3
Lend Me Your Ears
Exposure to extremely
high noise levels may
cause permanent hear-
ing loss. In di vid u als vary
considerably in sus cep ti -
bil i ty to noise-in duced hearing loss, but nearly
everyone will lose some hearing if ex posed to
suffi ciently in tense noise for a pe ri od of time.
The U.S. Gov ern ment’s Oc cu pa tion al Safety and
Health Ad min is tra tion (OSHA) has spec i fi ed
the per mis si ble noise lev el exposures shown in
this chart.
According to OSHA, any exposure in excess
of these permissible limits could result in some
hearing loss. To ensure against potentially dan-
gerous exposure to high sound-pressure levels,
it is recommend ed that all persons exposed to
equipment capable of producing these levels use
hearing protectors while this unit is in opera-
tion. Ear plugs or protectors in the ear canals or
over the ears must be worn when operating this
amplifi cation system in order to prevent a per-
manent hearing loss if exposure is in excess of
the limits set forth here.
Duration Per Day Sound Level dBA, Typical
In Hours
Slow Response
Example
8
90
Duo in small club
6
92
4
95
Subway
Train
3
97
2
100
Very loud classical music
1.5
102
1
105
Patrice screaming at Ron about dead lines
0.5
110
0.25 or less
115
Loudest parts at a rock con cert
The SWA1801z
can pro duce a
max i mum SPL of
135 dB @ 1m
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing Mackie’s ac tive
sound reinforcement speaker sys tems.
The SWA1801z is a high-output active sub-
woofer system. It features a high-pre ci sion 18"
transducer combined with application-spe cifi c
amplifi er technology. The system is com posed of
a single, com pact subwoofer cab i net with built-in
control and am pli fi er elec tron ics.
Connecting and setting up the SWA1801z is
a breeze. It accepts a stereo or mono line-level
sig nal via fe male XLR input jacks. Male XLR
Thru jacks are provided for daisy-chain ing the
signal to ad di tion al SWA1801z cabinets. The
built-in cross over separates the low fre quen cies
from the high fre quen cies, and routes the high
fre quen cies to the male XLR high-pass output
jacks. Connect these to the in puts of full-range
active speak ers such as the Mackie SA1521z,
or to an amplifi er pow er ing a pair of pas sive
speak ers such as a combination of the Mackie
M•1400i and C300z. A Phase switch gives you the
option of reversing the po lar i ty of the sig nal to the
subwoofer by 180º. A Subwoofer Level con trol
al lows you to adjust the bal ance be tween the sub-
woofer and the full-range speak ers.
The built-in amplifi er produces 800 watts of
con tin u ous power. The amplifi er module sits on
a heatsink that elim i nat es the need for fans,
dra mat i cal ly ex tend ing life ex pect an cy, and
elim i nat ing main te nance cycles. A tre men dous
ben e fi t of hav ing the amplifi er located with in the
subwoofer cab i net is that the SWA1801z func tions
as a sys tem, op ti miz ing acous tic, elec tron ic, and
me chan i cal de signs to achieve the high est level of
per for mance and val ue.
The cabinet is constructed with 15 mm thick
multi-layered birch plywood. Carrying han dles are
in te grat ed into each side for easy loading, and cast-
ers are attached to the rear for easy trans port.
CONTENTS
Lend Me Your Ears ...........................................................3
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................3
REAR PANEL DE SCRIP TION ...........................................4
HOOKUP DIAGRAMS ......................................................5
CONNECTIONS ................................................................6
PLACEMENT .....................................................................6
AC POWER ......................................................................7
......................................................7
........................................................7
........................................................................9
SWA1801z SPEC I FI CA TIONS .......................................10
SWA1801z LIMITED WARRANTY .................................11
Don’t forget to visit our website at
for more information about this and oth er Mackie products.
R
Part No. 0017284 Rev. A 9/05
©2005 LOUD Technologies Inc. All Rights Reserved.
