Pioneer GM-D8400M owner manual Connecting the Unit, Setting the Gain properly, Connection Diagram

Setting the Unit ENGLISH

Connecting the Unit

ENGLISH

Setting the Gain properly

• This unit is equipped with a protective function to

prevent malfunction of the unit itself and speakers

from too much output, improper use or improper

There is no need to decrease the volume of the head unit and too much output is controlled.

Relationship between the gain of the

CAUTION

• Disconnect the negative (–) terminal of the battery

to avoid the risk of short-circuit and damage to

the unit.

CAUTION:

To prevent damage and/or injury

• Do not ground the speaker wire directly or con-

Connection Diagram

•This diagram shows connections using external output (subwoofer output). Slide the input switch to the right (RCA).

Solderless Terminal Connections

• Do not connect a cord having an exposed core

wire to the power terminals of this amplifier

(Power terminal, GND terminal, System remote

1. Pass the battery wire from the

engine compartment to the interior

of the vehicle.

• After making all other connections to the

connection.

• When outputting sound at high volume etc., this

function will cut off the sound output in a few

seconds. But this is not a malfunction. When you

amplifier and the output power of the

head 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.

nect 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 recre-

ational vehicle, truck or bus, check the battery

Grommet

Fuse (40 A) ⋅ 2

Special red battery wire [RD-228] (sold separately) After making all other connections at the amplifier, connect the battery wire terminal of the amplifier to

control terminal). Disconnection or breakage of

the core wire can cause a fire or short-circuit.

• Since the wire will become loose over time, it

must be periodically inspected and tightened as

amplifier, connect the battery wire terminal of

the amplifier to the positive (+) terminal of

the battery.

turn down the volume of the head unit the sound

output will be restored.

• If sound output is cut, the gain control of this unit

may be improperly set. To ensure continuous

sound output at increased volume of the head unit,

set the gain control of the amplifier to a proper

position according to the preout maximum output

level of the head unit.

Power

Normal gain

Head unit volume steps Amplifier gain

Power

Maximum gain

Equal power

Head unit volume steps

Amplifier gain

• 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 mov-

ing parts of the vehicle, such as the gearshift,

handbrake or seat sliding mechanism.

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

Bass Boost Remote Control

the positive (+) terminal of the battery.

Ground wire (black) [RD-228] (sold separately) Connect to metal body or chassis.

necessary.

• Do not solder or bind the ends of the twisted

wires.

• Fasten while making sure to not to clamp the

insulating sheath of the wire.

• Use the supplied hexagonal wrench to tighten and

loosen the terminal screw of the amplifier.

Securely fasten the wire with the terminal screw.

Positive (+)	Engine	Interior of
	compartment
		the vehicle
terminal

Fuse (40 A) ⋅ 2

Drill a 13 mm

(normal)

(maximum)

• Do not shorten any wires. Otherwise the protec-

tion circuit may fail to work when it should.

always be on when the ignition is on— regardless

Bass Boost Remote Control Wire

However, since excessively tightening the terminal

Insert the O-ring rubber

hole into the

Gain Control of This Unit

•If you raise the gain of the amplifier to an improp- er level, only distortion is increased and the power increases only slightly.

• 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.

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.

• DO NOT connect a subwoofer with a lower

6 m	Connecting wire with RCA
	pin plugs (sold separately).

screw of the System remote control has the risk of

damaging the wire, be careful not to tighten

excessively by observing the status of the wire

when tightening.

grommet into the vehicle body.

vehicle body.

Preout level: 2 V

(Standard: 500 mV)

Preout level: 4 V

Preout level: 6.5 V

•The above illustration shows the gain set to

NORMAL.

Signal waveform when outputting at high

volume by the gain control of the amplifier

	Normal gain				Maximum gain
		Equal power
Signal			Signal
waveform			waveform
	Amplifier gain			Amplifier gain
	(normal)			(maximum)

•With high output the signal waveform is distorted, if you raise the gain of the amplifier the power changes only slightly.

•If you decrease the volume of the head unit and set the gain control of the amplifier to the proper position but still the sound cuts out from time to time, contact the nearest authorized PIONEER Service Station.

• Never replace the fuse with one of greater value

or rating than the original fuse. Use of an improp-

er fuse could result in overheating and smoke and

could cause damage to the product and injury

including burns.

impedance than specified in the “Connecting the

Speaker Wires” section. Amplifier damage,

smoke, and overheating could result from a non-

specified connection. The amplifier surface could

also become hot to the touch and minor burns

could result.

• Connect either of two subwoofers to the amplifier;

1: a subwoofer with a 350 W or larger nominal

input and an impedance 4 Ω, or 2: a subwoofer

with a 600 W or larger nominal input and an

impedance 2 Ω. If the nominal input and imped-

ance are out of the above ranges, the subwoofer

may catch fire, emit smoke or become damaged.

• 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.

		Car stereo with
		RCA output jacks
Jack for the bass boost remote
	External Output
control	(Subwoofer output)
Connect this jack and the bass
boost remote control with the
bass boost remote control wire.	RCA input jack

Reverse side

Speaker terminal

See the “Connecting the Speaker Wires” section for speaker connection instructions.

Fuse (30 A) ⋅ 2

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 ter- minal, connect the male terminal to the power terminal through the ignition switch.

Connecting the Power Terminal

•We recommend that you use the special red bat- tery and ground wire [RD-228], which is sold sep- arately. Connect the battery wire directly to the car battery positive terminal (+) and the ground wire to the car body.

•Recommended wires size (AWG: American Wire Gauge) is as follows. The battery wire and the ground wire must be same size.

•Use a 10 AWG to 20 AWG wire for the system remote control wire.

Battery Wire and Ground Wire Size

Wire Length	less than	less than	less than
	4.5 m	7.2 m	11.4 m
Wire Size	8 AWG	6 AWG	4 AWG

2.Connect the wires to the terminal.

•Fix the wires securely with the terminal screws.

System remote	Terminal screws
control terminal
	GND terminal
Power terminal
	Ground wire

Battery wire

System remote control wire

WARNING

Failure to securely fasten the battery wire to the ter- minal using the terminal screws could cause the ter- minal area to overheat and could result in damage and injury including minor burns.