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ZRS C3 QUICK INSTALLATION GUIDE
REMOTE TURN-ON
FROM HEAD UNIT
GROUND CONNECTION CABLE
SHOULD USE SAME GAUGE
WIRE AS POWER CABLE. KEEP GROUND CABLE AS
SHORT AS POSSIBLE. ALL AMPLIFIERS IN A MULTI-AMP
INSTALLATION SHOULD GROUND TO THE SAME
LOCATION TO AVOID GROUND LOOPS.
CABLE REQUIREMENTS:
0/2 GAUGE MINIMUM FOR HIGH POWER, HIGH
CURRENT INSTALLATIONS. YOU MUST INSTALL
AN ADDITIONAL 150-200 AMP IN-LINE FUSE IN THE
MAIN POWER CABLE CONNECTION.
We have spared no expense in designing these amplifiers, creating the most rugged,
reliable, powerful and best performing amplifiers. In fact we are so sure of the quality we
backup every ZRS Seriesamplifier with our exclusive two-year warranty which exemplifies
our commitment to excellence in car audio musical reproduction. (See enclosed warranty
card for details.)
Please read this installation guide carefully for proper use of your Cadence power amplifier.
Should you need technical assistance during or after your installation please call our
technical-line between 9:30 am and 5:00 PM EST at 732/370-5400. Read this entire guide
fully before attempting your installation.
When installing the amplifier, secure it tightly. An unmounted amplifier in your car can cause
serious injury to passengers and damage to your vehicle if it is set in motion by an abrupt
driving maneuver or short stop.
We suggest you construct a Red wiring harness with 2 additional fuse. One fuse should be
located near the car battery. This fuse near the battery offers protection against damage
from short circuits to the car chassis between the battery and the amplifier. A second fuse
closer to the amplifier offers additional safety to the amplifier itself. This fused power wire
should be attached to the amplifier power terminal marked 12V+.
The wire harness should be made of primary cable of at least 4 gauge. The harness should
terminate in a large ring terminal for connection directly to the positive terminal of the car
battery. Use a spade plug to attach the wire, which connects to the amplifier location
marked 12V+.
A second black color wire of equal gauge should be used as a ground connection to a
welded chassis member. When connecting the ground wire make sure that there is no paint
or other insulator blocking a good ground connection. When installing multiple amplifiers,
mount them in close proximity so that they can all share the same ground point. Attach the
black ground wire to the amplifier screw terminal marked Ground.
We recommend that you use the Cadence amplifier installation kits, which contain all the
cabling and accessories necessary for a good, reliable installation.
Over the years we have received amplifiers back to our service department with melted
power/ground terminals. The cause of this is a bad ground connection. When there is a lack
of good ground, heat builds up at the weakest point which happens to be the contact screw
of the amplifier terminal. Over time the heat generated will begin to melt the terminal. It is a
good practice to feel the power and ground wires with your hands, near their amplifier
connection after having played the amp for a while. If the wires feel hot to the touch you
probably have a bad or loose connection. If you are sure of your connections and the wires
still feel hot to the touch, you should upgrade the gauge of wire to next heaviest gauge.
The remote turn on connection is located on the barrier strip next to the power and ground
connections. This connection is responsible for turning the amplifier on and off with the rest
of the system. A smaller gauge wire can be used to make this connection to your radio's
power antenna lead. Should your system not have any turn on leads, you can wire the
remote terminal to an accessory lead, which turns on, with your cars ignition.
The ZRS Series amplifiers feature RCA preamp inputs. Run RCA cables from your sound
source to the inputs of the amplifier. We suggest the use of high quality shielded RCA patch
cords to help reduce and eliminate unwanted electrical noise to your system.
To avoid electrical noise from being injected in to your sound systems be sure to run the
RCA cables on the opposite side of the vehicle that you used to carry the power and ground
leads of the amplifier.
WARNING: BE AWARE! Use of this amplifier at extreme high volumes for extended
periods of time may cause hearing loss and or hearing damage. During periods of
prolonged high volume levels it is recommended that you use ear safety devices. Playing
Cadence amplifiers at high volume levels while driving will impair your ability to hear
necessary traffic sounds. While driving always keep your sound volume at reasonable
levels. We at Cadence want you listening for many years to come.
150 AMP FUSE
ZRS Type C3 - 4 Channel High Power Amplifier
4-Ohm Power : 2 x 160 + 2 x 300 Watts RMS
2-Ohm Power : 2 x 275 + 2 x 450 Watts RMS
1-Ohm Power : 2 x 375 + 2 x 650 Watts RMS
4-Ohm Bridged : 1 x 575 + 1 x 950 Watts RMS
2-Ohm Bridged : 1 X 750 + 1 X 1250 Watts RMS
IHF-2002 Peak Power : 4000 Watt System
Damping Factor : >200 @ 100Hz
Preamp Input Voltage : 200mV to 8Volt
High Pass Crossover : 15Hz-400Hz
150Hz - 4KHz Via x10 Multiplier
Low Pass Crossover : 40Hz - 400Hz
400Hz - 4KHz Via x10 Multiplier
Xover Octave Slope: 12db Channels 1 and 2
24dB Channels 3 and 4
Band Pass Filter : All Channels Capable
Minimum THD : <0.1%
Frequency Response : 10Hz - 40Khz +/- 3dB
Dimensions : 10.15” x 2.67” x 30”
(258x68x780mm) W/H/L
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ZRS C3
The ZRS C3 is classified as an unbalanced power amplifier. This means that the power of channels 1 and 2 is not equal to the power of
channels 3 and 4. Though a 4 channel amp, its purpose and design was to deliver optimum 3 channel system performance. Channels 3 and
4 are more powerful than channels 1 and 2 and thus designated for either the subwoofers in a system or for multiple mid-bass drivers. All
channels are 1 ohm stable in stereo mode and may be bridged to a 2 ohm mono load.
UNBALANCED 4 CHANNEL AMP
Two 4-Ohm Subwoofers wired in parallel to each channel will equal a 2-Ohm stereo load.
DVC 4-Ohm
Wired in Parallel
to 2-Ohm
DVC 4-Ohm
Wired in Parallel
to 2-Ohm
= 2-Ohm Stereo Subwoofer Load.
Crossover
Midrange
Tweeter
Crossover
Midrange
Tweeter
4-Ohm
Woofer
4-Ohm
Woofer
4-Ohm
Woofer
4-Ohm
Woofer
8-Ohm
Midrange
Eight 8-Ohm speakers
installed in parallel or Four
4-Ohm speakers installed
in parallel.
Do not mix
impedances and
do not run amp
below 2 ohm
stereo load
per channel.
8-Ohm
Midrange
Basic 3-Channel
Configuration
DVC 4-Ohm
Wired in Parallel
to 2-Ohm
2-Ohm
Bridged Subwoofer
Minimum impedance of all channels is
1-ohm stereo or 2-ohm mono bridged.
BAND PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 400Hz-4Khz Channels 1 and 2
SUBWOOFER SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 20Hz-100Hz Channels 3 and 4
HIGH PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
PUSH
IN
High Pass from 4KHz Channels 1 and 2
BAND PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 400Hz-4Khz Channels 1 and 2
SUBWOOFER SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 20Hz-100Hz Channels 3 and 4
HIGH PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 100Hz-4Khz Channels 1 and 2
SUBWOOFER SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 20Hz-100Hz Channels 3 and 4
Subwoofer Band Pass will act as Subsonic Filter.
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Crossover Crossover
Tweeter Tweeter
Tweeter Tweeter
4-Ohm Tweeters in Parallel4-Ohm Tweeters in Parallel
2-Ohm
Stereo
Load
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
2-Ohm
Stereo
Load
4-Ohm
Midrange
4-Ohm
Midrange
4-Ohm
Midrange
4-Ohm
Midrange
Eight 8-Ohm speakers
installed in parallel or Four
4-Ohm speakers installed
in parallel.
Do not mix
impedances and
do not run amp
below 2 ohm
stereo load
per channel.
2-Ohm
Stereo
Load
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
8-Ohm
Midrange
ZRS C3
DVC 2-Ohm
Wired in Series
to 4-Ohm
DVC 2-Ohm
Wired in Series
to 4-Ohm
=2-Ohm
Bridged
BAND PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
PUSH
IN
Band Pass from 400Hz-4Khz Channels 1 and 2
HIGH PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
PUSH
IN
High Pass from 4KHz Channels 1 and 2
BAND PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
PUSH
IN
Band Pass from 400Hz-4Khz Channels 1 and 2
SUBWOOFER SWITCH SETTINGS
Band Pass from 20Hz-100Hz Channels 3 and 4
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ZRS C3 CONTROLS
BAND PASS CONFIGURATION
The ZRS C3 can be configured for channels 1 and 2 in a bandpass mode and channels 3 and 4 in their band pass mode within their own
separate frequency range. By setting both the HPF (High Pass Filter) to the ON position and the LPF (Low Pass Filter) to the ON position you
can now adjust the top and bottom end frequency cut-off of all channels. See diagrams below for specific button/switch settings.
All ZRS Type C amplifiers
feature advanced input
gain control from 0.2 volts
to 8 volts so they can
operate efficiently and at
full power from any head
unit pre amp signal.
INPUT
GAIN CONTROL
ZRS amplifi ers feature
s o p h i s t i c a t e d I C
co ntr oll ed p rot ect io n
circuitry. If the amp goes
i n t o a d ia g n o st ic
conditio n from thermal
over load or speaker short
circuit the LED will light
and amp will shut down.
DASH MOUNT
BASS REMOTE
POWER & DIAGNOSTIC
LED INDICATORS
POWER AND SPEAKER
HEAVY DUTY TERMINALS
CROSSOVER
FREQUENCY MULTIPLIER
The ZRS C3 features in both
channel s 1-2 and 3-4 f ully
adjustable crossovers. We split
the ranges from 15Hz to 400Hz
for the High Pass and then added
a 10 ti mes (X ) Fr eq uen cy
Multiplier switch that changes
the frequency range to 150Hz4KHz for channels 1 and 2. The
Low Pass can be changed from
40Hz-400HZ to 400Hz - 4KHz
range. This is especially useful for
band pass configurations.
Before you begin with your installation, disconnect the NEGATIVE (-) terminal from your car's battery. This safety precaution will avoid possible short circuits while wiring your amplifier.
Cadence amplifiers operate on 12-volt negative ground systems only.
It is recommend that you layout your sound system design on paper first. This will help you during the installation so that you will have a wiring flow chart and not miss-wire any of your
components.
Mount the amplifier in the trunk or hatch area of your vehicle. Never install an amplifier in the engine compartment or on the firewall. Please be sure to leave breathing room around the
amplifier heat sink so that it can dissipate the heat it produces efficiently. The amplifier can be installed either horizontally or vertically.
When mounting the amplifier on the trunk floor, be sure to watch for your gas tank, gas lines and electrical lines. Do not drill or mount any screws where they might penetrate the gas tank of
your car.
Once the system is operational, the first thing to do, is set all crossover points to approximate settings. In the case of the basic sub woofer system Low Pass filter crossover at 100 Hz or so.
Set the Bass Boost equalizer controls to 0 dB ( Flat Switch Position.)
Now you should set the amplifiers Input Sensitivity adjustment. The knob accessible on the side of the amplifier marked INPUT GAIN adjusts the input sensitivity from 200mV to 8Volts.
To adjust the input sensitivity, turn the control using a small flat head screwdriver fully counter clock wise to the minimum position. Do not apply any pressure while turning as this might
break the control unit. Adjust your radio volume level to maximum volume. Now turn the level control on the amplifier clockwise towards the Maximum marking until audible distortion
occurs. When you begin to hear any distortion in the sound, back down one notch and your amp is set. It is helpful to have a second person to help you set the gain.
When setting up a multi-amp system, set each amplifier’s gain separately. Start off with the bass amplifier, then adjust the highs amplifier’s level control to match.
Once you are satisfied with the level control settings, use any equalizer controls to adjust the system tonal level for personal preference. Keep in mind that after equalizing, you may have to
go back and reset the amplifiers level controls.
The level control of any car amplifier should not be mistaken for a volume control. It is a sophisticated device designed to match the output level of your source unit to the
input level of the amplifier. Do not adjust the amplifier gain to maximum unless your input level requires it.
Your system can also be extremely sensitive to noise when the LEVEL is set to maximum and does not match your input signal. The gain adjustments need to be made only once when first
setting up the system.
If your unit has been professionally installed please do not change the gain settings set by the installer, he is the professional!
Set HPF to ON position and
adjust to desired frequency.
Set LPF to ON position and
adjust to desired frequency.
BAND PASS SWITCH SETTINGS
SUBSONIC FILTERING
Set the HPF of CH 3 and 4
to ON and adjust frequency
from 15Hz-30Hz.
The ZRS C3, features heavy duty bolt down terminals,
the power and ground terminals accept 0 - 2 gauge wire
while the speaker terminals can accept 8 gauge wire.
Super heavy -duty heatsi nk
guarantees that your amplifier
will stay cool no matter how
h a r d y o u p o u n d i t .
C om pu t e ri ze d t h er ma l
protection circuitry guarantees
the amplifiers stability.
HEAVY DUTY
HEATSINK
Bandpass frequencies of all
channels can now be
adjusted from15Hz to 4KHz
dependant on how the
frequency multiplier is set.
FOUR CHANNEL
RCA INPUT
The ZRS C3,four channel RCA inputs which allows you
to have 4 channel balanced and faded signal from your
head unit. If your head unit has only 1 pair of RCA
outputs, you must use a “Y” adaptor to split the signal to
all four input channels.
When using the Remote
Subwoofer Control in a
multi amp system the
bass remote of the Master
amp will control all amps
in the system. Use only
cable supplied with the
remote for connection.
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