Pioneer GM-4000F User Manual

Before Using This Product

BRIDGEABLE FOUR-CHANNEL
POWER AMPLIFIER

AMPLIFICATEUR DE PUISSANCE
PONTABLE A QUATRE VOIES

Owner’s Manual

GM-4000F

Mode d’emploi

PIONEER CORPORATION

4-1, MEGURO 1-CHOME, MEGURO-KU, TOKYO 153-8654, JAPAN

PIONEER ELECTRONICS (USA) INC.

P.O. Box 1540, Long Beach, California 90801-1540, U.S.A.
TEL: [phone]

PIONEER EUROPE NV

Haven 1087, Keetberglaan 1, B-9120 Melsele, Belgium
TEL: [phone]

PIONEER ELECTRONICS ASIACENTRE PTE. LTD.

253 Alexandra Road, #04-01, Singapore 159936
TEL: [phone]

PIONEER ELECTRONICS AUSTRALIA PTY. LTD.

178-184 Boundary Road, Braeside, Victoria 3195, Australia
TEL: [phone]

PIONEER ELECTRONICS OF CANADA, INC.

300 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R OP2, Canada
TEL: [phone]

PIONEER ELECTRONICS DE MEXICO, S.A. de C.V.

Blvd.Manuel Avila Camacho 138 10 piso
Col.Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico, D.F. 11000
TEL: [phone]

Published by Pioneer Corporation.
Copyright © 2004 by Pioneer Corporation.
All rights reserved.

Publication de Pioneer Corporation.
Copyright © 2004 Pioneer Corporation.
Tous droits de reproduction et de traduction
réservés.

Printed in U.S.A.
Imprimé aux Etats-Unis

<HRD0267-A> UC<KMINX> <04A00000>

Selecting fine audio equipment such as the unit you’ve just purchased is only the start of your
musical enjoyment. Now it’s time to consider how you can maximize the fun and excitement your
equipment offers. This manufacturer and the Electronic Industries Association’s Consumer
Electronics Group want you to get the most out of your equipment by playing it at a safe level.
One that lets the sound come through loud and clear without annoying blaring or distortion—and,
most importantly, without affecting your sensitive hearing.

Sound can be deceiving. Over time your hearing “comfort level” adapts to higher volumes of
sound. So what sounds “normal” can actually be loud and harmful to your hearing. Guard against
this by setting your equipment at a safe level BEFORE your hearing adapts.

To establish a safe level:

• Start your volume control at a low setting.

• Slowly increase the sound until you can hear it comfortably and clearly, and without distortion.

Once you have established a comfortable sound level:

• Set the dial and leave it there.

Taking a minute to do this now will help to prevent hearing damage or loss in the future. After all,

we want you listening for a lifetime.

We Want You Listening For A Lifetime

Used wisely, your new sound equipment will provide a lifetime of fun and enjoyment. Since
hearing damage from loud noise is often undetectable until it is too late, this manufacturer and the
Electronic Industries Association’s Consumer Electronics Group recommend you avoid prolonged
exposure to excessive noise. This list of sound levels is included for your protection.

Decibel
Level Example

30 Quiet library, soft whispers
40 Living room, refrigerator, bedroom away from traffic
50 Light traffic, normal conversation, quiet office
60 Air conditioner at 20 feet, sewing machine
70 Vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, noisy restaurant
80 Average city traffic, garbage disposals, alarm clock at two feet.

THE FOLLOWING NOISES CAN BE DANGEROUS UNDER CONSTANT EXPOSURE

90 Subway, motorcycle, truck traffic, lawn mower
100 Garbage truck, chain saw, pneumatic drill
120 Rock band concert in front of speakers, thunderclap
140 Gunshot blast, jet plane
180 Rocket launching pad

Information courtesy of the Deafness Research Foundation.

Thank you for purchasing this PIONEER
product. It is designed to give you many
years of enjoyment.
PIONEER SUGGESTS USING A PRO­FESSIONAL INSTALLER DUE TO THE
COMPLEXITY OF THIS PRODUCT.
Please read all instructions and

WARN-

INGS in this manual before attempting

operation. Should you have any questions,
contact your nearest Pioneer authorized
dealer or installation specialist.

Information to User

Alteration or modifications carried out
without appropriate authorization may
invalidate the user’s right to operate the
equipment.

Important

The serial number of this amplifier is writ­ten on the bottom of the unit. For your
own security and convenience, write it
down on the enclosed warranty card. Keep
the card handy for future reference.

After-sales service for Pioneer
products

Please contact the dealer or distributor from where
you purchased the product for its after-sales ser­vice (including warranty conditions) or any other
information. In case the necessary information is
not available, please contact the companies listed
below:
Please do not ship your product to the companies
at the addresses listed below for repair without
advance contact.

7 U.S.A.

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT DIVISION
P. O. Box 1760
Long Beach, CA 90801-1760
800-421-1404

7 CANADA

Pioneer Electronics of Canada, Inc.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
DEPARTMENT
300 Allstate Parkway
Markham, Ontario L3R OP2
[phone]
1-877-283-5901

For warranty information please see the Limited
Warranty sheet included with your product.

Product registration

Visit us at the following site:

1Register your product. We will keep the details of

your purchase on file to help you refer to this
information in the event of an insurance claim
such as loss or theft.

2 Receive updates on the latest products and tech-

nologies.

3Download owner’s manuals, order product cata-

logues, research new products, and much more.

CAUTION

Never replace the fuse with one of greater
value or rating than the original fuse. Use
of an improper fuse could result in over­heating and smoke and could cause dam­age to the product and injury including
burns.

CAUTION

Diagram A - Proper

8

+

-

Ohm

Speaker

8

+

-

Ohm

Speaker

L+ R-

Pioneer

Amplifier

4 Ohm Bridged Mode

Do NOT install or use your Pioneer ampli­fier by wiring speakers rated at 4 Ohm (or
lower) in parallel to achieve a 2 Ohm (or
lower) bridged mode (Diagram B).
Amplifier damage, smoke, and overheating
could result from improper bridging. The
amplifier surface could also become hot to
the touch and minor burns could result.
To properly install or use a bridged mode
for a two-channel amplifier and achieve a 4
Ω load, wire two 8 Ω speakers in parallel
with Left + and Right - (Diagram A) or use
a single 4 Ω speaker. For a four-channel
amplifier, follow the speaker output con­nection diagram for bridging as shown on
the back of your amplifier, and wire two 8
Ω speakers in parallel to achieve a 4 Ω
load or use a single 4 Ω speaker per chan­nel.
If you have any questions or concerns,
please contact your local authorized
Pioneer dealer or call Pioneer customer
service.

Diagram B - Improper

4

+

-

Ohm

Speaker

4

+

-

Ohm

Speaker

L+ R-

Pioneer

Amplifier

2 Ohm Bridged Mode

WARNING

• Handling the cord on this product or cords associ­ated with accessories sold with the product will
expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State
of California and other governmental entities to
cause cancer and birth defects or other reproduc­tive harm. Wash hands after handling.

•Always use the special red battery and ground
wire [RD-223], which is sold separately. Connect
the battery wire directly to the car battery positive
terminal (+) and the ground wire to the car body.

• Do not touch the amplifier with wet hands.
Otherwise you may get an electric shock. Also, do
not touch the amplifier when it is wet.

•For traffic safety and to maintain safe driving
conditions, keep the volume low enough so that
you can still hear normal traffic sound.

• Check the connections of the power supply and
speakers if the fuse of the separately sold battery
wire or the amplifier fuse blows. Detect the cause
and solve the problem, then replace the fuse with
another one of the same size and rating.

•To prevent malfunction of the amplifier and
speakers, the protective circuit will cut the power
supply to the amplifier (sound will stop) when an
abnormal condition occurs. In such a case, switch
the power to the system OFF and check the
connection of the power supply and speakers.
Detect the cause and solve the problem.

• Contact the dealer if you cannot detect the cause.

•To prevent an electric shock or short-circuit
during connection and installation, be sure to
disconnect the negative (–) terminal of the battery
beforehand.

• Confirm that no parts are behind the panel when
drilling a hole for installation of the amplifier. Be
sure to protect all cables and important equipment
such as fuel lines, brake lines and the electrical
wiring from damage.

Setting the Unit

Connecting the Unit

Gain Control

Adjusting the gain controls A and B will
help match the output of the car stereo
to the Pioneer amplifier. Normally, set
the gain controls to the “NORMAL”
position. If the output is low, even when
the volume of the car stereo is turned up,
turn these controls clockwise. If there is
distortion when the volume of the car
stereo is turned up, turn these controls
counter-clockwise.

• If you only use one input plug, set the gain
controls for speaker outputs A and B to the
same position.

•When using with an RCA equipped car
stereo (standard output of 500 mV), set to
the NORMAL position. When using with
an RCA equipped Pioneer car stereo with
max. output of 4 V or more, adjust level to
match the car stereo output level.

• If you hear too much noise when using the
speaker input terminals, turn the gain
control counter-clockwise.

Input Select Switch

For two-channel input, slide this switch
to the left. For four-channel input, slide
this switch to the right.

Power Indicator

The power indicator lights when the
power is switched on.

LPF (Low-Pass Filter)/HPF (High-Pass Filter) Select Switch

Set the LPF/HPF select switch as follows according to the type of speaker that is connected
to the speaker output connector and the car stereo system:

LPF/HPF Select Audio frequency range Speaker Remarks

Switch to be output Type

LPF (left) Very Low Frequency range Subwoofer Connect a subwoofer.

OFF (center) Full range Full range

HPF (right) Low Frequency range to Full range Use if you want to cut the

High Frequency range very low frequency range

because it is not necessary
for the speakers you are
using.

CAUTION

• Disconnect the negative (–) terminal of the battery
to avoid the risk of short-circuit and damage to
the unit.

• Secure the wiring with cable clamps or adhesive
tape. To protect the wiring, wrap adhesive tape
around it where they lie against metal parts.

• Do not route wires where they will get hot, for
example where the heater will blow over them. If
the insulation heats up, it may become damaged,
resulting in a short-circuit through the vehicle
body.

•Make sure that wires will not interfere with mov­ing parts of the vehicle, such as the gearshift,
handbrake or seat sliding mechanism.

• Do not shorten any wires. Otherwise the protec­tion circuit may fail to work when it should.

•Never feed power to other equipment by cutting
the insulation of the power supply wire to tap
from the wire. The current capacity of the wire
will be exceeded, causing overheating.

•Never replace the fuse with one of greater value
or rating than the original fuse. Use of an improp­er fuse could result in overheating and smoke and
could cause damage to the product and injury
including burns.

CAUTION:

To prevent damage and/or injury

• Do not ground the speaker wire directly or con­nect a negative (–) lead wire for several speakers.

•This unit is for vehicles with a 12-volt battery and
negative grounding. Before installing it in a recre­ational vehicle, truck or bus, check the battery
voltage.

• If the car stereo is kept on for a long time while
the engine is at rest or idling, the battery may go
dead. Turn the car stereo off when the engine is at
rest or idling.

• If the system remote control wire of the amplifier
is connected to the power terminal through the
ignition switch (12 V DC), the amplifier will
always be on when the ignition is on— regardless
of whether the car stereo is on or off. Because of
this, the battery could go dead if the engine is at
rest or idling.

Speaker Channel Speaker Type Power

Four-channel

Two-channel

Three-channel Subwoofer Nominal input: Min. 45 W

Speaker output A Other than subwoofer Max. input: Min. 70 W

Three-channel Subwoofer Nominal input: Min. 125 W

Speaker output B Other than subwoofer Max. input: Min. 150 W

Subwoofer Nominal input: Min. 45 W

Other than subwoofer Max. input: Min. 70 W

Subwoofer Nominal input: Min. 125 W

Other than subwoofer Max. input: Min. 150 W

• Speakers to be connected to the amplifier should
conform with the standards listed below. If they
do not conform, they may catch fire, emit smoke
or become damaged. The speaker impedance must
be 2 to 8 ohms. But in case of two-channel and
other bridge connections, the speaker impedance
must be 4 to 8 ohms.

• Install and route the separately sold battery wire
as far away as possible from the speaker wires.
Install and route the separately sold battery wire,
ground wire, speaker wires and the amplifier as
far away as possible from the antenna, antenna
cable and tuner.

• Cords for this product and those for other prod­ucts may be different colors even if they have the
same function. When connecting this product to
another product, refer to the supplied Installation
manuals of both products and connect cords that
have the same function.

Connection Diagram

Grommet

Front side

Fuse (25 A)

Speaker output terminal
See the “Connecting the
Speaker wires” section
for speaker connection
instructions.

Fuse (30 A)

Fuse (30 A)

Connecting wires with RCA pin
plugs (sold separately).

External Output
If only one input plug is used, do not
connect anything to RCA input jack B.

RCA output jack

System remote control wire (sold separately)
Connect the male terminal of this wire to the system remote control
terminal of the car stereo (SYSTEM REMOTE CONTROL). The
female terminal can be connected to the auto-antenna relay control
terminal. If the car stereo does not have a system remote control ter­minal, connect the male terminal to the power terminal through the
ignition switch.

Special red battery wire [RD-223] (sold separately)
After making all other connections at the amplifier,
connect the battery wire terminal of the amplifier to
the positive (+) terminal of the battery.

Ground wire (black) [RD-223] (sold separately)
Connect to metal body or chassis.

RCA input

Speaker input terminal
See the “Using the Speaker Input”
section.

RCA input jack B

RCA input jack A

Connecting wires with RCA pin

Back side

plugs (sold separately).

Amplifier with
RCA input jacks

Car stereo with
RCA output jacks

Connecting the Unit

10 mm

+

+

≠

≠

+

+

≠

≠

+

+

≠

+

≠

≠

+

+

≠

+

+

≠

≠

≠

Connecting the Power Terminal

•Always use the special red battery and ground
wire [RD-223], which is sold separately. Connect
the battery wire directly to the car battery positive
terminal (+) and the ground wire to the car body.

1. Pass the battery wire from the

engine compartment to the interior
of the vehicle.

• After making all other connections to the
amplifier, connect the battery wire terminal of
the amplifier to the positive (+) terminal of
the battery.

Fuse (30 A)

Fuse (30 A)

Positive terminal

Insert the O-ring rubber
grommet into the vehicle
body.

2. Twist the battery wire, ground wire
and system remote control wire.

3. Attach lugs to wire ends. Lugs not
supplied.

• Use pliers, etc., to crimp lugs to wires.

Lug

Battery wire

Engine
compart­ment

Lug

Interior of
the vehicle

Drill a 14 mm
(1/2 inch) hole
into the vehicle
body.

Twi st

Ground wire

4. Connect the wires to the terminal.

•Fix the wires securely with the terminal
screws.

GND terminal

Power terminal

Battery wire

System remote
control terminal

Connecting the Speaker Output
Terminals

1. Expose the end of the speaker wires
using nippers or a cutter by about
10 mm (3/8 inch) and twist.

(3/8 inch)

2. Attach lugs to speaker wire ends.
Lugs not supplied.

• Use pliers, etc., to crimp lugs to wires.

Lug

System remote
control wire

Ground wire

Twist

Speaker wire

3. Connect the speaker wires to the
speaker output terminals.

•Fix the speaker wires securely with the termi-

nal screws.

Terminal screw

Speaker
output
terminal

Speaker wire

Using the Speaker Input

Connect the car stereo speaker output
wires to the amplifier using the supplied
speaker input connector.

• Do not connect both the RCA input and the
speaker input at the same time.

7 Connections when using the speaker

input

Car Stereo

Speaker output

White/black:
Left ≠

White:
Left +

Speaker input connector
To speaker input terminal of
this unit.

Gray/black:
Right ≠

Gray:
Right +

Connecting the Speaker wires

The speaker output mode can be four-channel, three-channel (stereo +
mono) or two-channel (stereo, mono). Connect the speaker leads to suit the
mode according to the figures shown below.

•When either the RCA input or the speaker input is connected, RCA output
becomes functional. Do not connect both the RCA input and the speaker input at
the same time.

Four-channel mode

Input Select Switch
For two-channel input, slide this switch to
the left. For four-channel input, slide this
switch to the right.

Speaker input
terminal A

Speaker input
connector

Three-channel mode

Input Select Switch
For two-channel input, slide this switch to
the left. For four-channel input, slide this
switch to the right.

Speaker input
terminal A

Speaker input
connector

Speaker input
terminal B

Speaker input
terminal B

(Left)
Speaker out A
(Right)

Speaker output
terminal

(Right)
Speaker out B
(Left)

(Left)
Speaker out A
(Right)

Speaker output
terminal

Speaker out B
(Mono)

Two-channel mode (stereo)

Input Select Switch
Slide this switch to the left.

Speaker input
terminal A

Speaker input
connector

Two-channel mode (mono)

Input Select Switch
Slide this switch to the left.

Speaker input
terminal A

Speaker input
connector

Speaker (Left)

Speaker output
terminal

Speaker (Right)

Speaker (Mono)

Speaker output
terminal

Speaker (Mono)