powersoft K Series Operating instructions

Tech Note’s
Number
FIGURE 1: Step-Up Smart Card.
© 2012 - 2013 Powersoft
powersoft_TN004_StepUpKSeries_en_v1.1
Keep This Technical Note For Future Reference
TECHNICAL NOTE #04 rev. 01
K Series step-up procedure
How to use Powersoft K Series Step-Up card to upgrade the amplier power output
Powersoft K4 to K10 share the same hardware platform: the
power output is rmware limited. A Step-Up card allows to
upgrade a K4, K6, K8 to the closer higer model (from K4 to K6,
from K6 to K8, from K8 to K10).
K3 and K20 have dedicated hardware platforms and can not
be upgraded.
Each Step-Up card can upgrade just one step per K Series (K4,
K6, K8) amplier; once the procedure is performed the Step-
Up card is useless and can not be re-used. It is not possible to
downgrade an upgraded K Series amplier nor transfer an upgrade
to another amplier.
It is possible to upgrade an amplier until K10 top performances
are achieved, so more than a Step-Up card is necessary to upgrade
K4 or K6 to K10; please remember that any subsequent upgrade
can be performed only after having nalized the rst step-up
through the K Series website, as detailed below here.
Step-Up process must be nalized through registering the
upgrade on http://www.powersoft-audio.com/en/k-series-step-up.
If the upgrade is not registered within 50 working hours after
the Step-Up has been used – the so called temporary Step-Up
period – the amplier will automatically return to the original
setting, losing the upgrade: a new Step-Up card have to be
purchased in order to newly upgrade the amplier.
The Step-Up functionality is available for any existing K Series
amplier hardware revision, however a proper rmware version
(3.8.5 or higher) is strictly required.
For this reason, please check if your amp is running a compatible
rmware revision, following these simple steps:
fPower on the amplier
fPress the MENU button
fScroll down to SETUP and conrm with OK
fPress OK to enter the HARDWARE INFO
fDisplay will show amplier model and serial number
fPress MORE and the following info will appear:
KFRONT: X.Y.Z–B
KCNTRL: X.Y.Z–B
KDSP: X.Y.Z–S [if KDSP optional board is NOT
installed on this row you will
read KDSP: N.A. (not available)]
where X.Y.Z is the rmware version, B is build number and S
(4 digits) is the SHARC rmware version in case the KDSP op-
tional board is installed.
If either KFRONT or KCNTRL versions are older than 3.8.5
you need to perform a rmware update via a dedicated Firmware
Update Smart Card. Please refer to your local distributor/dealer
to receive a rmware update Smart Card.
1 Step-Up Procedure
1. Power on the amplier; if the amp is brand new keep it on for
at least 15 minutes before proceeding to next step.
2. Hold the Step-Up card with the Powersoft logo faceing up
and the electrical contacts faceing down: insert the Step-Up
card softly into the smart card slot just above the display of
the amplier. Be sure to completly insert the card reaching
the end of the slot. “Checking upgrade card” should appear
on the display; if no messages are displayed, please consider
that either the card does not ll completly the slot or the
electrical contacts could be dirty: try to extract and insert
the card again.
3. After checking the Step-Up card, the amplier’s display
shows the message “Upgrade available!” and requests
to conrm the upgrade. Depending on the model the
message “K4 K6?”, “K6K8?” or “K8K10?” is shown.
Push the OK button or cancel by pressing the BACK button.
4. Conrming the Step-Up with OK will start the upgrade: after
few seconds “Upgrade Complete” appears on the display.
The amplier automatically restarts: it switches off and then
back on.
At the end of this process the amplier behave as the closer
higher model – K4 will become a K6, K6 will become a K8,
K8 will become a K10 – offering immediatly larger power handling
(temporary Step-Up period).

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Nevertheless, the upgrade must be permanently conrmed
within 50 amplier operational hours completing the INTERNET
ACTIVATION procedure. This means that after the Step-Up you
own a more powerful amp in a glance, but if the internet activation
procedure will not complete within 50 amplier working hours,
the amplier will automatically downgrade to the original model,
losing the possibility to use the Step-Up card again, and a new
Step -Up card must be purchased in order to complete the upgade.
Thanks to the Step-Up procedure the amplier can deliver a
higher MAX OUTPUT VOLTAGE: this value must be manually set
by the user to the desired value.
Please follow this steps to set max output voltage:
fPush the MENU button
fSelect SETTINGS menu and press OK
fSelect AMPLIFIER SETTINGS and press OK
fScroll down the menu and select MAX OUTPUT VOLTAGE,
press OK to open it
fAdjust the value of both channels and conrm pressing OK.
The same setting can be performed via the Power Control
Manager software, via the dedicated SETTINGS tab.
2 Internet Activation Procedure
Turning on the amplier running a Step-Up upgrade not yet
activated – amp is still in temporary Step-Up period – the display
shows the request “Activate now?” and a countdown, informing
the user about the hours remaining to perform the activation and
nalize the upgrade.
If you are ready for the activation procedure, press OK,
otherwise press the BACK button. Please note that the amount
of working time will be deducted from the counter. Every time
the amplier power on before completing the internet Step-Up
activation procedure, the remaining time is updated and shown.
Pressing the OK, three couples of 8 hexadecimal digits
numbers are displayed showing the ID code of the amp, as in the
following example:
728C3079 - 5B0FFABE
FF6CDCDA - 9480E45A
36184F35 - BB52CE96
fTake note carefully (no mistakes allowed!) of those numbers
fGo to http://www.powersoft-audio.com/en/k-series-step-up
fEnter your username and password
fGo to the ACTIVATION CODES section
fFill the form
If the information provided are correct, the webpage will
display two activation code:
ACTIVATION CODE 1 12234-35067
ACTIVATION CODE 2 83589-75928
A copy of the activation codes is sent to your mail box as a
remainder.
In case you forget the codes or you can’t access your email you
can nd all your generated codes history on the website under the
section Step-Up Log.
You are now ready to nalize the Step-Up procedure on your
amplier:
fPress any button
fInsert the ACTIVATION CODE 1
fConrm pressing the OK button
fInsert the ACTIVATION CODE 2
fConrm pressing the OK button
To enter the codes follow these simple steps:
fpress +or – to select the right digit
fpress SEL to conrm and go to the next digit (if you make
a mistake press the SEL button until you reach the digit you
want to changed and correct it)
fconrm and close with OK
If one or both the codes you enter are wrong, the message
“INVALID CODES. RETRY?” appears on the display.
You can try again pressing OK or cancel the activation
procedure pressing BACK. In the latter case, you can still use
the amplier, but remember that the amp will automatically
downgrade to the original model if you don’t nalize the Step-Up
procedure within 50 hours of usage.
If both codes you enter are correct, the activation procedure
is complete and the message “Upgrade Conrmed!” appears on
the display. Starting from this point your amplier is permanently
upgraded to next powerful model. If with this upgrade your amp
becomes a K10 model, no further step-up are available.
3 K Series Amplier Front Label
The Step-Up kit contains K6, K8 and K10 front panel labels
that you can put on the upgraded amplier in order to certify the
step-up.
On the front panel, open the left-side dust lter cover, removing
the screw positioned near the RJ45 sockets; remove the old label
by pulling it out from the left edge and replace it with the new one
with the correct model name.

3
4 Troubleshooting
1. Error message “Card read error!”: the card was not
recognized, either because it was not inserted correctly or,
especially on used amplier, the slot contacts are not clean.
Try to insert and remove the card several times to scratch
dust.
2. Error message “Error authenticating upgrade card!”: the
card is OK but has been programmed for another product,
you will need a different Step-Up card for your amplier.
3. Error message “Upgrade not available”: the card has been
already used, or the amplier has already been upgraded but
activation procedure at http://www.powersoft-audio.com/
en/k-series-step-up has not yet been performed (the amp
is still in temporary Step-Up period), or there have already
been 5 trials to upgrade the amplier (even if not conrmed
on the web site).
4. If the amplier is brand new, the error message “Upgrade
not available” may appear when the power upgrade will start
before the amplier has been on for less than 15 minutes, so
please respect step 1 of upgrade procedure: switch on the
amplier and keep it on for not less than 15 minutes before
starting power upgrade procedure.
5. Error message “This model can’t be upgraded”: the
amplier is already the most powerful in the family: K3, K20
or K10 can not be upgraded. Check the amplier model in
menu / SETUP / HARDWARE INFO.
5 Notes
Step-Up card works once. When Step-Up is conrmed after
the “Upgrade available!” message, Step-Up card is no more useful
(we suggest you to mark it as “used”).
Before nalizing the Step-Up procedure via the internet
activation, the amplier is in temporary Step-Up period and do
not accept any further Step-Up smart card.

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