JL Audio RD500/1, Owner'S Manual

Page 1: ...rized dealer has the training expertise and installation equipment to ensure optimum performance from this product Should you decide to install the amplifier yourself please take the time to read this manual thoroughly to familiarize yourself with its installation requirements and setup procedures If you have any questions regarding the instructions in this manual or any aspect of your amplifier s...

Page 2: ...ovided below The serial number can be found on the bottom panel of the amplifier and on the amplifier packaging Serial Number INSTALLATION APPLICATIONS This amplifier is designed for operation in vehicles with 12 volt negative ground electrical systems Use of this product in vehicles with positive ground and or voltages other than 12V may result in damage to the product and will void the warranty ...

Page 3: ...dry well ventilated environment and in a manner which does not interfere with your vehicle s safety equipment air bags seat belt systems ABS brake systems etc You should also take the time to securely mount the amplifier so that it does not come loose in the event of a collision or a sudden jolt to the vehicle Stupid Mistakes to Avoid Check before drilling any holes in your vehicle to make sure th...

Page 4: ... the speaker systems to the amplifier mounting location 6 Find a good solid metal grounding point close to the amplifier and connect the negative power wire to it using appropriate hardware use of the JL Audio ECS master ground lug XB MGLU is recommended Use 4 AWG copper wire no longer than 36 inches 90 cm from the amplifier to the ground connection point In some vehicles it may be necessary to up...

Page 5: ...care not to strip the head of the screw The ground connection should be made using 4 AWG copper wire and should be kept as short as possible while accessing a solid piece of sheet metal in the vehicle The surface of the sheet metal should be sanded at the contact point to create a clean metal to metal connection between the chassis and the termination of the ground wire For optimal grounding we re...

Page 6: ...tive turn on options These methods are useful when a conventional 12V remote turn on signal is not available in a system These allow you to operate the amplifier without having to locate a remote turn on lead at the source unit which can be very useful when interfacing the amplifier with OEM factory audio systems that do not use conventional 12V turn on leads Depending on the characteristics of th...

Page 7: ...itch selects an input sensitivity range between 800mV and 8V for all input channels This is useful for certain high output preamp level signals as well as speaker level output from source units and small amplifiers To use speaker level sources splice the speaker output wires of the source unit or small amplifier onto a pair of RCA cables or plugs or use the JL Audio ECS Speaker Wire to RCA adaptor...

Page 8: ... MONO SUBWOOFER OUPUT 0 12 5 10 8 LP Filter Operation The RD 500 1 monoblock employs a 12 dB per octave low pass active filter with fully variable frequency selection between 50 Hz and 500 Hz via the LP Filter Freq Hz control knob 80 Hz is a good starting point for tuning most systems BASS BOOST CONTROL The RD500 1 monoblock includes a single band boost only bass equalizer controlled by a rotary k...

Page 9: ... 1 is designed to deliver power into subwoofer loads equal to or greater than 2 ohms of nominal impedance The RD500 1 s subwoofer outputs are designed to accept 16 AWG 8 AWG wire To connect the subwoofer wires to the amplifier first back out the set screws on the top of the terminal block using the supplied 2 5 mm hex wrench Strip 1 2 inch 12 mm of insulation from the end of each wire and insert t...

Page 10: ...d mute the amplifier s output during an over current condition It will then attempt to restart with a blue light If the condition remains it will return to red and mute the output again A continuous over current condition is displayed with alternating red blue lights Because the muting behavior may be very short in duration it may manifest itself as an audible repetitive ticking or thumping noise ...

Page 11: ...fiers requires specifically trained service personnel Do not attempt to service the amplifier yourself or through unauthorized repair facilities This will not only void the warranty but may result in the creation of more problems within the amplifier If you have any questions about the installation or setup of the amplifier that have not been covered in this manual please contact your dealer or te...

Page 12: ...for reasonable gain overlap with moderate clipping at full volume 5 Verify that you have disconnected the speakers before proceeding Play a track with an appropriate sine wave within the frequency range to be amplified by the RD500 1 at 3 4 source unit volume 6 Slowly increase the Input Sensitivity control until the Clipping LED is solidly lit indicating maximum unclipped output If the Clipping LE...

Page 13: ...or 1000 4 ohms 50 Hz 500 2 ohms 50 Hz Input Section No of Inputs One Stereo Pair Input Type Differential balanced with RCA jack inputs Input Range 200mV 8V RMS Signal Processing Filter Type Low Pass 12 dB octave Butterworth with continuously variable cutoff frequency selection from 50 500 Hz Bass Boost Single band with 45 Hz center frequency adjustable from 0 to 12 dB Remote Level Control Via opti...

Page 14: ...is required To test for this problem jump the 12VDC wire to the Remote terminal to see if the amplifier turns on I hear a repetitive ticking or popping sound coming out of the speaker s Check Check the speaker wires for a possible short either between the positive and negative leads or between either speaker lead and the vehicle s chassis ground If a short is present you will experience distorted ...

Page 15: ...e unit while an appropriate test tone is played through the source unit disconnect the input cables from the amplifier prior to this test The frequency used should be in the range that is to be amplified by the amplifier example 50 Hz for a sub bass application or 1 kHz for a full range high pass application A steady sufficient voltage between 0 2 and 8 0 volts should be present at the output of t...

Page 16: ...io RD500 1 Owner s Manual INSTALLATION NOTES Use this diagram to document your amplifier s switch and control positions 12 VDC Ground Remote Monoblock Subwoofer Amplifier L R CH 1 L CH 2 R INPUT SECTION PRE OUTS ...

Page 17: ...17 Input Voltage Low High Rem Offset Signal Clipping Turn On Mode Bass Boost dB LP Filter Freq Hz Input Sensitivity MONO SUBWOOFER OUPUT 0 12 5 10 8 ...

Page 18: ...18 JL Audio RD500 1 Owner s Manual NOTES ...

Page 19: ...19 NOTES ...

Page 20: ...t retail and no warranties whether express or implied shall apply to this product thereafter Some states do not allow limitations on implied warranties therefore these exclusions may not apply to you This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state If you need service on your JL AUDIO product All warranty returns should be sent to JL A...