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XPA-1L
Connections
Connecting speakers to your XPA-1L
Your XPA-1L has no special connection requirements; audiophile grade, gold plated, five-
way binding posts are provided for connecting one speaker.
• ALWAYS turn off the amplifier before connecting or disconnecting speaker cables or
signal source interconnects.
• ALWAYS verify that your speaker cables are firmly attached, and not shorted to each
other or to any other cables, before powering up your XPA-1L.
• Always use high-quality speaker wire; 14-gauge or heavier.
• If you must use thinner wire, try to keep the length as short as possible.
• Be careful to wire all speakers “in phase” (the plus/red terminal on each speaker to the
plus/red terminal on your amp).
• Try to use wires of equal length and gauge for both speakers in each pair (use the same
gauge and length for both fronts, or for both surrounds; don’t use a long 16-gauge wire
for one speaker and a short 10-gauge wire for the other).
• If you use stranded cables, use care to avoid short circuits (from stray strands touching).
• Emotiva offers very high-quality, pre-made speaker cables at reasonable prices.
You will find them in the Interconnects section of our website at www.emotiva.com.
Connecting an input source to your XPA-1L
Your XPA-1L amplifier has both a balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) input; a switch
selects which input is active. Be sure to set this switch correctly. If your source component
offers both types of outputs, a balanced connection is generally preferred, especially for
long cable runs and in noisy environments. We suggest using reasonably high quality
cables, keeping cables no longer than necessary, and avoiding running signal cables near
power cables and speaker cables whenever possible.
DO NOT connect a digital signal to the inputs of your XPA-1L (or you may damage it or your
speakers).
Connecting the Trigger Input and Trigger Output
The Trigger Input accepts a 12 VDC (nominal) trigger signal from another device via a
standard 1/8” mono plug. When the trigger is asserted, the XPA-1L will switch On; when
the trigger is removed, the XPA-1L will return to Standby mode. The Trigger Output sends
out 12 VDC whenever the main power to the XPA-1L is On (and NOT when it is in Standby
mode) which can be used to switch on other units with trigger capabilities.