# Clarion XC1410 vs. Alpine KTP-455U



## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

I decided to significantly downgrade my stereo in my truck as I'll probably be selling it after Christmas. I decided to try out both of the mini-amplifiers on the market: the Clarion XC1410 and the Alpine KTP-455U. I'm using a PAC OEM-1 LOC I have from my very first install and have modified the harness so that I can tap into the stock speaker wiring without cutting into the stock harness. The speakers are Morel Maximo 6.5" in all four doors and I am using the Bose tweeter in the A-pillar (with a cap in-line to filter the upper frequencies) to lift the sound stage (which is badly necessary in this vehicle). 

Yes... very simple system. By the way, these Morels sound great off of just deck power alone. If I weren't so into wasting time with car audio I'd just leave it running off of deck power and be done, but I was hoping to tighten up the bass notes and take advantage of the amplifiers' high-pass crossovers while I still own the truck. Both amplifiers were tested in a temporary setup sitting on my passenger seat, so the photos I will eventually upload obviously aren't the final install. Both amplifiers fit behind the upper glove box if you sneak them up behind a metal support, if you want to know, but whichever one I keep will just be velcroed in the lower glove box (Silverados have two) for easy removal when I sell it. I don't really use the lower glove box for much more than a couple pens and my recent speeding ticket anyway.

Anywho, I purchased them both open box for a discount from Amazon.com - both look brand new and both bench tested fine. My total spend was only $170. Both will get sold off eventually unless the new owner wants to keep the amplifier so I don't expect too bad of a financial loss. You can find the specs on each amplifier on your own but I'll give an installer's perspective and describe their effect on the sound. I expect the speakers to be louder and cleaner but I do not expect the degree of sound quality that a "normal size" amplifier would provide. I'm hoping that the SQ isn't terrible.

Stay tuned...


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## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

*Installation Perspective: Clarion XC1410*

Right off the bat, let's get something straight about this amplifier (and the Alpine variant): _they are not that small_. The Clarion is larger than the Alpine in every dimension: 8-1/4"W x 1-9/16"H x 2-3/4"D (Clarion) vs. 7-7/8"W x 1-1/2"H x 2-9/16"D (Alpine). Translated, this means the Clarion is only 0.375" wider, 0.0625" taller, and 0.1875" deeper. On paper, these measurements don't seem like much but when you are attempting to shove the Clarion in a dash, it feels like a brick. The Alpine feels lighter and less brick-ish.

But, again, it's not really that much of a difference in size. What really creates the difference is manageability. The Clarion's wiring is permanently attached to the unit itself. You cannot disconnect anything from the actual amplifier (you can disconnect essentially half the length of the power/ground and high-level inputs. This creates an annoying nightmare when finding your mounting location in tight spots and, in my case, I actually managed to skin off a little bit of sheathing from the ground wire on some sharp metal while maneuvering the amplifier through a tight space. Additionally, the location of the remote turn on wire (being bundled with the speaker OUTPUT wires) doesn't make any sense to me. Since the remote turn on wire is an INPUT, it should be on the INPUT side of the amplifier with the high-level input wires or power wires (like just about every other 12V amplifier known to mankind). This allows the installer to use 9-Wire/Speedwire efficiently and not have to jump the remote turn on within the 9-Wire/Speedwire around the amplifier to the other side, risking compromising the wire and instigating a messy install. To me, this is an unfortunate oversight. It was probably done to reduce cost but nonetheless I can't think of a reason why this was considered acceptable. I suppose, though, in the end that it is minor and not that big of a deal - but I'm a stickler for logic and the placement of this wire isn't logical.

As I mentioned above, I used a PAC OEM-1 LOC to run RCAs to the RCA inputs. I used 1.5' lengths of Stinger 4000 that I had laying around. RCA connections to the Clarion's inputs were properly tight and Clarion color-codes the front and rear channels with gray and black RCA wire (might be the other way around). The RCA connections are your standard Red and White and look just like those you find coming out of a head unit for pre-outs. Other than the fact that these wires cannot be disconnected (and perhaps, for the RCA's alone, this is acceptable), there is nothing wrong with the RCA inputs. I didn't use the high-level inputs but there's nothing wrong with them either. Wire color-codes are clear and the wiring appeared to be 18 AWG or close enough to it.

Let me digress about the PAC LOC which will lead into something the Clarion is missing (gain control). Either I have a defective unit or PAC LOC's gain controls are far too sensitive. From far left (which basically translates to transmitting zero sound), if you turn just one little billimeter to the right, the sound gets very loud. That can't be right. Nonetheless, I'd like to have some gain control on the amplifier itself which would allow someone using high-level inputs to adjust gain, too. Ohwell... it's a mini amp.

Now let's talk about the mounting feet. This amplifier has four (4) mounting feet that stick out from the same sides as the wiring. I would personally prefer to have the ability to orient those mounting feet 90-degrees to the opposite side... but no big deal. They are plenty strong enough to hold the amplifier and the hole is large enough for your average screw. Having installed about 5 mini-amplifiers, I have yet to actually screw one down though (I would have had to take apart the dash just to do so!). I would have preferred to have some slots through which I can fish zip ties and lock down the amplifier that way. What I tend to do is use wide weather-stripping type tape as a "decoupler" and then zip tie over the weather stripping, which keeps the zip tie from slipping. If you do this, obviously don't cover up all of the heat sink (leave at least 80% of it visible... I try to just cover a max of 10% leaving 90% of the heat sink visible). I did not notice the Clarion get vary hot. I was working in a cold garage and I was only running it for about 30-min, but it never got warm enough for me to feel any heat vs. just "room temperature metal".

Finally, to the sound. Let's just say that I preferred stock head unit power. The bass was tightened up and sounded much better but I noticed that the Morels were being overtaxed on low bass. I set the Clarion's crossover on the amplifier to 60 and 90 (speaking of which, why is the crossover 90 and not 80?) and 90 helped reduce the distortion but I could still hear it. I had to turn the bass down on the stock head unit about halfway for distortion to disappear, which is what I had to do without the amplifier anyway, as these Morels produced a lot of bass without the need for the head unit boosting bass. I had to do the same for mids and highs (reducing them a few clicks) because with the Clarion, they became very pronounced. The sound got louder. But (and this could be an issue with my LOC, which is essentially brand new), everything seemed mushed together. Voices lost noticeable distinction. The amplifier turned soft Morels (and a Bose tweeter which is really soft) into sounding like harsh/"untuned" Focals.

There's not much I can do for tuning to manage the sound - I tried everything I could. I limited the head unit volume to 50% (mine distorts at just shy of 3/4 volume according to a DD-1) and managed the LOC's gains to achieve a nice volume, which helped. I did run an AudioControl LCQ-1 once before and the SQ from it was much better (very good actually... it's just the EQ adjustments had almost no real effect!) and there was no issue with ultra-sensitive gains, but the AC LCQ-1 is too expensive for this application. I marginally suspect the PAC LOC has something to do with the poor SQ and distortion, so I'm going to try the high-level input option to see what difference it makes after I test out the Alpine. I've used PAC LOCs many times and, while they're not amazing, I've never experienced one being such a significant issue. If I don't experience this with the Alpine, then I won't bother. By the way, I did not have engine noise but I did have a very, very tiny bit of hiss which I had to really listen for. I consider that acceptable considering I'm using a basic PAC LOC and an inexpensive mini-amplifier with a stock head unit.

In short, as of right now I'm not impressed with the Clarion. I'll install the Alpine later this week and come back with my review of it and some pictures so you can see what these look like in real life.


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## stylngle2003 (Nov 2, 2012)

neat idea. I like that the 445u can be bridged to 90x2 @4, whereas the 445a (alpine specific pnp model) cannot. Looking forward to what you think. My polk front stage would benefit from some more power in my tahoe, but space is at a premium


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## 2fnloud (Sep 30, 2007)

Awaiting your review on the Alpine unit, maybe even try a bridged demo for just the fronts?


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## cf2004 (Aug 15, 2009)

interested in the alpine review


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