Peavey PV 3800 manual Safety, Speaker Protection, Amplifier Maintenance and User Responsibility

Safety

Speaker Protection

All loudspeakers have electrical, thermal and physical limits that must be observed to prevent damage or failure. Too much power, low frequencies applied to high frequency drivers, severely clipped waveforms and DC voltage can all be fatal to cone and compression drivers. The Peavey PV® 3800 amplifier automatically protects speakers from DC voltages and subsonic signals. For more information, see the section on Protection Features. Mid- and high-frequency speakers, especially compression drivers, are highly susceptible to damage from overpowering, clipped waveforms or frequencies below their rated pass band. Be extremely careful that the low and mid bands of an electronic crossover are connected to the correct amplifiers and drivers and not accidentally connected to those for a higher frequency band. The amplifier’s clipping point is its maximum peak output power and can deliver more power than many speakers can safely handle. Be sure the peak power capability of the amplifier is not excessive for your speaker system.

To ensure that the speakers never receive excessive power and that the amplifier never clips, use a properly adjusted external limiter (or a compressor with a ratio of 10:1 or higher) to control power output. In systems with active electronic crossovers, use one for each frequency band. The clip limiter will automatically limit the dura- tion of continuous square waveforms applied to the speakers. The amplifier will, however, allow normal musical transient bursts to pass. Some speaker systems are packaged with processors that have power limiting circuits and should not require additional external limiting.

Fuses may also be used to limit power to speaker drivers, although as current-limiting (rather than voltage-limit- ing) devices they are an imperfect solution. As the weakest links, fuses only limit once before needing replace- ment. Some poor-quality fuses have a significant series resistance that could degrade the amplifier’s damping of the speaker’s motion and may even deteriorate the system’s sound quality. If you elect to use fuses, check with the speaker manufacturer to determine the proper current rating and time lag required.

Do not drive any low-frequency speaker enclosure with frequencies lower than its own tuned frequency. The reduced acoustical damping could cause a ported speaker to bottom out even at moderate power. Consult the speaker system specifications to determine its frequency limits.

Amplifier Maintenance and User Responsibility

A PV 3800 amplifier requires no routine maintenance and should never need any internal adjustment during its lifetime. Your PV 3800 amplifier is very powerful and can be potentially dangerous to loudspeakers and humans alike. It is your responsibility to read the Important Precautions section in the front of this manual and to make sure that the amplifier is installed, wired and operated properly. Many loudspeakers can be easily damaged or destroyed by overpowering, especially with the high power available from a bridged amplifier. Read the Speaker Protection section and always be aware of the speaker’s continuous and peak power

capabilities.

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