® Z Custom Zpre3 Stereo Preamplifier Owner’s Manual
Important Safety Instructions The lightning flash with the arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of “dangerous voltage” inside the product that may constitute a risk of electric shock. The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance instructions in the literature accompanying the product. TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER.
Parasound® Z Custom ™ Zpre3 Owner’s Manual Page 3
INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of this precision audio product and thank you for selecting Parasound. We are proud to offer you this versatile preamplifier, knowing that it will bring you many years of enjoyment and dependable operation. Please take a few moments to read the following instructions so you can enjoy all the benefits of your new Zpre3’s advanced performance capabilities. You can find details of the Zpre3’s specifications and advanced technology at www.parasound.com. Enjoy.
Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Placement and Ventilation Guidelines . Rear Panel Layout and Connections Audio Input Connections Inputs 1-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unpacking your Zpre3 & Placement Guidelines Unpacking Your Zpre3 Carefully remove your Zpre3 from its shipping carton and locate its AC power cord and these included accessories: • • • One 12V trigger cable with mono 3.5mm mini plugs at both ends. One 12V trigger cable with a mono 3.5mm plug on one end and a 2.5mm plug on the other end. Remote control and two AAA batteries.
Rear Panel Layout and Connections Always turn off or disconnect the AC cord to your Zpre3 before plugging in or unplugging any connections. Inserting or removing an interconnect cable’s plug while this unit or the power amp is turned on can result in a burst of sound that can damage your loudspeakers. Make sure there is no strain or tension on any input cables, speaker wires, DC trigger wires or the AC cord that could cause them to pull loose.
Bypass Input (Continued) The Bypass input passing the incoming left and right channels directly through to the Left and Right Variable Output jacks. None of the Zpre3 circuits or controls has any effect on the bypassed signal and the volume level from the source component pass through unchanged. The Bypass input is automatically selected and connected to the Left and Right Variable output jacks when the Zpre3 is turned off.
12 Volt, IR and RS-232 Connections 12 Volt Output Jack The 12V Out is used to turn a power amp or other accessories on and off automatically. If your power amplifier is equipped with a 12 volt trigger input, connect the included trigger cable between the Zpre3’s 12V Out jack and the amplifier’s 12 volt trigger input. When the Zpre3 is powered on, 12 volts will be present at the 12V output jack and your amp will turn on automatically. When the Zpre3 is powered off your amp will automatically turn off.
Remote Control Off & On These buttons turn power on and off. Balance L & R Use these buttons to shift the balance to the left or right. This can be helpful to compensate for speaker placement or room acoustics. The maximum adjustment is 15dB. Volume + & The + and – buttons increase and decrease the volume level. Mute Press to mute the audio. Pressing a second time will unmute the audio.
Renaming Inputs The factory default input names are “Input 1”, “Input 2”, “Input 3”, “Input 4/Aux” and “Bypass”. To make it easier to remember which source is connected to what input number you may wish to rename the inputs. Any of the inputs can be renamed to be one of the names in the following list.
Turn On Volume & Favorite Volume Settings Turn On Volume You may wish your Zpre3 to come on to the same volume setting every time it is turned on. This can be particularly useful if you sometimes listen at high volume levels and you want to avoid a blast of sound the next time you turn it on. Or you may have a preferred listening level.
Troubleshooting When the unit turns on the volume always jumps to the same setting - The “Turn On Volume” feature has been activated. See page 12 on instructions on how to turn off this feature. This can only be done using the remote control. There is no sound from input 4 - Input 4 is shared with the front panel Aux Input. When a plug is inserted into the front panel Aux jack the rear panel Input 4 is disconnected.
Maintaining Your Zpre3 Your Zpre3 requires no periodic maintenance and has no user serviceable parts inside. To avoid risk of electric shock do not remove the top cover. To keep it clean use only a soft cloth moistened with a few drops of clear water or window cleaner. Never use any solvents or abrasives. Are You Having Difficulty? Warranty Repair Call your Parasound dealer first.
Specifications and Details Frequency Response: 10Hz - 40 kHz, +0 / -0.5dB Total Harmonic Distortion: (20Hz - 20kHz) < 0.015% Interchannel Crosstalk: 62dB at 20kHz Input Sensitivity: 250mv = 1V output Total gain = 12dB (volume set to 100) Unity Gain = Volume set to 88 Maximum output = 3.5V Input Impedance: 24k Ohms Output Impedance: 470 Ohms S/N Ratio: > 100dB, input shorted, IHF A-weighted > 90dB, input shorted, unweighted DC Trigger Output: 12Vdc, 50ma AC Power Requirement: 5 Watts powered on 0.
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Parasound Zpre3 RS-232 Protocol and Instructions Protocol Specs Baud Rate: Data Bit: Stop Bit: Parity: Flow Control: 9600 bps 8 bits 1 bit None No Pin Connections TxD: Pin 2 RxD: Pin 3 Gnd: Pin 5 Command Protocol ASCII (not decimal) and hexadecimal examples are shown below. All strings must have a space between each number or letter (except two digit numbers). In the Hex examples the space is already represented with code “20.
CONTROL COMMANDS Action String ASCII String Hexadecimal Power On W 1 1 2 57,20,31,20,31,20,32,0D Power Off W 1 1 1 57,20,31,20,31,20,31,0D Power Toggle W 1 1 3 57,20,31,20,31,20,33,0D Volume Up 1 step W 1 9 1 57,20,31,20,39,20,31,0D Volume Down 1 step W 1 9 2 57,20,31,20,39,20,32,0D Mute On W 1 10 2 57,20,31,20,31,30,20,32,0D Mute Off W 1 10 1 57,20,31,20,31,30,20,31,0D Mute Toggle W 1 10 3 57,20,31,20,31,30,20,33,0D Input 1 W 1 2 6 57,20,31,2
FEEDBACK COMMANDS You may request the status and feedback of individual information by issuing the following “read” commands.
Zpre3 Stereo Preamplifier XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Compact size, audiophile performance, new custom integration features The Zpre3 is a compact stereo preamplifier packed with custom integration features and the audiophile level of performance that Parasound is known for.
Features: Front panel LCD display with dimming Automatic turn on volume memory Favorite volume memory with remote control button 2-way RS232 w/ exact volume control & feedback Discrete commands for all functions Rename inputs to match connected source 5 audio inputs including a front panel Aux input Bypass input integrates easily w/ a Sonos Connect® etc.