Specifications
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Speaker ZONE connections
Zone 1 amplier connection (e.g. 480 watts in zone 1):
Connect the signal output zone 1 (balanced, on euroblock) to the external amplier’s signal input, e.g. our
PA2240BP in bridge mode, providing 480 watts into 100 volt. Zone 1 has independent line source selec-
tion and volume control.
The benet of the 70 volt and 100 volt output zones :
The 70 volt outputs from zone 5 and 6 are fully compatible with 100 volt speakers. In silent zones, such
as toilets or showroom areas, the 100 volt speakers usually play at very low levels, even far below 70 volt.
However, when paging is needed in these zones, full power at 100 volt might be required. Zone outputs
5-6 are specially designed for any application where a clear (louder) speech paging is required above the
normal background music level. Zones 2-3-4 outputs are standard 100 Volt for both speech and back-
ground music. Of course, the level of BGM in each zone can be adjusted or even switched off (paging
only) by the zone level controls on the front panel.
Using an external paging and/or zone 1 amplier :
The external paging amplier must have at least the same power as the internal MA246 amplier. By con-
necting an external paging amp, you have the possibility to create independent zones with different sound
levels with a very simple setup. You can use our PA240P for this purpuse, or even the PA2240P-2 chan-
nel amp. The second PA2240P channel can be used as zone 1 amplier, e.g. to power the speakers in a
warehouse or production facility, where music source and level requirements are different from the other
zones, such as ofce areas, boardrooms, showroom…Another possibility is to use the PA240P as paging
amp, and use the PA2240P in bridge mode in zone 1, this offers you 480 watts in zone 1. The benets are
clear: less wiring, easy installation, exible routing, possibility to have zones with extremely high power
demands controlled by one central unit, the MA246.
Zone connection examples :
Zone 1 = production facility and parking area: independent source selection, 480 watts from PA2240BP in
bridge mode.
Zone 2-4: ofce area, showroom and boardroom : from internal amp, pageable.
Zone 5-6 (70 volt outs): toilets, hallway : the most silent zones in this case powered by internal amp, non
pageable.
The external paging amp (e.g. PA240P or PA2240BP) takes over the pageable zones, zone 2-4 in this
case, while the other zones continue to hear the music without interruption from the paging messages.
Notes:
What happens if you use the MA246 as a standalone mixing amplier, without external paging amp ?
The pageable zones 2-4 will hear the paging messages amplied by the internal MA246 power amplier,
the non pageable zones 5-6 will be silent.
Suppose pageable zones 2-4 internal volume controls are set at a very low level (or even switched off
completely…). What happens if these zones are paged ?
MA246 will automatically bypass the (internal) volume controls during paging, this means that the page-
able zones will hear the paging message at full power, even if the MA246’s internal volume controls are
switched off.
What about external volume controls ? If you use additional external volume controls, such as our E-VOL
series, be sure to connect the 24 volt priority output from the MA246 to the volume control’s 24 V priority
input. This will bypass the external volume controls, allowing paging messages to be heard at full power.
Practical wiring example when using the PA2240BP as dedicated zone 2-6 paging amp and as ZONE1