
PA 64 / Jensen PA500 Replacement
For years, the Cutaway (Mini) Bus industry has been selling and installing the Jensen PA 500
systems with hand mics Although being a work horse, they perform fairly well for the age of their
design However, there are some inherent issues and limitations, mainly the internal background
noise and poor noise filtering from the vehicle, the limited power and sound quality and most
importantly… their use of only a hand mic Basically, the needs of the world has left the PA 500
behind
Fear not! If you want to upgrade to a headset or wireless microphone, offer innovative tours like
Karaoke or just enjoy better sound, Ready2Talk gives you another option It really isn’t all that
difficult to make the change and when you’re finished, you’ll be surprised at how much better your
existing bus speakers will sound with the PA 64! AND it functions the same way as your old PA 500
Installation or changeover is really easy! Since there is a mobile audio wiring standard, it is pretty
much a wire for wire unit swap
It all starts with physically removing the PA 500 and replacing the PA 64 in the same spot, they are
kind of the same size so it should fit Notice that there is 2 mic inputs, #1 on the front panel and #2
on the rear of the PA 64 Now you can use two microphones simultaneously with no loss of
performance and you can mix hand mics with headsets, wired with wireless!
One little trick with the PA 64 is… if you notice the printing is designed for the PA 64 to be mounted
on top of a panel, but if you want to mount it underneath the printing would be upside down
Included in the box is a reversed printed label, just remove the two knobs on the front of the PA 64
and apply the new decal, then re-install the knobs and Voila! You’re Ready2Talk
Wiring
1. Spea er Output Wires: Since both units follow the same universal wiring code, you can
disconnect and reconnect the speaker output wires one for one, e g white for white,
white/black for white/black… gray, green, purple and so on If you get lost, refer to the
PA 64 manual for the color codes
2. Power Wires: The PA 500 has only a RED switched 12V power wire, the PA 64 has the same
and like the speaker wires can be swapped There is an additional YELLOW 12V power wire
that needs to be connected to a constant 12V power source like the battery or a heavy load
circuit like the Cigar Lighter? Although the PA 64 has internal fuses for both power wires,
it’s always best to fuse the source of the constant 12V wire as well, especially if you are
running it to the battery It protects the wire run Don’t forget the BLACK ground wire