Clarion CMD4 aux input -- cabin speakers only?

mobocracy

Active Member
Jun 29, 2014
541
United States
Boat Info
310 Sundancer
Engines
350 Mag & Bravo III
My 2007 310 Sundancer has a factory installed Clarion CMD4 and CD changer combo with what I assume is a common four-speaker + sub / 2 amps setup. Obviously this combo is totally dated from a convenience perspective, but I could totally live with just tacking on bluetooth with a little bluetooth adapter plugged into the aux port vs. outright replacement.

I've done this, but I only get aux audio on the cabin speakers, nothing on the cockpit speakers. I discovered after purchase that the previous owner had installed some kind of ancillary volume control for the cabin speakers and wrote the lack of cockpit aux audio off as some kind of byproduct of this. I finally got to dig into this this spring and can't find any way this particular modification caused this. Based on how annoying the little black caps on the control panel screws were to get off, I don't think the previous owner got behind there as mine now have pry marks.

A Google search turns up a couple of people reporting the same thing (other boats, same basic setup) and I'm curious if this is a known/expected quirk of the CMD4. It seems kind of weird that the stereo wouldn't pump aux audio to all four speakers, and it makes me wonder if there's not some Sea Ray specific aspect of this (like it was only intended for hookup of a game system or something). Whatever manuals I've tracked down don't mention this "feature". Front/Rear fader control functions logically as well, with cockpit as rear and cabin as front.

My hackish fix I might try is just swapping "front" and "rear" line outputs at the head unit.

On a side note, I almost regret pulling the head unit out to check this out. The antenna cable is so short it got unplugged when pulling the head unit out and impossible to reconnect without pulling the entire top half of the control panel out (my fix, 1 ft antenna extension cable from Amazon). But as it happens, this is impossible on my boat without also pulling the bottom half (DC/AC switches), too. The door trim blocks the top half of the panel and the CD changer prevents the panel from being lowered enough to clear the bottom control panel. Of course the CD changer is screwed in from the rear, too, so you can't pull that out, either. Of course the control panel door & hinges need to be removed for any of this as they present a clearance problem.

I couldn't see any way to easily/non-destructively gain access through the sides of the control panel enclosure, either, so any future replacement or access to behind-the-control-panel looks to be a major task involving pulling top and bottom control panels out, with who-knows how much service loop is attached to any of the components.
 
I have a car stereo that if you don't set it up properly it will only broadcast Bluetooth over front speakers. You have to pop into the menu of the head unit to change. I guess if you are only using Bluetooth to make/receive calls you wouldn't want all the speakers active.

See what you find out by looking at the manual.
 
I have a car stereo that if you don't set it up properly it will only broadcast Bluetooth over front speakers. You have to pop into the menu of the head unit to change. I guess if you are only using Bluetooth to make/receive calls you wouldn't want all the speakers active.

See what you find out by looking at the manual.

No manual I can find mentions anything about setup or potential fader options for the aux input.
 
What kind of Bluetooth adapter are you using?

Generic bluetooth headset adapters. I've got 2-3 of them that I've used with my phone and wired headphones over the years, in addition to direct cabling the phone headset jack to the aux input.

It's not a lack of output, I get stereo output on the cabin speakers, just nothing on the cockpit speakers when using the aux input.
 
Is it just for your aux input or all sources? There is an aux sensitivity setting too. Clarion cmd4 and others when the power goes out reset a bunch of stuff other than radio presets. Look at the manual and make sure that you have the rca outs for the cockpit amp turned on. Your salon speakers are most likely powered by the head units amp unless previous owner added another amp. I had an XMD3 that would do this every now and then and gave me fits. The fix is in the setup menu on the head unit, no need to swap out wires. If it is just for the aux input try the sensitivity setting.
 
I have put a number of BTs on the CMD4 and other CMD series. The red AUX inputs are strictly simple audio input. They do not know the difference between a hard wired input or on from a BT receiver.

If you take a 3.5mm x RCA and plug directly into the red AUX input RCAs, and ALL the speakers play like normal, the issue almost HAS to be the BT receiver or the phone.

The only other think that can effect the music distribution is the front to back FADE.
 
I have put a number of BTs on the CMD4 and other CMD series. The red AUX inputs are strictly simple audio input. They do not know the difference between a hard wired input or on from a BT receiver.

If you take a 3.5mm x RCA and plug directly into the red AUX input RCAs, and ALL the speakers play like normal, the issue almost HAS to be the BT receiver or the phone.

The only other think that can effect the music distribution is the front to back FADE.

Interesting. Well I know all the BT receivers work fine with various wired headphones I have and the phone in question worked fine with those headphones when plugged directly. Since there's only 2 channels of audio it sure seems hard to explain how they would provide stereo audio to only the cabin speakers.

I'm not completely done monkeying with the stereo yet -- still have to plug the antenna back in using a short extension cable, and I printed out the factory connection diagram/schematic, so I will verify the previous owner didn't do something else weird with audio output on the stereo as well as see if there's any settings on the head unit that would account for this.
 
I have the same boat, with the same problem.
I got the same responses for the fix, just haven't had time to look further into it.
 
I have the same boat, with the same problem.
I got the same responses for the fix, just haven't had time to look further into it.

I thought for sure I was going crazy. Has your boat ever had any stereo "mods" applied? Mine only has the weird volume control for cabin speakers the previous owner added, and as far as I can tell nobody has dug into the MCP and made more significant changes.

At this point I don't know how you'd even get back there given the trouble I ran into trying to get the top half MCP panel out of the cabinet -- useless DVD player and cabinet trim on the top restricting movement, and useless CD changer below, with both screwed into brackets behind the panel. I would think there would be a way in from the sides, but it's all shiny veneer with no apparent way to pull it out for side access.
 
I don't know if there's been any stereo mods, but I don't think so.
I just got the boat last fall.
I took my panel out that the stereo is in, but it's a bitch.
I tried the side unsuccessfully.
 
Did anyone ever figure this out? I have a CMD4 in a new to me boat and having the same issues. Thanks!
 
Did anyone ever figure this out? I have a CMD4 in a new to me boat and having the same issues. Thanks!

I don't have a great explanation, but I added a standalone stereo to RCA cable wired directly into the back of the CMD4 AUX input and now when I play music on that I get it in the cockpit speakers.

Ironically, though, we seldom listen to the CMD4 for anything but the radio, even though I have a USB dongle connected to aux. I bought a waterproof bluetooth speaker cheap on amazon and it sounds fantastic and lets us put sound where we want it (often in the water -- I have a foam float for the speaker, too).

I'd like to have a sharp word with whatever engineer designed the main control panel setup, it's a really awful design from an access perspective. You should be able to pop off the wood veneers on either side and then get into the sides of the control panel. If there's a good explanation for the impossibly restricted access, I'd like to know what it is.

I'd love to redo the whole stereo receiver/bluetooth setup, but between the work effort required, cost and the ease of bypassing it all with a portable bluetooth speaker it's low on my priority list.
 
Did anyone ever figure this out? I have a CMD4 in a new to me boat and having the same issues. Thanks!
Figure what out, please restate the issue.

Based on what I read above, here is what I know; The Clarion CMD4 has a rear AUX-In. The leads are red, with a white and red left and right RCA male plugs. Anything connected to these inputs, will be sent out to all 4 hi-level speaker leads and all 3 pair of low-level pre-amp RCA.

So old school 3.5mm to RCA cable = any speaker that plays on Tuner, will still play. Bluetooth receiver = again, if the speaker plays on tuner, it will play with the AUX-in as the source.

Any issue outcome otherwise, as above, is post-head-unit, such as a volume controller as the OP seemed to have found.
 
Figure what out, please restate the issue.

Based on what I read above, here is what I know; The Clarion CMD4 has a rear AUX-In. The leads are red, with a white and red left and right RCA male plugs. Anything connected to these inputs, will be sent out to all 4 hi-level speaker leads and all 3 pair of low-level pre-amp RCA.

So old school 3.5mm to RCA cable = any speaker that plays on Tuner, will still play. Bluetooth receiver = again, if the speaker plays on tuner, it will play with the AUX-in as the source.

Any issue outcome otherwise, as above, is post-head-unit, such as a volume controller as the OP seemed to have found.
Mine doesn't, when I connect through Bluetooth, my cockpit speakers don't play.
I have looked dozens of times through the head unit menu and can't find anything that would change that.
I finally gave up last summer.
 
Mine doesn't, when I connect through Bluetooth, my cockpit speakers don't play.
I have looked dozens of times through the head unit menu and can't find anything that would change that.
I finally gave up last summer.
I love a challenge.

What head unit specifically, CMD4 or CMD4a?

What bluetooth receiver? Does its audio connect direct to the rear AUX or is there a patch cable of some type?

How are the suspect speaker powered? Head units speaker leads or external amp? If the head unit, are they wired to the front or rear leads? If external amp, is the amp fed with the front, rear or non-fade RCA?

If you go into the heads menu, do front/rear FADE and left/right balance work properly?
 

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