Pass Labs XA200 - Manual (Page 5)

5 XA200 Owner’s Manual
charged. The “Power” LED should not be on. If the “Power” LED
is on, don’t get excited, just use the front panel stand-by button to go
to stand-by mode, with the “Standby” LED on and the “Power “ LED
off.
OK, so the amplifier is sitting there in stand-by mode with just the single
blue LED lit. No speaker connected yet. You can go ahead and con-
nect the source and speakers. Make sure you are in standby mode to
protect your speakers from transients. The prudent installer will unplug
the XA200’s power cord from the mains while attaching speaker cables.
To avoid the possibility of short circuits always connect speaker cables
to the speakers prior to connecting to the amplifier. The output bind-
ing posts will accept either bare wire or spades. (Regulatory agencies
in many countries have banned binding posts that will accept a banana
plug, forcing us to abandon this option.) Make sure that your speaker
wires only attach to the outputs of the amplifier, not to each other and
never to the amplifier case.
Some powered subwoofers require an audio signal ground reference and
their makers may suggest that a black speaker terminal is where this volt-
age reference might be found. On complementary designs, which would
be typical of all power amps produced by Pass Laboratories™, this is
an incorrect and unsafe assumption. On all Pass Laboratories™ power
amplifiers a reference of 0 volts will be found only at pin 1 of the XLR
input or at the shell of the RCA input.
Reference connections for these devices require special consideration
when used with our product. If you have such a device, and wish to use
it with our product, please contact our Foresthill, California factory for
specific instructions.... you have been warned.
The amplifier may be driven single-end or balanced, your choice. Single-
ended input will always occur through the RCA connector and balanced
input will always occur through the XLR connector. If driving the am-
plifier single-ended leave the supplied jumper in place between pins 1 &
3 on the input XLR. On the XLR connectors pin 1 is ground, pin two
is positive input and pin 3 is inverted (negative) input. Pin numbers are
marked on the XLR. If you re-install the jumper incorrectly or leave
it lying about, the amplifier will not work properly. You must choose
either XLR or RCA inputs it is not advised to try and run both concur-
rently.
XLR input connector showing proper
placement of jumper pin for use with
single-ended (RCA) input.