12
| JL Audio - 600/1
v3
Owner’s Manual
13
I M P O R TA N T
!
Speaker loads below 1.5Ω nominal are not
recommended and may cause the amplifier
output to distort excessively.
Speaker connections to the 600/1v3 are
straightforward and take place at the far right
of the front panel. You will notice that there
are two “+” positive connections and two “–”
negative connections. This is to facilitate multiple
speaker wiring. The two positive and two negative
connections are connected in parallel inside
the amplifier. Connecting two speakers, each to
one set of positive and negative terminals, will
result in a parallel speaker connection. If only
connecting one pair of speaker wires, it is not
necessary to use both sets of connections.
Do not chassis ground any speakers connected
to this or any other JL Audio amplifier. Doing so
will cause the amplifier to go into protection and
mute the output.
The 600/1v3’s speaker connectors are designed
to accept 12 AWG – 8 AWG wire.
To connect the speaker wires to the amplifier,
first back out the set screws on the top of the
amplifier, using the supplied 2.5 mm hex
wrench. Strip 1/2 inch (12 mm) of insulation
from each wire and insert the bare wire end
into the receptacles on the front panel of the
amplifier, seating them firmly so that no bare
wire is exposed. While holding each wire in place,
tighten each set screw firmly, taking care not to
strip the head of the screw and making sure that
the wire is firmly gripped by the set screw.
I M P O R TA N T
!
Do NOT attempt to “bridge” two 600/1v3’s or
combine their output to a single load in any
manner. Doing so will damage the amplifier(s).
I M P O R TA N T
!
Before reconnecting the battery ground and
turning the system on, verify that all control
settings on the amplifier are set according to
the needs of the system.
status indiCator ligHts /
ProteCtion CirCuitrY
There are three status indicator lights on the
top of the amplifier. These are as follows:
1) “Power” (Green): lights to indicate that the
amplifier is turned on and operating normally.
2) “Thermal” (Red): lights to indicate that
the amplifier has exceeded its safe operating
temperature, putting the amplifier into a self-
protection mode, which reduces the power
output of the amplifier. The red light will shut
off and the amplifier will return to normal,
full-power operating mode if the heat sink
temperature drops back to a safe level.
3) “Low Ω” (Amber): lights to indicate that the
impedance of the speaker load connected
to the amplifier is lower than the optimum
impedance load range for the amplifier. When
this light is on, a protection circuit engages
and reduces the power output of the amplifier.
The amber indicator will also light when a
short-circuit is detected in the speaker wiring
(this can be a short between the positive and
negative speaker wires or between either
speaker wire and the vehicle chassis).
There is only one condition that will shut down
an undamaged 600/1v3 completely… If battery
voltage drops below 10 volts, the entire amplifier
will shut itself off. The green “Power” indicator
on the top of the amplifier will turn off when this
occurs. The amplifier will turn back on when
voltage climbs back above 10 volts. This may
happen in a rapid cycle when bass-heavy program
material causes a weak charging system to dip
below 10 volts momentarily. If this is happening
in your system, have your charging system
inspected to make sure it is working properly.
For information on troubleshooting this
amplifier, refer to Appendix E (page 20).
select the filter frequency with a higher level
of precision, consult Appendix C: Chart A-4
(page 17) of this manual. The “Boost” control
determines how much boost (in dB) you are
adding to the bass signal. A range of 0 - 15dB
of boost is available. The “Remote Bass Port”
allows the connection of an optional remote
boost knob (the RBC-1) that can be mounted
in the front of the vehicle. This optional control
takes the place of the “Boost” knob on the
amplifier when connected and bypasses the
“Boost” control on the amplifier.
I M P O R TA N T
!
The “Advanced Bass Control” section will only
operate when the amplifier’s filter is activated
with the “Amp LP Filter” switch in the “12dB”
or “24dB” position. It will not work with this
switch in the “Off” position. This is to prevent
cascading the processing of multiple amplifiers
when configured in a master/Slave arrangement
as shown in Appendix D (page 18). If you are
using an external active crossover and would
like to use the “Advanced Bass Control”
features, set the “Amp LP Filter” switch on
“12dB” and rotate the frequency selection knob
fully clockwise to the “200 Hz” position. This
will activate the “LF Boost” and “Infrasonic
Filter” controls without significantly affecting
the crossover point selected by the external
active crossover.
+12VDC
Ground Remote
Preamp Output Section
Infrasonic Filter
“Q”
Center Freq.
Boost (dB)
Amp LP Filter
Advanced
Bass
Control
Amplifier Input Section
Subwoofer Output
MONO OUTPUT ONLY
Left Output
Right Output
Left Ch.
Right Ch.
Filter Freq. (Hz)
Filter Freq. (Hz)
Infrasonic Freq. (Hz)
Remote Bass Port
Full Range | Amp Filter | Out Filter
Output Mode
Filter Slope
Mode
Mode | Slope
Input Voltage
Input Sens. Signal Sensing
12dB | 24dB
Filter Mode
LP | HP
Bass EQ
Off | On
Off | 12dB | 24dB
Low | High
Off | On
Off | On
40
45
55
65
80
100
200
15
18
22
30
45
55
60
40
45
55
65
80
100
200
0.5
0.7
1.1
1.6
2.7
4.3 20
25
30
40
60
75
80
0
+4
+10
+13
+15
Monoblock Subwoofer Amplifier
subwooFer outPut
The 600/1v3 employs JL Audio’s exclusive
Regulated, Intelligent Power Supply (R.I.P.S.)
design. This sophisticated power supply
allows the amplifier to produce its optimum
power (600 watts x 1) over a wide range of
speaker impedances.
Unlike conventional amplifiers that require
a specific impedance to produce optimum
power, the R.I.P.S.-equipped 600/1v3 gives
you the freedom to use a variety of subwoofer
configurations that achieve final nominal
impedances between
1.5 – 4Ω (without sacrificing power output or
sound quality).
The operation of the R.I.P.S. circuitry is
entirely automatic and adjusts itself every time
the amplifier is turned on according to the lowest
impedance present at the speaker load. There are
no user controls to configure. The system
operates through multiple stages of impedance
optimization, choosing the stage most appropriate
to the actual impedance of the speaker(s) you
connect to it.
I M P O R TA N T
!
If you connect a load higher than 4Ω nominal
to the 600/1v3, power will drop by half with
every doubling of impedance above 4Ω. If you
connect a load lower than 1.5Ω nominal to the
600/1v3, the amplifier protection circuitry
activates a “safe” mode which reduces amplifier
power to protect the circuitry from failure (the
yellow LED on the top of the amplifier will
light to indicate that this has happened). See
page 13 for details.