Clarion XC6410 manual › Listening, › PERFORMANCE/BENCH Measurements, › Conclusion

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

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	-89.9 dBA
(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.	87 W
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	50 Hz – 5 kHz
	-12 dB/Oct
Low Pass Crossover	50 Hz – 500 Hz
	-12 dB/Oct
Subsonic Filter	None
Bass EQ boost	+12 dB @ 47 Hz

CROSSOVER RANGE - FREQUENCY RESPONSE

CROSSTALK - FREQUENCY

BASS EQ - FREQUENCY RESPONSE

›LISTENING

MEASURED PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS

MANUFACTURERS RATEDPOWER

85 W x 4 @ 4 Ω

125 W x 4 @ 2 Ω

250 W x 2 @ 4 Ω

ACTUALMEASURED POWER

@1.0%THD+N @12.6VBATTERY

68 W x 4 @ 4 Ω

113 W x 4 @ 2 Ω

241 W x 2 @ 4 Ω

ACTUALMEASURED POWER

@1.0%THD+N @14.4VBATTERY

91 W x 4 @ 4 Ω

150 W x 4 @ 2 Ω

318 W x 2 @ 4 Ω

stereo imaging. The bottom end is tight, well-controlled and gives my single four- ohm 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,

stereo separation performance. One often overlooked area is common mode rejec- tion, 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 pro- tection scheme.

›CONCLUSION

If you are in the market for a four-chan- nel amp, Clarion’s XC6410 is very worthy of serious consideration. It has exemplary

Connected to my reference listening system in three-channel mode – with channels one and two bridged to

a four-ohm woofer and the remain- ing two channels driving my reference speakers – I set the subwoofer cross- over to about 80 Hz and leave the main channels in all-pass mode.

In a word, the amplifier sounds excel- lent. 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

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

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 fre- quency response, signal-to-noise and

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pasmag.com/clarionXC6410

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 pow- er of 150 watts per channel and it comes in right at about a-buck-a-watt. That’s makes it a great deal, period.

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