Furman HA-6AB, HA-6ABE Owner's Manual

H A - 6 A B / H A - 6 A B E M a n u a l

H A - 6 A B / H A - 6 A B E M a n u a l

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of a Fur­man Sound HA-6AB. You have chosen the
most versatile headphone amplifi er available.
The HA-6AB is a unique combination of a
headphone amplifi er and a conventional power
amplifi er, which can save the expense of an
extra power amplifi er in many situations. Its
high power capacity provides adequate head­phone listening levels without distortion in any
environment. Additionally, the HA-6AB’s toroidal
transformer assures noise-free performance. It
eliminates electrical hum and mechanical noise
from the unit itself, as well as leakage into other
sensitive equipment, such as mic preamplifi ers,
video monitors, etc. The HA-6AB is designed
for recording studios, rehearsal studios, lan­guage labs, and for use in demonstrations of
audio tracks or audio equipment.

FEATURES

 Powers headphones and speakers
 20 watts per channel, stereo

 Toroidal power transformer for ultra-

quiet performance

 6 headphone outputs, each with its
own volume control

 Separate front panel switches for
speakers and remote headphone
outputs or a second set of speakers

 Automatically switches to mono
mode when right channel is not
used

 Signal-present and Overload LED’s
for each channel

 Ground lift switch

 Power-on indicator

 Convenient Remote/Satellites outlet

provides signal for up to 12 remote
headphone stations. (Such as the
Furman HR-2 remote station.)

DESCRIPTION

The HA-6AB is a single rack space 20 watt per
channel stereo amplifi er. Unlike a conventional
power amplifi er, however, it has six headphone
outputs (stereo phone jacks) on the front panel,
each with its own volume control. When used for
overdubbing or rehearsal, this provides more than
adequate volume in all headphones (even low­impedance models), and allows each musician to
set his or her own listening level. When overdub­bing is complete and the musicians remove their
headphones, the HA-6AB can power the tape
playback through a set of studio monitor speak-

Important Note: To obtain best results from this Furman Sound electronic product, please be sure
to read this manual carefully before using it. Please fi ll out and return the Warranty Registration
Card immediately to obtain full protection under the terms of the Limited Warranty, in case your
ownership documents are lost. Please verify that the serial number shown on the Warranty Card
matches the serial number on your unit.

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H A - 6 A B / H A - 6 A B E M a n u a l

ers, selected by pressing front panel pushbuttons.
Without the HA-6AB, a separate amplifi er would
be needed for the studio speakers. The HA-6AB
also features a convenient input level control on
the left side of the front panel. A pair of yellow
LED’s (one for each channel) light up whenever a
signal is present. Another pair of red LED’s shows
an overload condition in either channel.

The Furman HA-6AB’s 20 watts-per-channel
make it ideal as a low distortion headphone driver
for the most critical listening situations. While
most headphone amplifi ers provide half a watt or
less per headphone channel, the HA-6AB’s higher
power can drive headphones of any impedance
to their full rated listening level, and do so with
minimal noise and distortion. Its power capacity
is also just right for the small near fi eld monitors
used in most recording studios; as a comparison
with the main control room monitors, it can power
them without overpowering them. On the studio
fl oor, a set of small monitor speakers driven by
the HA-6AB can make a session progress more
effi ciently by giving the musicians a chance to
hear a playback without needing to disconnect
themselves from their equipment and walk into
the control room. Additionally, the HA-6AB is fully
protected against thermal overload, and it can
withstand a short circuit on any or all outputs for
an indefi nite time without damage.

ACCESSORIES

Model HR-2 Headphone Remote Station: A
compact, unobtrusive box that clamps to any

mic stand, providing two headphone jacks, each
with its own volume control. Up to twelve HR-2
boxes may be connected to a HA-6AB, employing
standard microphone cables (depending on the
impedance of the headphones used).

USES OF HA-6AB

The HA-6AB may be used as a power ampli­fi er to drive up to two pairs of speakers, or as a
headphone amplifi er for one to six pairs of head­phones, or both. Additional headphones may be
connected through use of HR-2 Remote Boxes.

RECORDING

In the recording studio, headphones are most
often used in the overdubbing process, whereby
new musical tracks are recorded in synchro­nization with previously recorded tracks. The
musicians doing the overdub hear the previously
recorded tracks in their headphones, and play
along with them. Synchronization is maintained
because almost all multitrack recorders have the
capability of playing back through certain chan­nels of the record head while recording through
others. In this way, it is possible to build up a
complete recording of many tracks, adding one
or more new tracks with each overdub.

Headphones are much preferred to speakers for
cueing the overdub, because of the presence of
open microphones which would pick up the cue
tracks as well as the overdub. Any trace of the cue
tracks in the overdub tracks would degrade the
tracks’ separation and make it diffi cult to achieve
a good mix later on. In fact, even if headphones

H A - 6 A B / H A - 6 A B E M a n u a l

are used, it is important that they clamp tightly to
the musicians’ heads so that a minimal amount
of sound leaks out.

The cue mix heard in the headphones is a com­bination of the previously recorded tracks along
with the new sounds being added. It is generally
derived from a “Cue” or “Headphone” mixing buss
on the recording console, which is then routed to
the Left and Right Inputs on the HA-6AB’s rear
panel. If this mix is mono, connect it to the Left
Input. The HA-6AB will then automatically be in
mono mode, so that the mix can be heard with
both ears (and both speakers, if used).

In a small studio, if no more than six sets of head­phones are needed, it may be most convenient to
locate the HA-6AB on the studio fl oor, and plug all
headphone sets directly into its front panel. You
may want to put a large, easily readable number
on each set so that each musician will be able to
locate his or her volume control, even if the cables
become tangled.

In a larger studio, you may fi nd it more practi­cal to use several HR-2 Remote Stations at
strategic locations around the studio, while the

HA-6AB itself is installed in the control room. In
this arrangement, the Speaker buttons will be
more easily accessible to the engineer, and each
musician’s volume control will be right on the mic
stand in front of him or her. And of course, if the
engineer or others in the control room want to
hear the cue mix, they can just plug headphones
into any of the HA-6AB’s front panel jacks. See
the section on “Use of the HR-2 Remote Stations”
for additional details.

NOTE: For studios that require each tracking mu­sician to have their own personalized mix, the Fur­man HDS-6/HR-6 or the HDS-16/HRM-16 may be
required as an alternative to the HA6-AB.

The HR-2 Remote Stations connect in “a daisy
chain” fashion to the Speaker B output on the
rear panel of the HA-6AB. This output is an XLR
connector, so that standard microphone cables
can be used. The HA-6AB connects to the fi rst
HR-2 box; another mic cable connects the fi rst
HR-2 box to the second HR-2 box; a third mic
cable connects the second HR-2 to the third
HR-2; and so forth. However, twelve HR-2 is the
recommended maximum.

Daisy-chaining HR-2 Remote Stations to the HA-6AB