Setup
The initial setup of the amplifier is very straight-forward. Place the amplifier in a
well-ventilated location, as it draws nearly 200 watts during operation and requires
as much opportunity to cool itself as possible. You should be able to put your
hands on the heat sink during operation. If you can't do this for 5 seconds or so,
they need more ventilation.
On the front panel there are two blue LED lights, one for each channel, indicating
regulated power to the channel. If the light is on, the power supply for that
channel is delivering voltage. On the rear panel you will find pairs of RCA inputs,
XLR balanced inputs, speaker outputs, a fuse holder, an AC power receptacle,
and on/off switch and a label.
If you are using the single-ended RCA inputs, make sure that the jumper is
present between pins 1 and 3 of the balanced XLR connector, or you won’t get
any gain. If you lose the jumper, contact First Watt and I will send you a pair.
The XLR balanced input has pin 1 = ground, pin 2 = (+), and pin 3 = (-).
The label will indicate a serial number and also what AC line voltage the amplifier
is set for. If the voltage is 120 VAC, then the fuse value will be a 3AG slow blow
fuse rated at 2.5 amps. If the voltage is 240 VAC, then the fuse will be rated at
1.25 amps. Do not substitute a larger value fuse. Contact First Watt if you have
any questions.
I'm assuming that you know how to attach the speaker cables to the 5 way output
connectors provided. I recommend that you make all the connections with the
amplifier power switch in the OFF position, but you will not damage the amplifier
circuit by accidentally shorting the output or overdriving the input - my concern is
more for the safety of any fragile loudspeaker driver you might be using.
With everything connected up and the source equipment powered up first, you can
proceed to turn on the power switch to the amplifier. Turn-on and turn-off thumps
and noise are small in this amplifier, and should not present any hazard to delicate
drivers. It takes about 1 minute for the regulators to come up to full voltage, so
don’t expect full output power for that time.
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