Radio Shack 85 User manual

Cat. No. 12-1977
OWNER’S MANUAL
Please read before using this equipment.
85 ×4 Hi
g
h Power 4-Channel
Trunk Mount Amplifier
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2
FEATURES
Your Optimus 85 ×4 High Power 4-
Channel Trunk Mount Amplifier is de-
signed to produce a total of 340 watts
to give added punch and power to
your vehicle’s existing stereo sys-
tem.
The amplifier produces up to 85
watts per channel of clean, powerful
sound at all audio frequencies with
minimum distortion. You can adjust
the crossover frequency for both
channels 3 and 4 when using only
two speakers and a subwoofer, so
you can emphasize the bass sounds
but not lose the other sounds or pow-
er. You can connect your autosound
system’s line-level or speaker level
outputs to the amplifier.
Its features include:
14k Gold-Plated Noise-Isolated
Line-Level Input Jacks -let you
connect low-level (pre-amplifier) sig-
nal inputs to match your autosound
system’s output for the best high-fi-
delity performance.
14k Gold-Plated Speaker Termi-
nals -designed for low impedance,
high conductivity, and minimum cor-
rosion to provide the highest signal
transfer and lowest sound distortion.
Input Level Controls -let you adjust
the level of the audio signals that en-
ter the amplifier.
Automatic Power Switchin
g
-auto-
matically turns on/off the amplifier
when you turn on/off your autosound
system.
Brid
g
in
g
Capabilit
y
-lets you com-
bine the amplifier’s four 85-watt
channels so you can use the system
with only two channels that produce
a total of 170 watts from each chan-
nel.
Crossover Frequenc
y
Circuit -lets
you adjust the crossover frequency
from 45-400 Hz for both channels
three and four when you use only two
speakers.
Crossover Frequenc
y
ON/OFF
Switch -lets you set the amplifier to
drive a connected subwoofer.
Automatic Thermal Protection
S
y
stem (ATPS) -automatically low-
ers the amplifier’s output power
when the amplifier’s internal temper-
ature reaches 202×F then increases
the output power when the amplifier
cools down.
© 1995 Tandy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
Optimus and Radio Shack are registered trademarks used by Tandy Corporation.
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Mute Turn On Circuit -eliminates
the irritating thump noise that some
amplifiers produce when you turn
them on.
Power Indicator -lights when power
is on.
Full MOSFET Power Supply -pro-
duces enough power to supply the
main amplifier and has a consider-
able amount of reserve power for
peak “high demand” situations.
Short Circuit Protection -distorts
sound if any output channel shorts so
you can know to turn off the amplifier.
Important: Be sure your speakers
can handle 340 watts of power (170
watts per channel if you connect the
autosound system to one pair of
speakers, or 85 watts per channel if
you connect the autosound system
to two pairs of speakers). Each
speaker must have an impedance of
at least 4 ohms. Your local Radio
Shack store carries a full line of
speakers.
Note: If the connectors on your vehi-
cle stereo system are not compatible
with the amplifier’s connectors, your
local Radio Shack store sells adapter
harnesses for many vehicles.
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CONTENTS
Preparation ..................................................................................................... 5
Choosing a Mounting Location .................................................................. 5
Before You Begin the Installation .............................................................. 5
Connecting Ground and Primary/Switched Power .................................... 6
Connecting to Your Autosound System ..................................................... 8
Low Level Input Connections .............................................................. 8
High-level Input Connections ............................................................. 11
Connecting the Speakers ........................................................................ 14
Preparing the Speaker Wires ............................................................ 14
Connecting Four Speakers ............................................................... 15
Connecting Two Speakers (Unbridged Connection) ......................... 16
Connecting Two Speakers (Bridged Connection) ............................. 17
Connecting Two Unbridged Speakers
and One Unbridged Subwoofer .................................................. 18
Connecting Two Unbridged Speakers
and One Bridged Subwoofer ...................................................... 19
Testing the Connections .......................................................................... 20
Mounting the Amplifier ............................................................................. 21
Operation ...................................................................................................... 23
Turning On the Amplifier .......................................................................... 23
Setting the Level Control ......................................................................... 23
Using the Frequency Crossover .............................................................. 24
X-Over Freq On/off Switch ................................................................ 24
X-Over Freq Control .......................................................................... 24
Maintenance ................................................................................................. 25
Replacing the Fuses ................................................................................ 26
Replacing the Tube-Type Fuse ......................................................... 26
Replacing a Blade-Type Fuse ........................................................... 26
Specifications ............................................................................................... 27
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PREPARATION
CHOOSING A MOUNTING LOCATION
The ideal location for mounting the amplifier is in your vehicle’s trunk. Wherever
you decide to mount it, choose a mounting location that:
• Does not interfere with the vehicle’s operation.
• Lets you drill mounting holes without damaging other vehicle components.
• Allows enough space around the cooling fins for proper airflow and cooling.
Warnin
g
: The amplifier gets very hot while it is on. Do not touch the amplifier or
place flammable objects near it while it is on.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE INSTALLATION
Before you install your amplifier, carefully read all the instructions in this owner’s
manual. You should be able to answer all of these questions about your vehicle’s
electrical and sound systems.
• Does my vehicle have a 12-volt negative ground system? (If it does not, you
cannot use this amplifier.)
• Which of the amplifier’s wires is the power wire?
• How do I connect a wire to the fuse box?
• Which amplifier terminals are line-level inputs, which are speaker-level
inputs, and which are speaker outputs?
Important!
• Be aware that installation in your vehicle may require cutting or modifying
your vehicle.
• Do not cut any of the amplifier’s wires. If you cut any wire, you cannot obtain
a refund or exchange on this product. Radio Shack will provide warranty
service if you cut a wire and find the product is defective.
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Cautions:
• To prevent damage to your amplifier or autosound system, you must first
connect the ground, primary, and switched power wires (as described in
“Connecting Ground and Primary/Switched Power”) before you connect the
speakers to the amplifier. Make the connections only in the order shown.
Damage to the amplifier is possible if you connect any wire incorrectly.
• Turn on the power to test the connections before you permanently mount
the amplifier (see “Testing the Power Connections”).
• Be sure your speakers can handle 85 watts per channel, if you connect the
autosound system to two pairs of speakers (or 170 watts per channel if you
connect the autosound system to only one pair of speakers). Each speaker
must have an impedance of at least 4 ohms. Your local Radio Shack store
carries a full line of speakers to choose from.
CONNECTING GROUND AND PRIMARY/SWITCHED
POWER
1. To prevent damage to your amplifier or autosound system while making the
connections, disconnect the negative (–) cable from your vehicle’s battery.
Note: After you complete the connections and reconnect the battery wire,
you will need to reset all clock/timer/memory devices in your vehicle.
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2. Securely connect the supplied dark
blue/white wire’s spade connector end
to the amplifier’s REM (remote power)
terminal.
3. Connect the dark blue/white wire’s
other end to your autosound system’s
switched power lead using a twist-on
terminal connector (such as Cat. No.
64-3057, not supplied).
Note: If your autosound system does not have a remote power output lead,
connect this wire to a point in your vehicle’s fuse box that provides 12-volt
battery power when the ignition is set to ON or ACC.This connection turns
on the amplifier when you turn your ignition switch to on (or to ACC) and
turns off the amplifier when you turn off the ignition.
4. Connect the black wire’s eyelet/spade terminal end to the amplifier’s two
GND terminals.
5. Securely connect the black wire’s eyelet-terminal to a nearby metal ground,
such as a bolt attached to a part of the vehicle’s chassis.
Note: Be sure the bolt is not insulated from the chassis by a plastic part or
other insulating material.
6. Connect the red wire’s eyelet/spade terminal end to the amplifier’s two +12V
terminals.
7. Remove the nut from the positive (+)
cable’s terminal bolt, mount the red
wire’s 50A fused eyelet terminal on the
bolt, then replace and tighten the bolt.
Caution: Due to the amplifier’s high
current requirement, you MUST con-
nect the red wire’s fused end directly
to the vehicle’s positive (+) battery
cable terminal bolt or damage to your
vehicle’s wiring could result.
Note: Do not reconnect your vehicle battery’s negative (–) cable yet.
(illus - please add a
dwg that illustrates
step 7)
(illus -please adda
dwg that illustrates
step 3)
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CONNECTING TO YOUR AUTOSOUND SYSTEM
Low Level Input Connections
You can connect your autosound system’s low-level phono output jacks to the
amplifier’s low-level phono input jacks. For the best results, use shielded audio
cables, such as Cat. No. 42-2368 (not supplied).
Note: For a cleaner, less noisy signal transfer between your autosound system
and the amplifier, the amplifier’s low input phono jacks are gold-plated.
1. Temporarily place the amplifier as close as possible to the selected mount-
ing location.
2.
If your autosound system has four phono outputs and you are using four
speakers
, connect the autosound system to the amplifier using audio cables
as follows: front-left to CH1, front-right to CH2, rear-left to CH3, and rear-right
to CH4.:
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If your autosound system has four phono outputs but you are using only two
speakers (front or rear)
, connect only the autosound system’s correspond-
ing output jacks to the amplifier using audio cables as follows:
• front-left to CH1 and front-right to CH2, or
• rear-left to CH3 and rear-right to CH4
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If your autosound system has only two phono output jacks (left and right)
and you are using four speakers, use two Y-adapter audio cables to make
the connections as follows:
Note: For the best results, use shielded phono plug-to-phono plug Y-
adapter audio cables, such as Cat. No. 42-2368 (not supplied).
• Connect one of the Y-adapter’s double phono plug ends to the amplifier’s
CH1 phono jack.
• Connect the other double phono plug end to the amplifier’s CH3 phono
jack.
• Connect the single phono plug end to the autosound system’s left output
jack.
• Connect one of the other Y-adapter’s double phono plug ends to the
amplifier’s CH2 phono jack.
• Connect the other double phono plug end to the amplifier’s CH4 phono
jack.
• Connect the single phono plug end to the autosound system’s right out-
put jack.
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If your autosound system has only two phono output jacks (left and right)
and you are using only two speakers,
simply connect them to the amplifier’s
corresponding CH1 and CH2, or CH3 and CH4, phono jacks.
High-Level Input Connections
If your autosoiund system has only speaker outputs, you can connect them to the
amplifier’s HIGH INPUT CH4 CH3 and HIGH INPUT CH2 CH1 sockets using the
floating ground connection or the common ground connection method.
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If your autosound system has four speaker outputs and you are going to use four
speakers:
Floating
Ground
Connection
Common
Ground
Connection
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If your autosound system has only two speaker outputs and you are going to use
four speakers:
Floating
Ground
Connection
Common
Ground
Connection
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CONNECTING THE SPEAKERS
With the speakers placed in their approximate locations, run one speaker wire
from each speaker to the amplifier. We recommend you use 16- or 18-gauge
marked or color-coded wires to help you correctly connect the speakers to your
amplifier. For the maximum bass response and the best overall performance,
keep your speakers properly phased (connect + to + and -to -).
Caution: Do not connect the speakers’ negative (-) terminal wires to chassis
ground.
Note: Speaker wires have two conductors. Color-coded wires have a stripe run-
ning down one of the conductors or different colored insulation for each conduc-
tor. Your local Radio Shack store has a wide selection of speaker wire to choose
from.
Preparing the Speaker Wires
1. Separate each speaker wire’s two conductors at both ends for a length of
about 4 inches.
2. Strip the insulation from the ends of each conductor to expose 1/4inch of
wire.
Note: Be sure to twist the ends to secure loose strands.
(illus - add a single drawing
that illustrates steps 1 and 2,
including the Step 2 note)
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Connecting Four Speakers
1. Connect one end of a speaker wire’s marked conductor to the amplifier’s
CH1 + terminal (front-left positive).
2. Connect the unmarked conductor’s end to the amplifier’s CH1 -terminal
(front-left negative).
3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to connect another speaker wire to the amplifier’s
CH2 (front-right) terminals.
4. Repeat Steps 1-3 to connect speaker wires to the amplifier’s CH3 (rear-left)
and CH4 (rear-right) terminals.
5. Connect the other ends of the four speaker wires so CH1 connects to the
front-left speaker, CH2 to the front-right speaker, CH3 to the rear-left
speaker, and CH4 to the rear-right speaker.
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Connecting Two Speakers (Unbridged Connection)
If you are connecting only two speakers, you can connect them to the amplifier’s
front (CH1 and CH2) or rear (CH3 and CH4) speaker terminals.
Caution: This is an unbridged connection that produces 85 watts per channel. If
you do not have high power speakers, use this connection.
1. Connect one end of a speaker wire’s marked conductor to the amplifier’s +
CH1 (front-left positive) or +CH3 (rear-left positive) terminal.
2. Connect the unmarked conductor’s end to the amplifier’s CH1 −(front-left
negative) or CH3 −(rear-left negative) terminal.
3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to connect speaker wires to the amplifier’s CH2 +and
−CH2 (front-right) or CH4 +and −CH4 (rear-right) terminals.
4. Connect the other ends of the speaker wires so CH1 (or CH3) connects to
the left speaker and CH2 (or CH4)connects to the right speaker.
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Connecting Two Speakers (Bridged Connection)
If you are connecting only two speakers (left and right), you can add (bridge) the
power output of two channels (front and back) to produce the combined power
of both from each of the two speakers.
Caution: This is a bridged connection that produces 170 watts per speaker. Use
this connection only if you have high quality speakers capable of handling a pow-
er output of 170 Watts.
1. Connect one end of a speaker wire’s marked conductor to the amplifier’s +
CH1 (+ Bridged) terminal and the other end to the left speaker’s positive (+)
terminal.
2. Connect the unmarked conductor’s end (in the same speaker wire) to the
amplifier’s CH2 +(
Bridged −)terminal and the other end to the left
speaker’s negative (−) terminal.
3. Connect one end of a second speaker wire’s marked conductor to the
amplifier’s +CH3 (
+ Bridged) terminal and the other end to the right
speaker’s negative (−) terminal.
4. Connect the unmarked conductor’s end (in the same speaker wire) to the
amplifier’s CH4 +(
Bridged −)terminal and the other end to the right
speaker’s positive (+) terminal.
5. Push in the right BRG/ST (Bridged/Stereo) switch to the BRG position to
bridge the front speakers (CH1 and CH2).
6. Push in the left BRG/ST (Bridged/Stereo) switch to the BRG position to
bridge the rear speakers (CH3 and CH4).
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Connecting Two Unbridged Speakers and One Unbridged
Subwoofer
1. Connect the two speakers to the CH1 and CH2 terminals (front speakers) or
to the CH3 and CH4 terminals (rear speakers).
2. For an unbridged connection, connect the subwoofer to the amplifier’s CH3
or CH4 terminals (if you used the front speaker connections in Step 1) or the
CH1 or CH2 terminals (if you used the rear speaker connections in Step 1).
3. Push in X-OVER FREQ so you can later adjust the amplifier’s sound to com-
pensate for your vehicle’s acoustics (see “Using the Frequency Cross-
over”).
4. Press and release the left and right BRG/ST (Bridged/Stereo) switches to
make sure they are off.
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Connecting Two Unbridged Speakers and One Bridged
Subwoofer
1. Connect the two speakers to the CH1 and CH2 terminals (front speakers) or
to the CH3 and CH4 terminals (rear speakers).
2. For a bridged connection, connect the subwoofer to the amplifier’s +CH3
and CH4 +terminals (if you used the front speaker connections in Step 1)
or the +CH1 and CH2 +terminals (if you used the rear speaker connec-
tions in Step 1).
3. Push in X-OVER FREQ so you can later adjust the amplifier’s sound to com-
pensate for your vehicle’s acoustics (see “Using the Frequency Cross-
over”).
4. Press and release the right BRG/ST (Bridged/Stereo) switch to make sure it
is off.
5. Push in the left BRG/ST (Bridged/Stereo) switch to the BRG position to
bridge the rear speakers (CH3 and CH4).
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TESTING THE CONNECTIONS
Before you permanently mount the amplifier, connect your vehicle battery’s neg-
ative (-) cable, turn your vehicle’s ignition to ON or ACC, then test the connec-
tions.
The amplifier is properly connected to the autosound system and speakers if you
can verify that the amplifier and the autosound system turn on properly and the
speakers’ sound is clear and unmuffled.
If you cannot quickly verify that all components operate properly,
immediately
turn off your vehicle’s ignition
. Then disconnect your vehicle battery’s nega-
tive (-) cable and recheck your connections.
Once you verify that all components operate properly, mark the connections to
insure easy identification of each wire, then follow the instructions under “Mount-
ing the Amplifier.”
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