/- 0.2 V).
Signal to Noise Ratio referenced to 2 V output
(CEA-2006A) (1 W @ 4 Ω)
Signal to Noise Ratio referenced to full output -109.5 dBA
THD+N at rated 4 Ω power 0.05%
CEA-2006A rated 4 Ω power (min. power per ch.
developed over the entire intended audio bandwidth)
Maximum Efficiency at full 4 Ω power per ch. 83.4%
Maximum Efficiency at full 2 Ω power per ch. 72.3%
Efficiency at 10 watts per channel, 4 Ω 63.1%
Idle Current 1.4 A
Input Sensitivity 201 mV – 6.0 V
Maximum Current at full power, lowest rated impedance 46.3 A
Frequency Response (-3 dB) <10 Hz – 74 kHz
High Pass Crossover
Low Pass Crossover
Subsonic Filter None
Bass EQ boost +12 dB @ 47 Hz
stereo imaging. The bottom end is tight,
well-controlled and gives my single fourohm woofer all it can handle. I experiment
with the on-board bass boost and find it was
pretty useful with a relatively narrow Q and
boost at about 45 Hz. All in all, this is a very
good sounding, uncolored amplifier.
›
PERFORMANCE/BENCH MEASUREMENTS
After I’m finished listening, I move the
amp into the lab for some bench testing
to see exactly what kind of performance
numbers it can deliver. The Clarion XC6410
does not disappoint and easily exceeds all
of its published specifications, including
the CEA-2006B specs that Clarion prints
on the box and manual. Some people don’t
appreciate how valuable these specs are,
but rest assured when you are comparing
two amps by the CEA-2006 specs, it truly is
an “apples to apples” comparison. Kudos to
all the manufacturers like Clarion who have
the cojones to publish real numbers.
The XC6410 scores very high in all
measurements with exceptional frequency response, signal-to-noise and
For additional photos, visit
pasmag.com/clarionXC6410
-89.9 dBA
87 W
50 Hz – 5 kHz
-12 dB/Oct
50 Hz – 500 Hz
-12 dB/Oct
stereo separation performance. One often
overlooked area is common mode rejection, which is a measurement of how well
the front end of the amp rejects noise –
alternator whine, for example. The XC6410
performs admirably in this test with over
60 dB of rejection, which is easily double
the rejection some competitive products
and will go a long way in keeping noise
out of the system and installers happy.
It also gets high marks in power, efficiency,
distortion and has a comprehensive protection scheme.
›
CONCLUSION
If you are in the market for a four-channel amp, Clarion’s XC6410 is very worthy
of serious consideration. It has exemplary
sound quality, is well engineered and nicely
made as well as designed and built for use
in your car or your boat, which provides
a great deal of application flexibility. Couple
all that value with a measured output power of 150 watts per channel and it comes in
right at about a-buck-a-watt. That’s makes
it a great deal, period.
> clarion.com
> facebook.com/ClarionUSA
> @ClarionUSA
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PERFORMANCE AUTO & SOUND
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