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Post subject: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:17 pm
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To add more power/ volume, can I connect a powered amp to the preout/poweramp in conncections?
If i can't do that, can i connect it to the subout? If i do that then i can't use that connection for monitors.


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Post subject: RE: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:57 pm
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Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:53 pm
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Location: Scottsdale
Hi,

To answer your question, yes, this is possible to use the 500 Pro as a pre-amp only. However, please keep in mind that the speakers that come with the 500 Pro are designed and optimized to be used with the 500 Pro power amp, and by powering them with a power amp other than the 500 Pro you run the risk of damaging the speakers. Furthermore, if you damage the speakers through this configuration you will void your warranty on them.

Regarding the sub out, it will enable a HPF on the speaker outputs so that the 500 Pro speakers can turned up louder when something is plugged into it.  Furthermore, the sub is a mono out only.

I hope this helps.

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Research & Development
Fender Musical Instruments Corp.


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Post subject: Re: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:30 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Hmmm. So, plugging in a subwoofer to the Passport allows the Passport's amp to pump more power into the higher frequencies (since bass requires more power) making them louder...

Okay. I have a Passport 500 and a Passport 300 that I patch together for a venue that wants more volume than my other gigs. I'm getting a sub-woofer. Should I plug it into the 500, or the 300?

I would have thought the 500, but if the 500 is capable of pushing more bass sound out, maybe the 300 would get more of a boost than the 500 when plugging in a subwoofer...

Also, when the subwoofer port's high pass filter kicks in for the Passport I plug the subwoofer into, does that filter also affect the signal going to the stereo out port used to connect the two Passports?

Any thoughts on this?


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Post subject: Re: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:00 pm
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Fender Staff

Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:39 pm
Posts: 133
Location: Scottsdale
Hi Contra,

Yes, basically plugging in a subwoofer and enabling the high pass filter will help you get more volume out of the system since you won't drive the woofers as hard. Low end will use more energy and turning up the system to loud at times will distort the sound (depends on the program material of course). A subwoofer will help.

That being said, I would recommend doing what you were planning on doing. Plug the subwoofer into the 300 Pro since the 500 Pro with its 10" woofer will give you more bass. Also, the stereo out is not affected by the high pass filter, only the speaker output is.

Lastly, to answer your question from a different thread you can use either a TS or TRS cable for the subwoofer output. However, the subwoofer output is unbalanced so an unbalanced TS will suffice.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,
Ken

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Ken Porter
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Fender Musical Instruments Corp.
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Post subject: Re: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:41 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
Thanks for the reply. The gig requiring the subwoofer happened before I got the reply, so I thought I'd try both configurations to see if I could tell the difference. As it turned out, the difference was incredibly profound... but not for reasons one would expect.

When I tested the subwoofer I bought, I tested it with the 500. It didn't work. No sound from the subwoofer. I took the subwoofer back and the vendor tested it. It didn't work. No sound.

They replaced it with no hassles. I tested it in their shop before taking it home. The new one worked fine.

At the gig, I plugged the subwoofer into the Passport 300 and it worked great. For testing purposes, I moved the subwoofer to the 500 and the high pass filter kicked in, but nothing came out of the subwoofer. It appears that the subwoofer out port of the 500 has been blown, probably by the original defective subwoofer. So, I moved the subwoofer back to the 300 and everything was fine.

So, I didn't get to compare the two configurations, though the recommended one worked fine.

I could take the 500 back and see if it could be repaired, but it gets complicated. I didn't buy the subwoofer from the same vendor I bought the Passport from. Also, I don't relish the thought of losing access to the 500 while it is being repaired when I technically don't need the feature that is blown because I'm unlikely to use the subwoofer with the 500 alone. If I need the volume of the subwoofer, I'll also want the additional volume the 300 adds to the 500. All I've really lost is a backup solution to a potential problem of having the subwoofer output on the 300 fail. That's the only reason I can imagine that I'd plug the subwoofer into the 500. I don't need two subwoofers, and if I did, I could daisy-chain the sub-woofer I already have.

So, I'll just assume that you and I are already guessing well and the one configuration I can use is the one I wanted anyway. I can use either the 500 or the 300 alone and get plenty of sound for smaller venues, and combine the two with the subwoofer for gigs that need the volume. Life is good.


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Post subject: Re: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:53 pm
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Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:26 pm
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Hey Ken

I'm a Fender dealer and I have some questions about the "pre-out" and "power amp in" input/outputs.
The manual is not really detailed enough to explain the use of these features to customers. Also depending on what your answer is it may be a little misleading.
First.... the manual shows a TRS plug Y breakout with the tip as send and the ring return which implies to me in/out on the jack. I.E. single channel out to a sonic maximizer and single channel back in the same jack without using the power amp in.

Is that one jack an unbalanced signal that has send and return in the same jack or is it a balanced out that goes back into the power amp in which would also be balanced? That would be odd for it to be a single mains channel because the Passport will put out stereo ....right?


Is the manual just mistaken in the illustration and it's stereo TRS Y breakout in the jack and you send it back to the poweramp in? Why does it say left and right under them?
Fender wouldn't be the first manufacturer to under explain this feature. Most powered mixers have these jacks with no good explanation of how to use them.

Also more info about power amp in would be appreciated. When using the power amp in on other mixers with another board. Usually the power amp (Passport in this case) is "all on" with volume controlled by the outboard mixer because the master volume is in the pre-amp . How does the Passport work?

Thanks Thanks Thanks


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Post subject: Re: Adding a powered amp to the Passport 500 system
Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:52 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
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The manual is not mistaken. The TRS plug is used so that a single jack can carry two signals. One is In. The other is Out. Both run through one cable. That implies that it is unbalanced. There are two of them, so this is intended for stereo, hence the labeling as Left and Right.

This is intended to be used with a stereo graphical equalizer, or some other stereo effects box intended to be used on the final mix that includes all channels. Those units will tend to have two 1/4" unbalanced TS ports for input (Left and Right) and two 1/4" unbalanced TS ports for output (Left and Right). You really need the special cables shown in the diagram. One music store in town that specializes in PA systems had cables just like this pre-made. It is apparently common within the industry, and not something special that Fender made up for this unit.


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