Pietro931

I am looking at buying/need an S5 Headunit with the Graphic Equalizer. I found this one, it hasn't been tested and has a black line across the top of the upper screen. Anyone have any experience in these systems to know if I should pass on this system?

professionalpyroman

I've only seen that variant in the manual before. The CD player one was present in all convertibles (per manual), and some coupes, with some differences (see this thread for more on those https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...1148850/page3/). The CD player units were made by Pioneer, but the radio only, or radio and tape deck versions were made by Clarion. I wasn't able to find a manual online for this model, Clarion PT-9327C, or its equalizer Clarion ET-728C. Clarion didn't keep many of their old manuals around for posterity, because I can't find the S4 Clarion manuals either. I'm assuming that this unit is the one that is listed first on ebay, as it has the same dark spot at the top of the LCD. It looks to be in ok conditon. Two things I would check if I were to purchase one of these:

tape deck drive belts - these are old and dried/stretched out. You will want to replace these. They are a few cents apiece, so its not too terrible. Just be patient and take pictures with each screw you remove.
electrolytic capacitors - these leak after 25+ years and corrode the circuit board. I have replaced all of these in all the different boards in my car. Either have a professional recap it for you, or if you are handy enough to do it yourself, give it a shot.

As far as the dark line at the top of the LCD, there is a possibility to make that discoloration go away with some gentle massaging to get the fluid back up in that part of the screen. Do this at your own risk, or just live with it if it doesn't really bother you.

Pietro931

Thanks for the detailed reply 👍. The Clarion is from eBay and it has not been tested amd he doesn't have the ability to test it which makes me a bit concerned. I do need one of these to complete my car. It is very hard to impossible to find one in working condition that doesn't look like it went through a war zone. I'm not savy with electrical or audio equipment, so doing the repair myself isn't in the cards. If i knew someone it could be sent to for fixing, I'd get it and send it to them.

professionalpyroman

I would say for the most part it should be bulletproof. The drive belts are a wear and tear item, not too bad to deal with. The capacitors would be my primary concern. They aren't expensive, you would just have to take time to match a new order. You might get lucky on that as well. There isn't any rust on the outside of the unit, and the unit is located in California, where its dry weather. I would say you might offer $100-120 for it untested and see if he bites on it. I would expect it to work out of the box, but if it doesn't, I can take a look and give my amature opinion and add documentation to the stereo project for others. I have a test harness that will fit. I'm using it on the CD player project (progress is slow right now).

I think it would be a decent acquisition, with a little bit of preventative maintenance. The risk is up to you to determine.