37
Installation Manual
Model D2800
THE DIRECTOR
™
Advanced Discussions
In Wall Volume Controls
What happens to the in-wall volume con-
trol if the amplifier power is greater than it
can handle?
It will not be pretty but then again no
one will die. Typically, the magnetics of
the volume control will be over taxed,
saturate and thereby become a lower
impedance than rated. This will en-
courage The Director amplifier to put
out even more power possibly putting
the amp into protection. If not this
extreme, there is an excellent chance
the volume control saturation will
damage the sound quality. The upshot
is use a volume control with a margin
of safety.
Installation of multiple units
Can you stack units of The Director D2800
on top of each other without an air space
in between?
You can stack a maximum of 4 units
on top of one another, and allow a free
rack space above and below.
Ideally, 2 units can be stacked with a
free space above and below, as this
will improve the ventilation to the
units.
May you daisy chain or y-cord audio and
power trigger connections?
Daisy chaining audio is easy as there
are Loop output jacks, which can be
used to drive the next amplifier.
For power control, it is easiest to have
an Ethernet connection to each unit.
The 12 volt mini jacks are powered to
turn on another unit when the main
unit is on (not standby). If you need
more than 15 milliamps current on the
12 volt output, use a relay to prevent
over loading The Director. (The Direc-
tor itself only takes 1 milliamp to turn
on.)
What are the power requirements and
BTU outputs of The Director?
More detailed information is shown in
the specifications section. In general,
we feel a conservative, real life design
criteria is 1/8th power. This will be
a quite loud listening level for most
rooms and assumes all zones driven at
the same time. You will be amazed at
how cool The Director is at this level.
One rule does not fit all situations, so
apply your knowledge of the particular
circumstances involved. Also, see the
section below on unique rooms and
SPL.
How many units may I put on one 15
amp breaker?
It depends. Since you are limited to
1500 watts per device by most codes,
there should be a separate 15 amp
circuit for each unit.
The circumstances where The Director
D2800 draws maximum power are
very rare outside of an engineering
lab. Maximum power is using a sine
wave input which has at least a third
higher energy density than music.
This would mean that all channels are
operating at maximum, an unlikely
situation even during a really fun party.
Even more unlikely is all channels on
multiple units operating at full output.
You know the system better than we
do, so it is your decision. If the only
use is background music, then the
one-eighth power in the specifications
is a reasonable (actually conserva-
tive) power draw. Of course, you will
want to include a margin of safety for
unusual circumstances. And in the
final analysis, you have to do what the
electrical inspector tells you to do.
Advanced Discussions