Introduction and Features

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of this JBL Performance™ Series AVA7 power amplifier! You have purchased a product that embodies the best of what JBL has learned about the emotional power of audio reproduction in more than fifty years of preeminence in the field. This amplifier has been designed and crafted to provide the user with

a high level of sonic performance. Special attention has been paid to min- imizing the number of components in the audio signal path, resulting in extremely low distortion, excellent transient response, and wide dynamic range. JBL products set new bench- marks in audio technology, and, when used as part of a complete JBL Performance Series system, will bring the ambience and acoustics of some of the world’s greatest concert halls and theaters into your home.

To obtain the best performance from this amplifier, please be sure to completely read this user’s manual and use the AVA7 only in accordance with its instructions.

FEATURES

The JBL Performance Series AVA7 power amplifier features the following:

Full Seven-Channel Operation

The AVA7 has been designed to inte- grate well into the world of multichan- nel audio. It is designed to reproduce the latest development in home theater audio – rear channels, in addition to side channels – to produce a truly enveloping sound field. When coupled with a high-quality subwoofer amplifier, it is a solid foundation on which to build a high-performance home cinema system that will astound the listener with its power and realism.

High Power Capability

The AVA7 provides a satisfying 125 watts per channel of distortion-free audio (<0.01% THD) into 8 ohms.

Because of their power capabilities, JBL Performance Series amplifiers have an extremely wide dynamic range, an element critical to realistic home cinema. Sound levels equal to those at original performances are easily re-created in even the largest of home listening environments.

Auto Turn-On and Power-Sequencing Circuitry

When used in a JBL Performance System, the AVA7 can be turned on automatically whenever the surround processor is activated. No longer do you have to get out of that chair to turn on the various pieces of equipment in your entertainment system; just one touch on the remote control of the sur- round processor, and you’re a few sec- onds away from a truly impressive audio presentation!

Modern amplifiers produce more power per channel (and frequently have more channels) than those of the traditional two-channel stereo era. Due to the high current demands of power amplifiers at the instant of turn-on, the AVA7 amplifier is equipped with

a power-sequencing circuit that turns on each amplifier in a delayed sequence, avoiding the large instanta- neous current demand (and possible circuit breaker tripping) that may occur should more than one amplifier turn on at the same instant.

Quiet Cooling

The AVA7 utilizes two fans to cool the amplifier channels, ensuring long-term reliability. To reduce fan noise to an absolute minimum, a thermal-sensing and control circuit, which senses increases in temperature within the amplifier and powers the fans at a speed proportional to that temperature increase, has been incorporated in the JBL Performance Series AVA7. As a result, the fan is never turning faster than necessary, and most of the noise that is generated is masked by the pro- gram being listened to.

Comprehensive and Isolated Circuit Protection

The AVA7 amplifier employs sophisti- cated protection circuitry (one for each channel) that senses many possible fault conditions, such as shorted loudspeaker wires or excess power demand, and turns the affected channel(s) off until the fault condition is removed, at which time normal operation is automatically restored. While protection of this sort is not uncommon in today’s well-designed amplifiers, a remarkable feature of the JBL Performance AVA7’s protection cir- cuits is that they are optically coupled to the signal circuit; there is no direct

electrical connection between the sig- nal path and the protection circuitry. As a result, there can be no coloration of the music, no interaction between pro- tection and amplification, until certain thresholds are exceeded, at which point the channel(s) would turn off completely.