Cadence Q DRIVE SERIES - Manual (Page 5)

The remote turn on connection is located on the barrier strip next to the power and ground
connections. This connection is responsible for turning the amplifier on and off with the rest of
the system. A smaller gauge wire can be used to make this connection to your radio's power
antenna lead. Should your system not have any turn on leads, you can wire the remote
terminal to an accessory lead, which turns on, with your ignition.
The Q Series amplifiers are supplied with built-in fuses, never replace the fuse that the amp
came with, with one of a larger value.
We suggest you construct a Red wiring harness with 2 additional fuse. One fuse should be
located near the car battery. This fuse near the battery offers protection against damage from
short circuits to the car chassis between the battery and the amplifier. A second fuse closer to
the amplifier offers additional safety to the amplifier itself. This fused red power wire should be
attached to the amplifier power terminal marked 12V+.
The wire harness should be made of red primary cable of at least 4-8 gauge. The harness
should terminate in a large ring terminal for connection directly to the positive terminal of the
car battery. Use a spade plug to attach the wire, which connects to the amplifier location
marked 12V+.
A second black color wire of equal gauge should be used as a ground connection to a welded
chassis member. When connecting the ground wire make sure that there is no paint or other
insulator blocking a good ground connection. When installing multiple amplifiers, mount them
in close proximity so that they can all share the same ground point. Attach the black ground
wire to the amplifier screw terminal marked Ground.
We recommend that you use the Cadence ZIK-8 or ZIK-4 amplifier installation kit, which
contains all the cabling and accessories necessary for a good, reliable installation.
Over the years we have received many an amp back to our service department with melted
power/ground terminals. The cause of this is a bad ground connection. When there is a lack of
good ground heat builds up at the weakest point which is the contact screw of the terminal.
Over time the heat generated will begin to melt the terminal. It is a good practice to feel the
power and ground wires with your hands, near their amplifier connection after having played
the amp for a while. If the wires feel hot to the touch you probably have a bad or loose
connection. If you are sure of your connections and the wires still feel hot to the touch, you
should upgrade the gauge of the wire to next heaviest gauge.
AUDIO PREAMP INPUT
USING THE BUILT-IN LOW PASS ELECTRONIC CROSSOVER
The Q Series amplifiers feature RCA preamp inputs. Run RCA cables from your sound
source to the inputs of the amplifier. We suggest the use of high quality shielded RCA patch
cords to help reduce and eliminate unwanted electrical noise from your system.
Be sure to run the RCA cables on the opposite side of the vehicle that you used to carry the
power and ground leads of the amplifier.
All the Q Series amplifiers feature 12dB per octave fully adjustable low-pass and high pass
electronic crossovers.
For Low Pass systems, set the crossover mode switch to LOW PASS. Now the knob marked
FREQUENCY will control the low pass frequencies from 50Hz to 250Hz. A frequent mistake
made is setting the low pass frequency too low, especially when using vented subwoofer
enclosures. We recommend that for most installations you do not set the frequency knob
lower than 100Hz (the 12 o’clock position).
When using the amplifiers for component speakers or coaxials, you will want to set the mode
switch to HI PASS. The FREQUENCY control knob adjusts the high pass frequencies
between 50Hz and 250Hz. Do not attach tweeters directly to these amplifiers, even in the high
pass mode without a secondary passive crossover to protect them. 250Hz high pass is not a
frequency high enough for tweeters.
Q Series two channel crossover section, located under the light up plastic plate.