- AC power socket - Once you have completed all connections to the amplifier, plug the AC power cable into an appropriate mains socket then press standby. Your amplifier is now ready for use.
- RS232C - RS232 is a standard serial data communication protocol, which allows devices that support RS232 to communicate with each other as part of a home automation system.
Custom install control - a full protocol is available for the EXA on our website here.
- Control Bus - RCA sockets used to send and receive power and volume commands from other connected EX Series products. For more information on the Control Bus, see 'Control Bus' section.
Triggers
Trigger Out - Use a link wire between the EXA and a product that has a trigger input. This will synchronise the power state of both products when powering the EXA on/standby.
Trigger In/IR In
Trigger In – Use a link wire between a product that has a trigger output and the EXA
IR In – Receives modulated IR commands from an IR repeater or custom install systems.Speaker terminals
Note: When using a banana plug, make sure the speaker terminals are completely tightened before inserting the plug.
Two sets of loudspeaker terminals are available:
A (main loudspeaker terminals) and B (secondary loudspeaker terminals).
Connect the wires from your left channel loudspeaker to the left terminals on the EXA, and the wires from your right channel loudspeaker to the right terminals on the EXA.
Always ensure that the positive connection on the amplifier is connected to the positive connection on the speaker and the negative connection on the amplifier is connected to the negative connection on the speaker.The Red terminal is the positive output.
The Black terminal is the negative output.
Care should be taken to ensure no stray strands of wire short the speaker outputs together. Please ensure that the loudspeaker terminals have been tightened completely to provide a good electrical connection.
It is possible for the sound quality to be affected if the screw terminals are loose.
Note: The speaker terminals will need to have the round pips removed before you can insert a banana plug into them.
Tips: The easiest way to remove these is to slightly unscrew the speaker terminal and then do it back up again. This will raise the plug for easy removal.
- Signal ground
Position 1 – Normal/default position. The main unit audio ground is lifted from chassis earth.
Position 2 – Main unit audio ground is connected directly to chassis ground. For some setups, this can reduce hum or noise when certain TVs, Turntables, and other equipment are connected to the EXN100 unit.
Sub out - Connect to the input on an active subwoofer, if required.
Note: There is a low pass filter of approximately 2.3 kHz applied to the Sub Out, no frequencies above 2.3 kHz will be sent to a subwoofer connected to this output. This is so that there is minimal phase added by the EXA at the Sub Out frequencies.
The crossover frequency can be adjusted on the Subwoofer itself.
- Enhanced Audio return channel (eARC) – A connection from a TV that supports both ARC and eARC function.
- Pre-out - For connection to the unbalanced inputs of a power amplifier or active subwoofer.
Note: There is not a low pass filter applied to the Pre-Out, so the full frequency range will be sent to a subwoofer connected to the Pre-Out.
- Bluetooth antenna - Used for Bluetooth audio streaming. See 'Bluetooth' section for details.
USB audio in - A USB B type socket to enable the playback of audio from a computer running either Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS X operating systems. Some builds of Linux are also suitable.
Notes:
- Always use a high-quality USB connection cable certified as USB Hi-Speed. USB cable connections longer than 3m may result in inconsistent audio performance.
- Always turn the volume to minimum, switch to another input or turn the EXA off before plugging/unplugging cables to the USB input or whilst booting up/shutting down your PC/Mac.Signal Ground/Lift switch - The Signal Ground/Lift switch enables the USB interface earth to connect or disconnect the EXA signal ground. Disconnecting (lifting) the earth can be useful if electronic hum is heard through the speakers when the USB input is selected. The switch should otherwise be left in the Ground position.
Digital inputs (D1, D2 AND D3) - TOSLINK and S/P DIF co-axial digital inputs.
Coaxial – Use a high quality 75 ohm digital RCA Phono interconnect cable (not one designed for normal audio use). This input is suitable for 16-24 bit content up to 192kHz.
TOSLINK optical – Use a high quality TOSLINK fibre optic interconnect cable designed specifically for audio use. This input is suitable for 16-24 bit content up to 96kHz (TOSLINK is not recommended at 192kHz sampling rates).
Note: To obtain the best results from your system we recommend using only high-quality Cambridge Audio interconnects. This will ensure that you hear your system as we designed it. Please ask your dealer for details.
Analogue inputs (A1 Unbalanced, A2, A3 and A4) - Suitable for any 'line level' source equipment such as CD players, DAB or FM/AM tuners etc.
These inputs are for analogue audio signals only. They should not be connected to the digital output of a CD player or other digital devices.
Note: For the balanced XLR inputs, pin1 is ground, pin2 is positive and pin3 is negative.
A1 inputs
A1 inputs feature either unbalanced (phono/RCA) or balanced (XLR) connections. The balanced connection is the higher quality option and can reject noise and interference in the cable when used with other equipment that supports this function.An XLR connector is wired Pin 1 - Ground; Pin 2 - Hot (in-phase); Pin 3 - Cold (phase-inverted).
A1 Power Amp Mode:
Off: default position.
On: Activate amplifier mode, this mode is perfectly matched to the external pre-amplifier.
Note: Turn down the volume before enabling power Amp mode.