CE-Series © 1997 by Crown International, Inc., P.O. Box 1000, Elkhart, IN 46515-1000 U.S.A. Telephone: 219-294-8000. Fax: 219-294-8329. Trademark Notice: Crown ® is a registered trademark of Crown International, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Da Rules 1. Read all safety and operating instructions before operating the CE-Series amplifier. Follow all instructions carefully and heed any warnings given. 2. Do not drop or spill any foreign object or liquid into the CE-Series amplifier. Hey! I'm Eric Let me fill you in about your new CE-Series Amp!! Page 2 3. WARNING: Shock hazard. To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this unit to rain or moisture.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 7. Do not attempt to service this unit beyond instructions contained in this manual. Refer all servicing to the Crown Service Department. 8. Keep your CE-Series amplifier away from sources of heat, such as a radiator or oven. Do not cover or surround your amp with material which may retain heat, such as a blanket or curtain. 9. Obtain assistance from qualified service personnel if any of the following occurs: • The power cord or plug has been damaged in any way.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Unpacking Your CE-Series Amp Please unpack and inspect your amplifier for any damage that may have occurred during transit. If damage is found, notify the transportation company immediately. Only you can initiate a claim for shipping damage. Crown will be happy to help as needed. Save the shipping carton as evidence of damage for the shipper’s inspection. We also recommend that you save all packing materials so you will have them if you ever need to transport the unit.
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CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Did You Remember To Quick Start! You’ve waited a long time for this! We know you just can’t wait to crank up your new Crown® CE-Series amplifier. And you sure don’t want to flip through pages of tech-talk just to find out where the “ON” switch is. So that’s why we provided you with this quick and simple page to get you up and running right away. Just take a few minutes to read through this—no more than five or ten, max—you’ll be glad you did. 1.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! o Get Your Speakons®? CAUTION: Excessive output levels may toast your speakers. Crown’s CE-Series amplifiers have such low distortion, you may not realize the actual level being reached until it’s too late. Please exercise caution and drive your speakers responsibly (or at least warn your neighbors!).
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Page 8 Da Rules ............................................................... 2 Unpacking Your CE-Series Amplifier ..................... 4 Features ................................................................ 5 Quick Start ............................................................ 6 Welcome ............................................................. 10 Detailed Install ....................................................
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Illustrations 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 7.1 7.2 Typical Stereo Hookup .......................................... 7 The CE-Series Amplifier ................................. 10-11 The Big Picture: Controls, Indicators and Connectors ................................................... 12-13 Mounting Dimensions .......................................... 14 Mode Switch ...........................
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Welcome Thanks for buying this CE-Series amplifier. Here at Crown, we appreciate your support, and we think you’ll find that you’ve also done yourself a favor by choosing Crown. That’s because the CE-Series amps are REAL Crown amplifiers, designed by dedicated Crown engineers to fit your needs AND your wallet. Yes, these Crown engineering dudes, cool guys that they are, thought that no-one should be without that great Crown sound.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Your CE-Series amp also comes with a standard SST module Fig. 1.1 (System Solution Topologies) that gives you the choice of bar- The CE-Series rier strip, 1/4-inch phone, or 3-pin XLR connectors and works Amplifier great in most situations. However, if you’re using your CE amp for theater applications, or if you have other special input needs, you can pull the standard SST module and simply plug in one of our advanced SST modules, (such as our electronic crossover).
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 1.
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CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 2 Detailed Install Follow these instructions for a detailed explanation of CE-Series installation procedures and options. If you just want to get up and running as quickly as possible, see the Quick Start section on page 6. 2.1—Begin with the amplifier turned off and disconnected from the power receptacle. The CE-Series power switch is located on the left side of the front panel; it is OFF when depressed on the left.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 2.3—Set the mode switch. Turn off the amplifier before moving this switch. The Mode switch should be in the “Stereo” position when you’re running in Stereo Mode. Stereo Mode allows independent inputs on the left and right channels to feed separate speakers at the output. It’s the configuration typically chosen (by 90% of left-handed musicians) for everyday audio applications. Fig. 2.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 2.5—Connect the inputs of the CE-Series amp to your mixer, equalizers, or signal processors ahead of the amp. Three types of balanced input connectors are provided, allowing you to choose barrier strip, 1/4-inch phone or 3-pin XLR connectors. You can also choose to use either balanced or unbalanced wiring. (See the information on “Balancing the Line” in the Other Issues section for an explanation of balanced vs. unbalanced wiring.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 2.6— — Connect the outputs of the CE-Series amp to your loudspeakers. You will need two (2) Neutrik Speakon® NL4FC connectors to interface with this amplifier.* You will also need high-quality two- or four-conductor speaker cable with the appropriate end-connectors to fit the inputs on your speakers, a pair of needle-nosed pliers and a 1.5-mm hex key to assemble the Speakon connectors. To assemble the Neutrik Speakon NL4FC connector, complete the following steps: 2.6.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 2.6 Wiring for the Neutrik Speakon NL4FC Connector priate slot of the connector insert (B) as shown in Figure 2.6. Use a 1.5-mm hex key inserted into each side slot to tighten the connection. 2.6.4a—If the Mode switch is in the “Stereo” position (for stereo configuration), connect the positive (+) and negative (–) leads of each wire to the appropriate Channel 1 and Channel 2 connectors as shown in Figure 2.7. Refer to Figure 2.10 for complete system setup.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 2.6.4b—If the Mode switch is in the “Bridge” position (for mono configuration), connect the load across the positive (+) terminals of the connector as shown in Figure 2.8. Refer to Figure 2.11 for complete system setup. For BridgeMono Mode, non-inverting output, Ch1+ is the positive (+) and Ch2+ is the negative (–). 2.6.4c—Never short or parallel the output channels of a CE-Series amplifier to itself or any other amplifier. Fig. 2.8 Bridge-Mono Output Wiring 2.6.
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CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 2.10 Stereo Hookup— Two Stacks, One Amp, Stereo In, Stereo Out.
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CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 2.11 Bridge-Mono Output Hookup— Great for Subs...
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Output Wiring Tips 1. Although this amp has Speakon connectors to minimize wiring mistakes, we encourgage you to choose carefully when selecting speaker enclosue connectors. 2. To prevent possible short circuits, wrap or otherwise insulate exposed loudspeaker cable connectors. 3. Do not use connectors that might accidentally tie conductors together when making or breaking the connection (for example, a standard, 1/4-inch stereo phone plug). 4.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 2.13 Detailed Neutrik Speakon NL4FC Connector Assembly: Bushing onto Connector Housing Assembly 2.6.7—Slide the bushing along the cable and screw onto the end of the connector combination as shown in Figure 2.13. Note that the bushing features a special locking construction which will prevent disassembly of the NL4FC connector once this cap is tightened into place. Before tightening, you may want to test the connector to make sure it has been assembled properly.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 2.7—Turn on all equipment ahead of the amplifier such as the mixer or preamplifier. Adjust their signal levels to their optimum “signal to noise” settings as defined in their operating manuals. 2.8—Plug the amplifier into the power receptacle, turn on the amplifier and adjust its level controls to a desired setting. Please be sure to follow the steps outlined in the Operation section (page 29) if this is the first time the amplifier is being turned on. 2.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 3 Operation Operating a CE-Series amp is very straight-forward. Indicators See Figure 3.1 for positions of front-panel controls and indicators. Fault: OFF is good. This red indicator will blink under five different conditions: 1. When the amplifier is first powered up, until the unit is ready for operation. 2. If the heatsinks reach a temperature above normal working limits. 3. If the transformer thermal protection circuit is activated. 4.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Controls Level: You can adjust each channel’s output using the level control on the front of the amplifier. To decrease the level, rotate the control counter-clockwise (to “∞”). To increase the level, rotate it clockwise (to 0). The level control knob may be pulled from the front panel and the holes plugged with the supplied caps, if you wish, to minimize tampering of control settings. Fig. 3.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Power: The power switch is located on the front panel so you can easily turn the amplifier on or off. When the switch is depressed left, the amp is off. If you ever need to make any wiring or installation changes, don’t forget to also disconnect the power cord. Please follow these steps when first turning on your amplifier: 1 Turn down the level of your audio source. For example, set your mixer’s volume to “∞” (off).
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Input Sensitivity: A two-position Input Sensitivity switch is located on the back panel near the input connectors. Your amplifier is shipped from the factory with this switch set to the 1.4-V position. At this setting, a 1.4-volt input signal will drive the amplifier to full power into an 8-ohm load when the level controls are turned to maximum. The input sensitivity can also be set to a fixed voltage gain of 26 dB.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 4 Other Issues Balancing the Line A balanced audio circuit typically will have both positive (+) and negative (–) legs of the circuit isolated from the ground circuit. These balanced legs exhibit identical impedance characteristics with respect to ground, and may also carry the audio signal at the same level, but with opposite polarities. This results in a line that offers excellent rejection of unwanted noise.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! The Dastardly Duo: Dr. Hum and Mr. Buzz If you have noticeable hum or buzz in your system, you may want to check your cable connections to see if the unwanted noise is being introduced via a ground loop. To determine the proper wiring, first check whether the output from your source is unbalanced or balanced (if you don’t know, refer to the unit’s back panel or instruction manual). If the source is balanced, refer to Figure 4.3; if it is unbalanced refer to Figure 4.4.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 4.3 Balanced Input Wiring Check Figure 4.4 (following page) to see if your cable has been wired with the proper shield and ground connection. If the cabling is incorrect, you may be able to avoid the ground loop (and associated hum) by plugging all of your equipment into the same AC circuit (on the same breaker). If this is impractical, you will need to fix the cable to match the appropriate illustration.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fig. 4.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 5 Advanced Features & Options Crown SST Module On the back panel of your amplifier, you will notice that the input module is removable. This module may be replaced by other SST (System Solution Topologies)—modules which will customize the equipment to better serve your needs. One such SST is an electronic crossover network designed to improve the fidelity of your system.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Crown’s advanced SST crossover plug-in module is easily exchanged with the existing module by removing the four corner screws and unplugging an edge connector. The crossover module offers the following features: • Stereo biamp. • 12-, 18- and 24-dB (Linkwitz-Riley) / octave filters.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! • CD horn equalization. • Mono summing of low-frequency output for driving subs. Crown plans to release additional accessory plug-in modules offering a range of advanced features and capabilities. Watch for new releases.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Fault Monitoring The Fault (RJ11) jack, which looks like a telephone plug, is located on the back of your CE amplifier. It gives you an easy way to remotely monitor the amplifier’s fault status. To set up a circuit that will cause an LED to light whenever a fault status occurs, you can simply use the suggested circuit shown in Figure 5.2. Fig. 5.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Handle Kit Handles complement your amplifier’s appearance, aid in transportation, and the placement or removal from racks. They are available from Crown’s Parts Department (Part # 125489-1). Tamper-Resistant Hole Plugs Your CE-Series amplifier comes with a set of tamper-resistant hole plugs, which allow you to “protect” the level controls against unauthorized adjustment.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 6 Principles of Operation For the sake of simplicity, only channel one of the amplifier is described. Signal is presented to the CE 1000 and CE 2000 through one of three connectors when using the standard input module. Each channel is outfitted with a balanced XLR / phone jack, and a barrier strip. These connectors are wired in parallel, which allows daisy chaining when needed.
R CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! The signal next enters the main amplifier error amp where it is mixed with a small portion of the output signal in such a way as to control the amplifier’s overall output performance. Warning: Details of closed loop amplifier design are beyond the scope of this description and if discussed, would surely put most readers to sleep! Following the error amp is the LVA stage, which is where the low-voltage referenced signal gets translated to the output high-voltage rails.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Voltage & Current circuit. This circuit protects the devices from extending beyond their safe area of operation, but allows the devices to provide high bursts of peak power with music, allowing your amplifier to deliver more punch. When all is said and done, this amplifier output topology offers a good combination of low quiescent amplifier heating and great distortion performance at high powers for a reasonable complexity, reliability, and value.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! down the amplifier. It also disconnects the load via the output relay, removing any output current and further speeding a cooldown cycle. Extra care was taken during the design stage to set this point both to protect your investment and to to guard against nuisance tripping. Whenever the heatsinks or the transformer reach a maximum temperature, or during the normal turn on delay window, the front panel Fault LEDs will blink to get your attention.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 7 Specifications Note: All specifications relate to all models of CE-Series amplifiers. All measurements are at 26 dB, 8 ohms, 1 kHz at rated power unless otherwise stated. Frequency Response: ±0.1 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at 1 watt. Phase Response: ±15° from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at 1 watt. Signal to Noise at 8 Ohms Rated Power: >105 dB A Weighted. >100 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Input Impedance: Nominally 20 K ohms, balanced. Nominally 10 K ohms, unbalanced.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Controls Level: A detented rotary level control for each channel located on the front panel. Power: An on/off rocker switch located on the front panel. Input Sensitivity: A two-position switch located on the back panel near the input connectors. Can be set to 1.4 V for full output into an 8-ohm load or a fixed voltage gain of 26 dB. Mode: Turn power off before switching.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Input/Output (Spaghetti Control) Input Connectors: One Neutrik Combo connector for each channel which features a balanced ¼-inch phone jack and a 3-pin female XLR connector, in parallel with a barrier strip termination. Input Stage: Input is electronically balanced and employs precision 1% resistors. Input Impedance: Nominally 20 K ohms, balanced. Nominally 10 K ohms, unbalanced. Input Sensitivity: 1.4 volts for standard 1 kHz power, or fixed 26 dB gain.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! Protection CE-Series amplifiers are protected against shorted, open or mismatched loads; overloaded power supplies; excessive temperature, chain destruction phenomena, input overload damage and high-frequency blowups. They also protect loudspeakers from input/output DC, large or dangerous DC offsets and turn-on/turn-off transients. Construction Rugged steel chassis is formed into a durable package any stagehand could love.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! 8 Service Your amplifier should only be serviced by a fully trained technician at an authorized service center. CAUTION: To prevent electric shock, do not remove covers. No user serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to a qualified technician. Worldwide Service Service may be obtained from an authorized service center. (Contact your local Crown/Amcron representative or our office for a list of authorized service centers.
CE-Series Amps with an Attitude! unit is under warranty, you may send it C.O.D. for the cost of freight via UPS ground.) The factory will return it via UPS ground. Please contact us if other arrangements are required. Factory Service Shipping Instructions: 1 When sending a Crown product to the factory for service, be sure to fill out the service information form found in the back of this manual and enclose it inside your unit’s shipping pack. Do not send the service information form separately.
YEAR 3 THREE YEAR FULL WARRANTY NORTH AMERICA SUMMARY OF WARRANTY The Crown Audio Division of Crown International, Inc., 1718 West Mishawaka Road, Elkhart, Indiana 46517-4095 U.S.A. warrants to you, the ORIGINAL PURCHASER and ANY SUBSEQUENT OWNER of each NEW Crown product, for a period of three (3) years from the date of purchase by the original purchaser (the “warranty period”) that the new Crown product is free of defects in materials and workmanship.
WORLDWIDE SUMMARY OF WARRANTY The Crown Audio Division of Crown International, Inc., 1718 West Mishawaka Road, Elkhart, Indiana 46517-4095 U.S.A.
Crown Factory Service Information Shipping Address: Crown International, Inc., Factory Service, Plant 2 SW, 1718 W. Mishawaka Rd., Elkhart, IN U.S.A.
