Harman-Kardon 234, 223, 223XL, 234XL User Manual

2-Way, 3-Way

Operation

Manual

4-Way Crossovers

223/223XL - 234/234XL

®

WARNING

FOR YOUR PROTECTION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:

WATER AND MOISTURE: Appliance should not be used near water (e.g. near a

bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, laundry tub, in a wet basement, or near a swimming
pool, etc). Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled
into the enclosure through openings.

POWER SOURCES: The appliance should be connected to a power supply only of
the type described in the operating instructions or as marked on the appliance.

GROUNDING OR POLARIZATION: Precautions should be taken so that the ground­ing or polarization means of an appliance is not defeated.

POWER CORD PROTECTION: Power supply cords should be routed so that they are
not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or against them, paying
particular attention to cords at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where
they exit from the appliance.

SERVICING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, the user should not attempt to
service the appliance beyond that described in the operating instructions. All other
servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel.

FOR UNITS EQUIPPED WITH EXTERNALLYACCESSIBLE FUSE RECEPTACLE:

Replace fuse with same type and rating only.

SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

NOTICE FOR CUSTOMERS IF YOUR UNIT IS EQUIPPED WITH APOWER
CORD.

WARNING: THIS APPLIANCE MUST BE EARTHED.

The cores in the mains lead are coloured in accordance with the following code:

GREEN and YELLOW - Earth BLUE - Neutral BROWN - Live

As colours of the cores in the mains lead of this appliance may not correspond
with the coloured markings identifying the terminals in your plug, proceed as fol­lows:

• The core which is coloured green and yellow must be connected to the
terminal in the plug marked with the letter E, or with the earth symbol, or
coloured green, or green and yellow.

• The core which is coloured blue must be connected to the terminal
marked N or coloured black.

• The core which is coloured brown must be connected to the terminal
marked L or coloured red.

This equipment may require the use of a different line cord, attachment plug, or
both, depending on the available power source at installation. If the attachment
plug needs to be changed, refer servicing to qualified service personnel who
should refer to the table below. The green/yellow wire shall be connected
directly to the unit's chassis.

WARNING: If the ground is defeated, certain fault conditions in the unit or in the
system to which it is connected can result in full line voltage between chassis
and earth ground. Severe injury or death can then result if the chassis and
earth ground are touched simultaneously.

U.K. MAINS PLUG WARNING

A moulded mains plug that has been cut off from the cord is unsafe. Discard the
mains plug at a suitable disposal facility. NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUM-

STANCES SHOULD YOU INSERT A DAMAGED OR CUT MAINS PLUG INTO
A 13 AMP POWER SOCKET. Do not use the mains plug without the fuse cover

in place. Replacement fuse covers can be obtained from your local retailer.
Replacement fuses are 13 amps and MUST be ASTAapproved to BS1362.

ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY

This unit conforms to the Product Specifications noted on the Declaration of
Conformity. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

• this device may not cause harmful interference, and

• this device must accept any interference received, including interference
that may cause undesired operation.

Operation of this unit within significant electromagnetic fields should be avoided.
Use only shielded interconnecting cables.

The symbols shown above are internationally accepted symbols that warn of
potential hazards with electrical products. The lightning flash with arrowpoint in
an equilateral triangle means that there are dangerous voltages present within
the unit. The exclamation point in an equilateral triangle indicates that it is nec­essary for the user to refer to the owner’s manual.

These symbols warn that there are no user serviceable parts inside the unit.
Do not open the unit. Do not attempt to service the unit yourself. Refer all ser­vicing to qualified personnel. Opening the chassis for any reason will void the
manufacturer’s warranty. Do not get the unit wet. If liquid is spilled on the unit,
shut it off immediately and take it to a dealer for service. Disconnect the unit
during storms to prevent damage.

CAUTION

RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPEN

ATTENTION:
WARNING:

SHOCK DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE

RISQUE DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE - NE PAS OUVRIR

TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC

CONDUCTOR

L
N
E

LIVE

NEUTRAL

EARTH GND

WIRE COLOR

Normal Alt

BROWN

BLUE

GREEN/YEL

BLACK
WHITE

GREEN

2-Way, 3-Way

1

8760 South Sandy Pkwy.

Sandy, Utah 84070

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Int’l Fax: [phone]

Questions or comments?

E•mail us at: [e-mail]

or visit our World Wide Web home page at:

http://www.dbxpro.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WARRANTY....................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................2

INSPECTION ...........................................................................................................................................................3

234/234XL FRONT PANEL OPERATION .............................................................................................................................3

223/223XL FRONT PANEL OPERATION .............................................................................................................................5

234/234XL-223/223XL REAR PANELOPERATIONS ...........................................................................................................6

234/234XL-223/223XLAUDIO CONNECTIONS ...................................................................................................................7

ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS .............................................................................................................................................7

FEATURES ...........................................................................................................................................................................7

RACK MOUNTING, GROUNDING AND SAFETY ...............................................................................................................8

TROUBLESHOOTING ..........................................................................................................................................................9

234/234XL-223/223XL SPECIFICATIONS ..........................................................................................................................11

DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY ....................................................................................................................................12

4-Way Crossovers

223/223XL - 234/234XL

®

A Harman International Company

WARRANTY

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of the dbx 223/223XL or 234/234XL
crossover. We are confident you will find this crossover to be the finest
product of its kind in this price range. We have taken care to include all of
the features you need to make your system sound its best. Some of the
features common to both the 234/234XL and the 223/223XL crossovers
are:

• back panel switches for selecting the operating mode of the
crossover.

• back panel switches indicating the selected range of crossover fre­quencies. Both of these features have LED indicators on the front
panel so you can see at a glance which mode the unit is in.

• low frequency summed output designed specifically for mono sub­woofer applications.

• phase invert switches on all outputs.

• individual level controls on every output.

We are sure you will agree that these crossovers are built to provide
extremely high quality frequency division for all applications.

2

1. The warranty registration card that accompanies this product must be
mailed within 30 days after purchase date to validate this warranty.
Proof-of-purchase is considered to be the burden of the consumer.

2. dbx warrants this product, when bought and used solely within the
U.S., to be free from defects in materials and workmanship under nor­mal use and service.

3. dbx liability under this warranty is limited to repairing or, at our discre­tion, replacing defective materials that show evidence of defect, provid­ed the product is returned to dbx WITH RETURN AUTHORIZATION
from the factory, where all parts and labor will be covered up to a peri­od of two years. AReturn Authorization number must be obtained from
dbx by telephone. The company shall not be liable for any consequen­tial damage as a result of the product's use in any circuit or assembly.

4. dbx reserves the right to make changes in design or make additions to
or improvements upon this product without incurring any obligation to
install the same additions or improvements on products previously
manufactured.

5. The foregoing is in lieu of all other warranties, expressed or implied,
and dbx neither assumes nor authorizes any person to assume on its
behalf any obligation or liability in connection with the sale of this prod­uct. In no event shall dbx or its dealers be liable for special or conse­quential damages or from any delay in the performance of this warran­ty due to causes beyond their control.

223/223XL - 234/234XL

2-Way, 3-Way

4-Way Crossovers

®

2-Way, 3-Way

INSPECTION

Before going any further, you should take time to fill out your warranty
registration card and inspect the contents of the shipping carton. Inside
both the 223/223XL and 234/234XL boxes you should find the following:

• either the dbx model 223, 223XL, 234, or the 234XL crossover.

• operation manual (you are reading it!)

• 4 rack screws and washers

• power cord.

The contents of this manual are subject to change at any time without
notice.

3

STEREO 2-WAY MODE

In 2-way stereo mode the controls are marked BELOW the horizontal blue line.
Channel One and Channel Two functions are identical in the stereo mode. Front panel controls not described in
this section are not active in stereo 2-way operation.

[1] & [7] INPUT GAIN Controls the INPUT level with +/- 12 dB of gain.
[13] & [20] LOW CUT Switch for selecting the 40 Hz high pass filter. An LED indicates the

selection.
[2] & [8] LOW/MID* Selects crossover point between the LOW and HIGH outputs.
[14] & [21] X10 LED Indicates that the LOW/HIGH crossover frequency range is 450 Hz to

9.6 kHz.
[4] & [10] LOW OUTPUT Controls the Low frequency output level with a range of -∞ to +6 dB.
[15] & [22] PHASE INVERT Switch for reversing the polarity on the Low Output. An LED indicates

that the phase is inverted.

[6] & [12] H

IGH OUTPUT Controls the High frequency output with a range of -∞ to +6 dB.

[17] & [24] PHASE INVERT Switch for reversing the polarity on the High Output. An LED indicates

that the phase is inverted.

[19] STEREO LED indicating stereo mode operation.
* although this control is labeled as “LOW/MID”, it operates as the crossover frequency control between low and

high frequencies in stereo 2-way operation.

dbx 234/234XL Front Panel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 1819 20 21 22 23 24

Note: There are no front panel differences between the 234 and the 234XL. Therefore the

234XL is shown below, representing both the 234 and the 234XL.

4-Way Crossovers

223/223XL - 234/234XL

CHANNEL ONE CHANNEL TWO

0

-6 +6

-12

dB

GAIN
INPUT

INPUT

240

1.4k

350

140

70 680

45

Hz

XOVER FREQ
LOW/LOW-MID

LOW/MID

700

x10

960

450

LOW-MID/HIGH-MID

40 Hz 40 Hz

+12

LOW CUT

LOW CUT

2.4k

Hz

XOVER FREQ

MID/HIGH

-10

3.5k

-30

6.8k

9.6k

-

dB

GAIN

LOW OUTPUT

LOW OUTPUT

-10

-30

0

INV INV INV INV INV INV

+6

-

dB

GAIN

LOW-MID OUTPUT

MID OUTPUT HIGH OUTPUT INPUT LOW CUT LOW/MID

-10

-30

0

+6

0

+6

-

dB

GAIN

MONO

STEREO

0

-6 +6

-12

dB

GAIN

240

1.4k

350

140

70 680

700

45

Hz

XOVER FREQ

x10

960

450

+12

-10

2.4k

3.5k

-30

6.8k

9.6k

-

Hz

dB

XOVER FREQ

GAIN

HIGH-MID/HIGH

MID/HIGH LOW OUTPUT

-30

0

+6

-

HIGH-MID OUTPUT HIGH OUTPUT

MID OUTPUT HIGH OUTPUT

-10

dB

GAIN

-10

-30

0

+6

0

+6

-

dB

GAIN

®