Mackie FR Series M-1200 Owner'S Manual Download Page 15

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soothing green light adjacent to it glows. To
turn the amp off, push the lower half. It’ll click
again and the green light will extinguish.

When you power up the M•1200/M•1400,

a built-in delay circuit prevents any pops or
thumps from being transmitted to the speakers
due to turn-on instability in the system. 

Be sure

the signal driving the amplifier is turned
down when you first power up the system.

There are few things as rude as 3 seconds of
silence followed by 225 watts of full-blast
stereo sound! (Well, maybe 225 kilowatts of
accordian music...)

If you shut down your
system, turn off your ampli-
fiers first. When powering
up, turn on your amplifiers
last. This way, equipment

feeding the amp won’t “pop” or “thud” when it’s
powered up or down.

 POWER CORD

We all know what a power cord is. The

M•1200 and M•1400 have big beefy cords built
in. Plug the power cord into a 3-prong outlet
that is capable of delivering 120VAC at 15 amps.

For current-delivery
purposes, the M•1200/
M•1400’s voltage source
(wall outlet, extension
cords, or power strips)

must be capable of continuously delivering 15
amps. And for safety reasons, that source must
be a “3-prong” outlet with hot, neutral, and
ground terminals. We’re dealing with some big-
time electricity here — don’t mess with it. See
“AC Power Considerations” 

.

 SPEAKER OUTPUTS

Some call them “GR” jacks, others call them

“Banana” jacks, but we prefer to call them
“Binding Posts.” You can call them whatever
you like (except late for supper). These termi-
nals are your standard fare.

To use the binding post outputs, you can

terminate your speaker cables with single or
double banana plugs, spade lugs, or leave them
unterminated: Unscrew the amp’s binding
posts enough to reveal the holes on their sides,
then insert your stripped wires (stripped about
3/8" back) into the holes and retighten the
posts (finger tight is fine — please don’t reef
on them with a wrench!). Be careful that no
runaway strands touch the chassis or other
terminals.

The red posts are labeled “+,” which means

positive. The black posts are labeled “–” for
negative. You probably know the importance of
getting these terms correct — if one side is
hooked up “in phase” and the other side is “out
of phase,” you’ll be “out of work.” (By the way,
although everyone says “phase” in this situa-
tion, the correct word is “polarity”... but it’s not
as much fun to say.)

Using high-quality stranded speaker cable

(16 gauge or thicker), connect the positive
outputs of the M•1200/M•1400 to the positive
inputs of your speakers, and the negative out-
puts to the negative inputs. The exception: If
you’re using the M•1200/M•1400 in 

BRIDGE

 mode, this does not apply. Please read on.

Note (M•1200 only):

 In addition to the

binding posts, the M•1200 also has 1/4" TS
(tip-sleeve) 

SPEAKER OUTPUTS

, so you can

use speaker cables with 1/4" TS plugs. The tip
is positive (+) and the shield is negative (–).
They’re wired in parallel with the binding posts
and behave exactly the same (except they
can’t be used in 

BRIDGE

 

 mode).

CHANNEL

2

1

CHANNEL

63Hz

125Hz

CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY

HORN EQ /AIR EQ

CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY

HORN EQ /AIR EQ

INPUT

THRU

THRU

INPUT

AMP MODE

FREQUENCY

4.5 k Hz

ON

5.6k Hz

2k Hz

MONO

BRIDGE

LIMITER 

(CH1 & CH2)

OFF

FULL 

RANGE

SUB 

WOOFER

LOW CUT

FILTER

LOW CUT

FILTER

OUTPUT APPLICATION

BALANCED

OR

UNBALANCED

BALANCED

OR

UNBALANCED

AIR EQ

ON

/ BRIDGE / MONO

170 Hz

OFF

4.5k Hz

5.6k Hz

2k Hz

AIR EQ

170 Hz

100 Hz

OFF

STAGE

MONITOR

100 Hz

STAGE

MONITOR

OFF

TYPICAL

ON

OFF

TYPICAL

TYPICAL

35 Hz

TYPICAL

35 Hz

STEREO

TYPICAL

STEREO

TYPICAL

AIR EQ

AIR EQ

Summary of Contents for FR Series M-1200

Page 1: ... NOT OPEN REPLACE WITH THE SAME TYPE FUSE AND RATING DISCONNECT SUPPLY CORD BEFORE CHANGING FUSE UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE MÊME TYPE DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE WARNING TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE DO NOT REMOVE COVER NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL CAUTION AVIS RISCQUE DE ...

Page 2: ...e product does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance or E This Mackie product has been dropped or its chassis damaged 11 Servicing The user should not attempt to service this Mackie product beyond those means described in this operating manual All other servicing should be referred to the Mackie Service Department 12 To prevent electric shock do not use this pol...

Page 3: ...on Our Fast Recovery design eliminates this high frequency sticking and allows the am plifier to remain stable when powering highly reactive loads at high volume levels You may wonder why a power amp even needs an owner s manual After all you just plug in a few cables and power it up Well it s almost that simple There s just a few things that we d like you to be aware of and we ll dis cuss those r...

Page 4: ...CK START I got ants in my pants and I got to dance INSTALLATION The M 1200 M 1400 amps can be mounted in any standard rack system see orplacedhorizon tally on a floor or table The heavier internal components are located towards the front of the chassis to make it easier to hold the amp by its front handles IMPORTANT The M 1200 M 1400 amps draw their ventilation air in from the front and out throug...

Page 5: ...cing but don t let the ants out of your pants Things You Must Remember Never plug amplifier outputs into anything except speakers unless you have an outboard box specifically designed to handle speaker level signals Before making connections to an amp or reconfiguring an amp s routing turn the amp s level GAIN controls down turn the power off make the changes turn the power back on and then turn t...

Page 6: ...o like to use a calculator and read specifications You ll find it all here APPLICATION DIAGRAMS Mackie s gang of illustrators have created easy to understand diagrams of popular studio and live sound setups Your setup will probably be different in some way but these diagrams will help you see the big picture so you can add your own finishing touches FEATURE DESCRIPTIONS MIND BOGGLING DETAILS Each ...

Page 7: ...TIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS 23 RACK MOUNTING 23 THERMAL CONSIDERATIONS 23 AC POWER CONSIDERATIONS 23 INPUT WIRING 24 OUTPUT WIRING 24 70V DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS 25 APPENDIX A Service Info 26 TROUBLESHOOTING 26 REPAIR 27 APPENDIX B Glossary 28 APPENDIX C Connectors 33 APPENDIX D Arcane Mysteries Illuminated 35 Balanced Lines 35 Do s and Don ts of Fixed Installations 35 Grounding 36 Optimizing Sound Syst...

Page 8: ...SPEAKER OUTPUTS 63Hz 125Hz CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ INPUT THRU THRU INPUT AMP MODE FREQUENCY 4 5 k Hz ON 5 6k Hz 2k Hz MONO BRIDGE LIMITER CH1 CH2 OFF FULL RANGE SUB WOOFER LOW CUT FILTER LOW CUT FILTER OUTPUT APPLICATION SERIAL NUMBER MANUFACTURING DATE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN REPLACE WITH THE SAME TYPE FUSE AND RATING DISCONNECT SUPPLY CO...

Page 9: ...NSOLE MONITOR OUT FROM MIXING CONSOLE MAIN OUT STAGE MONITOR 100Hz LIMITER ON CD OFF CD OFF M 1400 EIGHT MONITOR SPEAKERS CHANNEL 2 1 CHANNEL CH 1 CH 2 SPEAKER OUTPUTS 63Hz 125Hz CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ INPUT THRU THRU INPUT AMP MODE FREQUENCY 4 5 kHz ON 5 6k Hz 2k Hz MONO BRIDGE LIMITER CH1 CH2 OFF FULL RANGE SUB WOOFER LOW CUT FILTER LOW CUT FILTER...

Page 10: ...TTING DEPENDS ON COMPRESSION DRIVER CD HORN COMBINATION 3 5KHz CD ON STEREO TYPICAL CD OFF CD OFF FROM ACTIVE CROSSOVER HIGH FREQUENCY L R FROM ACTIVE CROSSOVER LOW FREQUENCY L R 3 5KHz M 1200 M 1400 STEREO SYSTEM WITH BRIDGED SUBWOOFER CHANNEL 2 1 CHANNEL CH 1 CH 2 SPEAKER OUTPUTS 63Hz 125Hz CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ INPUT THRU THRU INPUT AMP MODE FRE...

Page 11: ...a Constant Gain vs Constant Sensitivity There are two viewpoints or philosophies regarding the gain structure of power amplifi ers constant gain and constant sensitivity Constant gain means that regardless of the output power of the amplifier the gain from in put to output remains the same By the way this refers to the full gain of the amplifier with the gain or level controls all the way up Withi...

Page 12: ...oks better It s a fact of physics that as the gain of the amplifier increases the circuit noise is amplified and increases too By main taining a constant gain the noise spec for an 800W amplifier can look as good as the noise spec for a 100W amplifier The downside to this is that you have to crank up your mixer level feeding the input of the amplifier losing headroom and possibly increasing the no...

Page 13: ...be either a shorted speaker cable or too many speaker cabinets connected to the amplifier i e the load impedance is too low If a short is indicated please check your cables If the cabling is OK then reduce the number of cabi nets driven by the amplifier ON OFF POWER PROFESSIONAL POWER AMPLIFIER If the OL Overload LED is blinking frequently or continuously turn down the source signal i e the mixer ...

Page 14: ...llel be sure the load isn t adding up to less than 2 ohms Anything below 2 ohms can cause the SHORT LED to light and trig ger the PROTECT mode Remember As the load gets heavier its value in ohms goes down For instance a 2 ohm speaker load is twice as heavy as a 4 ohm load Please see Do The Math Ohms Loads and Such in Appendix E to learn about speaker loads As the internal temperature of the amplif...

Page 15: ...rminated Unscrew the amp s binding posts enough to reveal the holes on their sides then insert your stripped wires stripped about 3 8 back into the holes and retighten the posts finger tight is fine please don t reef on them with a wrench Be careful that no runaway strands touch the chassis or other terminals The red posts are labeled which means positive The black posts are labeled for negative Y...

Page 16: ...on of the woofer But some woofers are built with reverse polarity meaning that the above conditions result in an inward excursion If you re not sure which type of speakers you have take a look at their literature If you re still not sure here is a simple test take a 1 5V flashlight battery and connect the positive terminal of the battery to the positive in put of the speaker and connect the negati...

Page 17: ...MONITOR OFF TYPICAL ON OFF TYPICAL TYPICAL 35 Hz TYPICAL 35 Hz STEREO TYPICAL STEREO TYPICAL AIR EQ AIR EQ 2 2 3 1 1 SHIELD COLD HOT SHIELD COLD HOT 3 SHIELD COLD HOT 3 2 1 SLEEVE SHIELD TIP SLEEVE TIP HOT RING COLD RING TIP SLEEVE RING TIP SLEEVE TIP SLEEVE SLEEVE SHIELD TIP HOT RING COLD You can connect an unbalanced XLR cable to the M 1200 M 1400 although this would be unusual as unusual as an ...

Page 18: ...per second like 40Hz 300Hz The 40Hz refers to the low frequency point usu ally but not always where the speaker s output drops by 3 dB and will roll off com pletely as the frequency goes down There is no point in sending a woofer any frequencies it can t reproduce you can t hear it and worse yet it s a waste of amplifier power that can be betterusedreproducingfrequenciesyoucanhear 10Hz 1Hz 100Hz 1...

Page 19: ...CATION BALANCED OR UNBALANCED BALANCED OR UNBALANCED AIR EQ ON BRIDGE MONO 170 Hz OFF 4 5k Hz 5 6k Hz 2k Hz AIR EQ 170 Hz 100 Hz OFF STAGE MONITOR 100 Hz STAGE MONITOR OFF TYPICAL ON OFF TYPICAL TYPICAL 35 Hz TYPICAL 35 Hz STEREO TYPICAL STEREO TYPICAL AIR EQ AIR EQ More on Constant Directivity Horns Back in the early 70s radial horns were the common mechanism for reproducing high frequencies Radi...

Page 20: ...also popular for subwoofer applications but please see SUBWOOFER foraspecialsubwoofersurprise To use all the M 1200 M 1400 s power to drive one speaker cabinet using BRIDGE mode you ll have to do four things 1 Turn off the power to the M 1200 M 1400 2 Set the AMP MODE switch to BRIDGE 3 Connect the positive side of the speaker cable to the Channel 1 red binding post 4 Connect the negative side of ...

Page 21: ...GE it will sum the inputs when the OUTPUT APPLICATION switch is set to SUBWOOFER Here s how to configure it 1 Turn the M 1200 M 1400 s POWER off 2 Set the OUTPUT APPLICATION switch to SUBWOOFER 3 Select a rolloff point via the FREQUENCY switch At 125Hz you ll get the low sub harmonics on up to the audible bass range At 63Hz you ll get just the lowest frequencies more to be felt than heard You ll p...

Page 22: ...e INPUT of the amplifier and monitor the SPEAKER OUTPUT with the voltmeter or o scope 2 Adjust the signal generator level so you measure 1V rms output at 1kHz You should turn down the GAIN knobs on the amplifier about halfway 3 Change the frequency of the signal genera tor to 63Hz or 125Hz whichever you re using as your subwoofer crossover fre quency You may need to use a frequency counter for acc...

Page 23: ...or festival THERMAL CONSIDERATIONS The M 1200 M 1400 amps are fan cooled and bring air in through the front and out through the sides Make sure that cool air is available at the front of the amplifier and that there is room on each side for the warm air to exit from the amplifier and dissipate If rack mounted make sure there is room for the warm air to circulate around the side and out through the...

Page 24: ...nd power the audio equipment from the other leg This will help minimize noise from the lights coupling into the audio particularly if SCRs are used When setting up for a show oftentimes you are plugging into an AC power distribution sys tem you know nothing about You may even be faced with 2 wire outlets that are missing the third safety ground pin It s a good idea to have a three wire AC outlet t...

Page 25: ...6 4W and a 10W tap becomes 12 8W M 1400 K 850W 625W 1 32 Thus a 2 5W tap becomes 3 3W a 5W tap becomes 6 6W and a 10 W tap becomes 13 2W CAUTION Acharacteristicoftappedtransform ersis that theysaturate at very low frequencies which causes their impedance to decrease ap proaching the DC resistance of the copper wire This can result in overloading the amplifier if the signal contains lots of low fre...

Page 26: ...able connections You may have your positive and negative connections reversed at one end of one speaker cable WARRANTY SERVICE Details concerning Warranty Service are spelled out on the Warranty Card included with your amplifier if it s missing let us know and we ll rush one to you If you think your amplifier has a problem please do everything you can to confirm it be fore calling for service incl...

Page 27: ...t in the amplifier Refer to Grounding in Appendix D REPAIR Service for the U S versions of our amplifi ers is available only from one of our authorized domestic service stations or at the factory lo cated in sunny Woodinville Washington Service for amplifiers living outside the United States can be obtained through local dealers or distributors If your amplifier needs service follow these instruct...

Page 28: ...any of the audio and electronic terms used in discussions of sound mixing and recording Many of the terms have other meanings or nu ances or very rigorous technical definitions which we have sidestepped here because we figure you already have a lot on your mind If you d like to get more information you can call Mix Bookshelf at 1 800 233 9604 We recom mend the following titles The Audio Dictionary...

Page 29: ...al path as a result of an external magnetic field In audio systems this is usually manifested as a 60Hz or 120Hz hum or buzz The source of this noise can be from a ground loop or from the signal wire coming too close to a strong magnetic field such as a transformer or high current linecord EQ curve A graph of the response of an equalizer with frequency on the x horizontal axis and am plitude level...

Page 30: ...ses to keep equipment chassis and controls at zero voltage and to provide a safe path for errant currents This is called a safety ground Maintaining a good safety ground is always essential to prevent electrical shock Follow manufacturer s suggestions and good electrical practices to ensure a safely grounded system Never remove or disable the grounding pin on the power cord In computer and audio e...

Page 31: ...kers or monitor headphones or in the ear monitors are those speakers used by the per formers to hear themselves Monitor speakers are also called foldback speakers In recording the monitor speakers are those used by the production staff to listen to the recording as it progresses In zoology the monitor lizard is the lizard that observes the production staff as the recording progresses Keep the liza...

Page 32: ... taken to simply mean two channels sweep EQ An equalizer that allows you to sweep or continuously vary the affected frequency of one or more sections TRS Acronym for Tip Ring Sleeve a scheme for connecting three conductors through a single plug or jack 1 4 phone plugs and jacks and 1 8 mini phone plugs and jacks are commonly wired TRS Since the plug or jack can carry two signals and a common groun...

Page 33: ...e balanced end When connecting an unbalanced output to a balanced input be sure that the signal high hot connections are wired to each XLR CONNECTORS Mackie amplifiers use 3 pin female XLR connectors on each input with pin 1 wired to the grounded earthed shield pin 2 wired to the high hot or positive polarity side of the audio signal and pin 3 wired to the low cold or negative polarity side of the...

Page 34: ... installations you can use bare wire Figure D or wire ter minated with spade lugs Figure E SPEAKONS Speakon connectors have become popular with many loudspeaker manufacturers be cause they provide a quick yet safe and secure method of connecting speaker cables The M 1400 is outfitted with Speakon connectors Figure G instead of the 1 4 TS jacks pro vided on the M 1200 Speakon connectors have a twis...

Page 35: ...s offer increased immunity to external noise specifically hum and buzz Because a balanced system is able to minimize noise it is the preferred interconnect method especially in cases where very long lengths of cable are being used A long unbalanced cable carries with it more opportunity for noise to get into a system having balanced inputs means very little noise will enter the system via snakes a...

Page 36: ...the shelf connecting cables that are available at any music store Here are some guidelines 1 Use balanced lines if at all possible They provide better immunity to induced noise and ground loops Remember that you can balancealinebyinserting in line apieceof equipmentthathasabalancedoutput 2 Avoid using three phase power lines since they are usually used for air conditioning and other heavy power eq...

Page 37: ...nominal level indi cation next to the control Again this should be at least 10 dB below the maximum output level of the mixer You can double check the actual output signal level if there is an output meter on the mixer On most professional equipment this nominal output level will be 4 dBm 1 23V rms into 600 ohms The output of the mixer may drive a power amplifier directly or it may go through a si...

Page 38: ...d the speaker s Often the passive crossover is built into the cabinet along with the various drivers The crossover divides the high level speaker signal into frequency bands which are then directed to the appropriate driver There are some drawbacks to this method however The pas sive crossover adds reactance to the load that the amplifier sees which can affect the damp ing Power is wasted as heat ...

Page 39: ... OHMS LOADS AND SUCH Remember As the load gets heavier its value in ohms goes down For instance a 2 ohm speaker load is twice as heavy as a 4 ohm load An ohm is a unit of resistance the more ohms the more resistance imped ance The more the resistance the less the power It can all seem backwards at first Just remember that a dead short means no resis tance at all or zero ohms Since you re in the bi...

Page 40: ... re quires a steady and stable AC supply This means the line impedance must be very low to insure that the peak AC line voltage does not sag to less than 97 of its value If driving highly reactive loads we recommend that the limiter circuit be engaged Power Bandwidth 20Hz to 70kHz 0 3 dB Frequency Response 20Hz to 40kHz 0 1 dB 10Hz to 70kHz 0 3 dB Distortion THD SMPTE IMD TIM 0 025 8Ω 0 050 4Ω 0 1...

Page 41: ...s with musical program fully loaded 2 ohms per side or 4 ohms bridged 550 watts with musical program fully loaded 4 ohms per side or 8 ohms bridged 850 watts at full power into 8 ohms continuous sine wave 1500 watts at full power into 4 ohms continuous sine wave 2500 watts at full power into 2 ohms continuous sine wave AC Line Power US 120VAC 60Hz Europe 240VAC 50 60Hz Japan 100VAC 50 60Hz Korea 2...

Page 42: ...ER AMPLIFIER CH 1 SPEAKER OUT FUSE 80VDC FUSE 80VDC DC OFFSET DETECT SHORT DETECT METER DRIVE POWER AMPLIFIER CH 2 SPEAKER OUT FUSE 80VDC FUSE 80VDC DC OFFSET DETECT TO CH 1 MUTE OL 3 6 9 20 SIG CH 1 SIG CH 2 SHORT LED SHORT DETECT METER DRIVE TO CH 2 MUTE OL 3 6 9 20 SIG CH 2 SIG SIG TO CH 1 METER DRIVE SIG TO CH 2 METER DRIVE PD s LEASH HOT LED COLD LED TEMP SENSOR ON HEATSINK TO CH 1 AND CH 2 M...

Page 43: ...otorious Technical Writing staff then converted to this amazing piece of work using a 13 story 1000 gigawhat Macintosh powered by its own dedicated AC supply with extensive voltage regulation and noise filtering to insure pure undistorted text Please feel free to let us know if you find an error or stumble over a confusing paragraph Thank you for reading the entire manual we know you have or you w...

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