[Wiggler]

GM-X354.
(4 ohm stereo)

Pioneer Website: 35 watts x4
owner manual: 45 watts x4
Pioneer tech. phone support: 50 watts x4

WTF?

 

[miniSQ]

owners manual says 35x4, crutchfield also 35x4, and the website confirms 35x4.

 

[Wiggler]

Wrong on the first part. Second part irrelevant because they don't make the product.

 

[mdnky]

Wrong on the first part. Second part irrelevant because they don't make the product.
View attachment 322582

The owners manual linked on Crutchfield's site follows what Crutchfield and Pioneer have listed on their web sites (35x4). Crutchfield's version is a scanned PDF of a printed manual in the older look/style of Pioneer's stuff from the late 90s and 00s. The metadata from the PDF says created Jan 2001, modified Jan 2007. The version on manualslib.com is like the version you attached a picture of and in the style of Pioneer's modern owners manuals. It is also clearly a direct to PDF export, not a scan and was created in May 2012.

I see three possibilities:

1. They changed the specs or some specific components midway through production.
2. They changed how they measure/rate the amp.
3. They had a misprint in the newer version.

Chances are extremely likely that the tech support you spoke with wasn't actually Pioneer's, but a 3rd party provider contracted by Pioneer. That was becoming the norm for companies more frequently and has exploded with covid. What they said definitely makes things seem even more confusing, but I wouldn't put it past them easily looking at the wrong model. This model was discontinued about 10 years ago, if memory serves me correctly. They might have had trouble finding it and assumed a newer version, with a "close" model number or similar description, was the one you were asking about. Sounds exactly like what I'd expect from a home based tele-support person with limited product experience. You could try sending an email to Pioneer describing the situation and asking for clarification, but I wouldn't waste the time. Chances are it'll take forever to get a response, and it might be another conflicting one.

Is there a specific reason this matters, as in trying to match to speakers with limited power capacity?

 

[miniSQ]

Its also printed in the title GM-X354

 

[dumdum]

Assume it’s 35wrms x4, people are fallible, misprints happen, pioneers tech support isn’t likely actually pioneer themselves

Hardly worth stressing over, 4x35wrms is where it’s at

 

[Wiggler]

Its also printed in the title GM-X354

Cool observation, wrong logic however. The successor model is the GM-X364. The same exact amplifier with the exact same power specs (according to the Pioneer Website anyway), same heatsink, same barrier strip terminals. Hold the press!!.....different paint scheme. Low power mainstream brand 4 channel class A/B amplifiers are something of a weird obsession/fetish for me. 😁

 

[Wiggler]

Is there a specific reason this matters, as in trying to match to speakers with limited power capacity?

Exactly that. It matters to me. Thank you for the exhaustive and well thought reply. I've owned the amp for over 10 years, but never had an owners manual, until I requested one be sent directly from Pioneer. I suppose it wouldn't be surprising if the home based tech support just emailed me a manual from a 3rd party owner manual database that contained a typo. Then again..
Remember the small print on some electronics devices saying "Specifications subject to change without notice"..? It's a mystery but you and the @dumdum are right. I just need to bury it and move on.

 

[miniSQ]

Exactly that. It matters to me. Thank you for the exhaustive and well thought reply.

History shows that you will also disagree with this, but your speakers ( any speaker actually) wont care if you are sending it 35watts or 50watts. Undistorted output will be close enough that you would not be able to pick one over the other.

 

[Wiggler]

Wellz, you might be right about that I suppose. The average 6.5 coaxial ought to sound just fine if gains are set properly.