McIntosh Radios

[wrongturninwv]

Why did they ever put a radio with so many problems in a Subaru ???? I have the 2001 Outback H6 with McIntosh sound system. Not bad mouthing the great sound it puts out, "when its working", but what is up with the cd players ??? Error 2, Error 6, Error 12. My God you rur a cd cleaning disc and still have problems. It gets cold out, no cd player till it warms up in car. Sometimes. And the price to repair in Florida is $200.00 to $300.00. And no one on this earth can tell you what these error codes mean. What is the great secret to these codes ??? Its like asking the guy in a transmission shop what is the problem. Its a secret,,,,,,,,,,, cause if I give you the answer you could fix it yourself. Well anyway being stupid I bought another Mcintosh off of good ol Ebay that seller said was tested and cd player works just fine. Took my old one out and put new in. Put a cd in and" Error,Error,Error". I could have bit a hole in my dash !!! I dont want to ride around and hear my wife sing, just want my cd player to work. Anybody got an old one I can rip apart and see what makes it work ? How bout you Gary, you ever get your stuff fixed. good luck you guys with the same radio

[Scoobywagon]

Despite what it says on the face, there is NOTHING McIntosh about those stereos. They are built by Clarion.

 

Error 2 is (usually, as I recall) a changer mechanism error. Error 6 is a transport mechanism error. Don't know what 12 is.

[ericem]

But another deck is it a 2" din?? Many nice decks out there that will sound just as good if not better for example my car

 

[lesstutrey]

there a way to hook up the stock 50w x 5 amp up with an aftermarket head unit? That has been the main thing keeping me from putting a new head unit in. That and the fact the McIntosh has no problems in my 02, aside from the dirty pot for the volume control that gives a little static when i change volume. I would like to keep the decent amp they put in the car powering the speakers, but also want to add a 12" woofer in the back with the amp mounted where the current 6x9 sub is... also have to figure out wire routing for that.

[edrach]

If you have the same problems with two identical radios, I would start looking for a bad connector, bad ground, or some wiring issue. If all else fails, a really quality after-market radio might be the way to go. I like my Kenwood (except the software sucks...but that's because I'm computer challenged, my two kids don't have any problems with the identical radio).

 

Really odd, all three of us bought the same model of Kenwood without any cross consultation. We all did our own research and selected the same radio within a few months of each other.

[idosubaru]

i've haven't gotten around to mine yet. they apparently aren't very reliable. i've had two bad ones and seems like no shortage of errors and non working units on the interwebz. they just suck, get another Subaru unit if you don't want to keep buying used ones or pay the $200-$300 to have them fix, they all plug and play.

 

i'll hold onto mine should i ever find time to mess with them.

 

"nothing mcintosh" about them? doesn't really matter as he's just saying that to clarify what stereo he has.

[wrongturninwv]

Well I will be getting a refund or another radio from Ebay so no great loss. Reason I went for the deal cause they said it was tested in the car before they pulled it out. May just go with an aftermarket if they cant come up with one that works.

[lesstutrey]

So I can swap in any new head unit and it won't have a problem with the built in amp? I did that in my old acura and it caused trouble untill I bypassed the buit in bose amp. Made the highs very distorted and piercing.

[idosubaru]

i swapped in a Subaru in dash 6 disc changer from a WRX into mine. only the front two speakers work I believe - not sure if it's because of the unit or something is up with my system - i was assuming the later when I was looking into it a couple months ago but i've done forgotten and never looked into it any further, it's plenty sufficient for us like that.

[lesstutrey]

I was meaning an aftermarket unit. I would get a nice unit after some research as long as I can get good sound and still use stock clarion/mcintosh amp. So no problems with stock integration and ill find a good head unit.

[idosubaru]

if you're doing that then you can essentially do whatever you want.

[Allpar Mod]

It's a real shame that something with the McIntosh name is junk. I'm in to vintage audio and McIntosh home audio units from back in the day command big bucks and are considered the Rolls Royce of audio components.

[Fairtax4me]

So I can swap in any new head unit and it won't have a problem with the built in amp? I did that in my old acura and it caused trouble untill I bypassed the buit in bose amp. Made the highs very distorted and piercing.

 

That was the problem. Bose doesn't like people messing with their stuff.

Actually I don't know but the experience I've had with Bose factory systems, theres almost no way to utilize the factory amp with an aftermarket head unit.

 

However, most systems are not that complicated and you can hook up any head unit you want with no major problems. There are always variations in sound quality from one manufacturer to another though, so no system is going to sound exactly the same as what you have now.

[jonathan909]

On 11/29/2010 at 4:29 PM, Scoobywagon said:

Despite what it says on the face, there is NOTHING McIntosh about those stereos. They are built by Clarion.

Error 2 is (usually, as I recall) a changer mechanism error. Error 6 is a transport mechanism error. Don't know what 12 is.

Dredging up a very old thread here...

I have the McIntosh, and am pretty happy with it - except for the error (Er 6) it spews on inserting a CD.

Does anyone have any sort of reference information for these things, even if only the error code definitions?

(Scoobywagon hasn't been around for five years.)

Edited May 11, 2021 by jonathan909

[1 Lucky Texan]

I have no experience with them, but I think I have seen some threads about them at subaruoutback.org

there was a user 'botenredwolf' that was sorta the audio guru for a while, but others may have data sources for you...?

[idosubaru]

I’ve never seen anything remotely helpful.  The guy LT mentions dove into them fairly deep.

FM transmitters are a nice work around. If you’re willing to put forth this much effort then get the wired kind instead of Bluetooth. It’s necessary in urban areas with trashy airwaves anyway  

Id place a stop limit for the time investment on this rabbit hole. How much time is too much?

[jonathan909]

Agreed.  I'm not really interested in the potential workarounds.  The AM/FM/cassette (curiously enough, I rediscovered some great music I hadn't listened to in many years thanks to just grabbing a box of old tapes for a road trip - ever heard ZZ Top's "La Grange" sung in Russian?) are fine, it's just the fershlugginer CD that won't work.  I'll bust open just about anything to take a look, clean it up, see if it's a simple fix, but I don't intend to make it my life's work.  And I just heard back from the canuckside Clarion people:  Their only service depot is in Toronto, which is a nonstarter (as if I'd be willing to pay the rates people have spoken of for the fix anyway).

[1 Lucky Texan]

^^^^ yeah, Scosche (?) and some company ' i-something '  make BT devices that inject into the antenna.

[jonathan909]

Oh, no doubt there's tons of that stuff around.  No use to me, I don't carry a tracking device (or like the sound of mp3s).

[jonathan909]

And repair even less likely (as if that were possible) now that the Toronto Clarion depot tells me that they can't fix this one because it's OEM, it has to go to a stateside outfit called United Radio.

[1 Lucky Texan]

12 hours ago, jonathan909 said:

Oh, no doubt there's tons of that stuff around.  No use to me, I don't carry a tracking device (or like the sound of mp3s).

 

the same companies make units that accept the mini-phono plug too. Or, hit-up the classifieds here and at subaruoutback.org for a WTB on an OEM unit. somebody might pull one from a wreck or know someone doing a part-out....check local craigslist and ebay, etc.

???

[jonathan909]

That's what I'm thinking.  I pulled it apart today and there's little that can be done by mere humans - cleaned the lens, reseated the ribbon cables, moved the head to make sure it's traveling freely.  I have to dig up a connector on the next visit to the wrecker so I can at least see what it's trying to do on the bench.  Unless some magic happens, though, I'll be fishing for a replacement - whole unit or maybe just the CD transport.

[idosubaru]

7 hours ago, jonathan909 said:

That's what I'm thinking.  I pulled it apart today and there's little that can be done by mere humans - cleaned the lens, reseated the ribbon cables, moved the head to make sure it's traveling freely.  I have to dig up a connector on the next visit to the wrecker so I can at least see what it's trying to do on the bench.  Unless some magic happens, though, I'll be fishing for a replacement - whole unit or maybe just the CD transport.

did you notice any damage or dirt to mechanical items - moving parts, levers, guides?   There's no shortage of CD issues in vehicles so I assume the additional cabin/atmospheric dust, vehicle movement/vibrations, toddlers (not uncommon for them to stuff things down the CD slot), pets, exposure makes them ripe for debris accumulation or fatigue.    i'd be looking for that debris accumulation around any moving parts if you go into it again. 

if you can get behind the face plate i'd see if there's any spilled beverage residue impacting the controls/interface, etc. 

[idosubaru]

You could get a direct wire FM transmitter and use a portabe CD player!  lol

[jonathan909]

No, it was actually pretty clean in there, and in the car it loaded the CD just fine, then sat for a while before delivering the Err 6.  On the bench I spun the head positioner with my finger, and it traveled through its range, so about all that's left is to power it up and see if it appears to work normally.  Other than cleaning the lens and reseating the cables, I don't think there's much else to be done.