JL Audio 500/1v2

12 | JL Audio - 500/1v2 Owner’s Manual

IMPORTANT

Speaker loads below 1.5Ω nominal are not

recommended and may cause the amplifier

output to distort excessively.

Speaker connections to t he 500/1v2 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 bot h sets of connec tions.

Do not chassis ground any speakers connected

to this or any other JL Audio amplifi er. Doing so

will cause the amplifier to go into protection and

mute the output.

The 500/1v2’s speaker connectors are designed

to accept 12 AWG – 8 AWG wire.

To connect the speaker wi res to the ampli fier,

first back out the set screws on the top of the

amplifier, using the suppl ied 2.5 mm hex

wrench. Strip 1/2 inch (12 mm) of insulation

from each wire and in sert the bare wire end

into the receptacles on t he front panel of t he

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 firm ly gripped by t he set screw.

IMPORTANT

Do NOT attempt to “bridge” two 500/1v2’s or

combine their output to a single load in any

manner. Doing so will d amage the ampli fier(s).

IMPORTANT

Before reconnecting the battery ground and

turning the system on, ver ify that a ll control

settings on the amplif ier are set accord ing 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 operatin g normally.

2) “ Thermal” (Red): lights to indicate that

the amplifier has exceeded its safe operating

temperature, putting t he amplifier i nto a self-

protection mode, which reduce s the power

output of the amplifier. The red light w ill 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 spea ker load connecte d

to the amplifier is lower than the optimum

impedance load range for the amplifier. When

this light is on, a prote ction circuit e ngages

and reduces the power output of the amplifi er.

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 t he vehicle chassis).

There is only one condition that will shut

down an undamaged 50 0/1v2 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 ma ke sure it is work ing

properly.

For information on troubleshooting this

amplifier, refer to Appendix E (page 21).