Don’t be a fool by throwing away this manual! Grab a couple brews, sit on your butt & READ THIS! You will NOT be able to set this amplifier properly unless you thoroughly understand the sophisticated preamp section of the amplifier. You are now the owner of what may be the finest car audio amplifier ever made. Please read this manual in its entirety. These brand new, long-awaited Reference amplifiers are the finest amplifiers we have ever produced and they WILL change the way you hear and feel music… REF1.
Table of Contents 3 Reference Lives Features 4-5 Specifications 6 Installation 7 Controls and Terminals 8-10 Control Definitions 11-13 System Diagrams 14-17 Subwoofer Diagrams 18-19 Troubleshooting 20 2
Reference Lives! Can you believe that it has been over a decade since the legendary Soundstream Reference amps graced the car audio industry?! Maybe you bought this amplifier because the best amplifier you ever had was a Reference from back in the day. Maybe you bought it for its legendary performance. Regardless of the reason, we know you’ll love your new SS Ref & will appreciate its unparalleled quality.
Features In the 80s, it became popular to use acronyms for amplifier features and technologies. In some cases, these acronyms were nothing more than fancy words put together cleverly to form an acronym not worth its weight in poop! Sales people memorized the silly acronyms but rarely knew what the feature encompassed. The features below are straight forward facts about the amplifiers that make them yield audio nirvana.
PSU • Pulse Width Modulated • Large TO218 MOSFET Transistors • High Volume, Low ESR Capacitance Banks Compensate Power Supply Ripple Currents • Extra Low Current Drive Stage Increases Efficiency & Sound Clarity • Individually Regulated Preamp/Crossover Power Supplies Ensure Signal Purity • Separated Capacitor Charging/Discharging Current Paths Prevent Rail Switching Spikes & Ground Traces from Entering Signal Stages Resulting in Distortion Mono-block Models: • True Class G Circuitry and Regulat
REF2.370 REF2.640 REF4.400 REF4.760 REF4.920 REF1.500 REF1.1000 2 2 4 4 4 1 1 RMS Power @ 4Ω, 14.4V 2 x 110 2 x 190 4 x 70 4 x 115 4 x 145 - - RMS Power @ 2Ω, 14.4V 2 x 185 2 x 320 4 x 100 4 x 155 4 x 215 500 1000 RMS Power @ 4Ω Bridged, 14.4V 1 x 370 1 x 640 2 x 200 2 x 380 2 x 460 - - - - - - - 500 1000 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.
Installation Before installing any audio equipment, it is good practice to disconnect the ground terminal on the battery to avoid damage to the vehicle or audio equipment. Failure to do this means you’re a few brews short of a 6-pack and you probably already acquired the nickname of “Sparky” or “Smokey”. Not cool! Do NOT hook the ground cable back up to the battery until the rest of the wiring is complete.
Controls and Terminals REF2.370 2 1 5 3 3 4 6 5 3 3 4 6 8 7 REF2.
REF4.400 1 2 2 3 6 7 6 7 8 8 3 5 13 6 8 7 REF4.760 2 1 9 2 3 3 5 4 6 13 7 6 13 7 8 REF4.
Controls and Terminals REF1.500 1 2 10 3 11 3 4 12 6 8 7 REF1.
Control Definitions Alrighty, here comes the fun stuff. We’re going to break this down to it simplest form so that there is no way you can possibly do any damage in the installation process to your audio system. We’re going to explain in detail how every single knob and switch work rather than turn you loose on a sophisticated amplifier and have problems. READ EVERYTHING! Trust us, it’ll be worth it… Before you do anything, undo the ground cable from the battery.
3 Crossovers (continued) HAWKINS – This is a patented circuit developed by Soundstream many years ago. Hawkins has 2 controls but 3 functions. One of the controls is the boost and it is from 0-10dB. The second control is the frequency. Whatever frequency you select will be the frequency that is controlled by the adjustable boost. The third function is a tracking subsonic filter.
8 Balanced Signal Inputs – Using our BLT Balanced Line Transmitters, you can achieve balanced, noise-free signal transfer. This is a MUST and no-brainer for any audiophile, sound quality competitor, or anybody serious about their music. 9 CH1&2 Signal Mode – There are two options here for the signal processing. You can either choose CH1&2 HP/FR for High Pass or Full Range operations, or you can choose COPY CH3&4 making channels 1&2 receive the same processing as channels 3&4.
System Diagrams 2 CHANNEL SYSTEM DESIGN #1 REF2.370 / REF2.640 2 - 4 Ohms 2 - 4 Ohms 2 CHANNEL SYSTEM DESIGN #2 REF2.370 / REF2.
2 CHANNEL SYSTEM DESIGN #3 REF2.370 / REF2.640 4 - 8 Ohms 2 - 4 Ohms 2 - 4 Ohms *Inductor and Capacitor passive crossovers must be at the same frequency or underlapped, but never overlapped. If this does not make sense, drop what you are doing and take your car to a professional Soundstream dealer! 2 CHANNEL SYSTEM DESIGN #4 REF2.370 / REF2.
2 - 4 Ohms 2 - 4 Ohms 2 - 4 Ohms 2 - 4 Ohms 16
2-4 Ohms 4CH 2-4 Ohms 3CH SUB WOOFER 4-8 Ohms 2-4 Ohms 2CH 2-4 Ohms 1CH SUB WOOFER 4-8 Ohms *Inductor and Capacitor passive crossovers must be at the same frequency or underlapped, but never overlapped.
Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams Series-Parallel / Two Dual 2 Ohm Net Impedance = 2 Ohms Amp 1-2 Ohms Parallel / Two Dual 4 Ohm Net Impedance = 1 Ohm Series-Parallel / Three Dual 2 Ohm Net Impedance = 1.33 Ohms Amp Amp Parallel / Two Single 4 Ohm Net Impedance = 2 Ohm Parallel / Three Single 4 Ohm Net Impedance = 1.
Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams Series-Parallel / Four Dual 2 Ohm Net Impedance = 1 Ohm Amp Series-Parallel / Four Dual 4 Ohm Net Impedance = 2 Ohm Amp Series-Parallel / Four Single 4 Ohm Net Impedance = 1 Ohm Amp 19
Troubleshooting SYMPTOM CHECK REMEDY Check all fuses to the amplifier Is the Status LED illuminated GREEN? NO? No power to power wire Poor Ground Clean contacts on fuse holder Verify ground is secure Check gain on amp Check source level volume Check for Speaker or wire short Re-secure power cable Must have bare metal ground Does remote wire have +12V Check at source and amp Check fuses Burnt, broken, detached? Check speaker wire Look for shorts, pinches or disconnected terminal Check RCAs Swap
