Parasound P 3 User Manual

P 3 Preamplifier

Owner’s Guide

THANK YOU!

Congratulations and Thank You for Choosing Parasound

Your new Parasound P 3 Preamplifier presents the latest advancements in audio technology. The P 3 is built to the strict quality and performance standards set by Parasound. We’re proud to offer you this exceptional audio component that will bring many years of enjoyment and dependability.

Here at Parasound, we design our products to perform to a higher level of flexibility and sonic performance than you may have expected. We encourage you to read this entire manual to learn all the features and capabilities of your new Halo P 3 Preamplifier.

If you’re eager to get up and running right away, simply follow the basic step-by-step instructions to connect and operate the P 3. If you want to learn about some of the technical and design aspects of your P 3, refer to the Technically Speaking and Design

Overview sections in the back of the manual. If you run into difficulties, the Troubleshooting Guide should help you quickly remedy the problem.

We appreciate you taking the time to read these instructions and thank you for selecting Parasound for your listening pleasure.

The Parasound Staff

Keeping Records for Future Reference

Record the serial number located on the bottom of your P 3 below. You should also note your Parasound Dealer’s name and phone number. We recommend that you keep your purchase receipt with this manual and store them both in a safe place. You may need to refer to this information sometime in the future.

Parasound P 3 Preamplifier Serial #: __________________

Parasound Dealer: ____________________________________

Phone Number:_______________________________________

Date of Purchase: _____________________________________

YOU SHOULD KNOW

There is no Parasound warranty for this unit if it was not purchased from an Authorized Parasound Dealer. Investigate any warranty claims made by unauthorized dealers very carefully as you will need to depend entirely upon the dealer, and NOT upon Parasound. Unauthorized dealers may lack the capability to arrange repairs of Parasound equipment. Authorized Parasound Dealers are listed at www.parasound.com or you can call 415-397-7100 between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM Pacific time.

A missing or tampered serial number could indicate that this unit was stolen or sold by an unauthorized dealer. You should return it to your dealer immediately for replacement or a full refund.

UNPACKING AND PLACEMENT GUIDELINES FOR THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING A SOURCE COMPONENT TO THE BALANCED DIRECT 1 INPUTS ON THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING A SOURCE COMPONENT TO THE UNBALANCED DIRECT 1 INPUTS ON THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING A SOURCE COMPONENT TO THE P 3 UNBALANCED DIRECT 2 INPUTS __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING A TURNTABLE OR OTHER COMPONENT TO THE AUX INPUTS ON THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING OTHER SOURCE COMPONENTS TO THE CD AND TUNER INPUTS ON THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING AN ANALOG TAPE DECK TO THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL SIGNAL PROCESSING COMPONENT TO THE P 3 EXTERNAL LOOP JACKS __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING THE P3 TO THE BALANCED INPUTS ON YOUR POWER AMPLIFIER __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING THE P 3 TO THE UNBALANCED INPUTS ON YOUR POWER AMPLIFIER __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING AN INFRARED REPEATER SYSTEM TO THE P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

TURNING ON THE P 3 WITH AN EXTERNAL TRIGGER VOLTAGE __________________________________________________________________________________________

TRIGGERING ON ANOTHER COMPONENT FROM THE P 3’S TRIGGER OUTPUT JACK __________________________________________________________________________________________

RS232 CONTROL __________________________________________________________________________________________

CONNECTING THE P 3 AC POWER CORD __________________________________________________________________________________________

OPERATING YOUR P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

FRONT PANEL AND REMOTE CONTROL __________________________________________________________________________________________

TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE __________________________________________________________________________________________

SERVICING YOUR P 3 __________________________________________________________________________________________

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING __________________________________________________________________________________________

PARASOUND P 3 DESIGN OVERVIEW __________________________________________________________________________________________

PARASOUND P 3 SPECIFICATIONS __________________________________________________________________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

P 3 Preamplifier

UNPACKING AND PLACEMENT GUIDELINES FOR THE P 3

Unpacking Your P 3

Carefully unpack your P 3 from the shipping carton and remove all the enclosed accessories:

• Remote control with two AAA batteries

• Detachable AC cord

• Two Trigger control wires with a 2.5 mm sub-mini plug on each end.

While you are unpacking your new preamplifier, inspect it thoroughly for possible shipping damage. If you see any, contact your Parasound dealer right away. Be sure to save and store both the inner and outer cartons and packing inserts for possible future transport. To save room for storage, you can cut the seams on the bottom of the cartons and flatten them.

Placement Guidelines for Your P 3

For trouble-free operation and long-term reliability, follow the simple guidelines below to help decide where to locate your P 3 in your system.

• Place the P 3 on a separate shelf that will adequately support its weight.

• Keep it away from heat sources such as air ducts or radiators.

• Leave at least 1” of space on all sides and the top. This helps facilitate passive heat dissipation.

Rack Mounting Your Parasound P 3

If you plan to mount the P 3 into a standard 19” wide equipment rack, you will need to purchase the optional Parasound HRA 2 Rack Mount Adapter. With its four feet removed, the P 3 chassis and front panel height occupies two rack spaces (3-1/2” or 88mm). When mounting equipment below the P 3, you will also need to allow about 1/8” below the unit for the bottom chassis screws. A standard single rack space is 1-3/4” high in a 19” wide equipment rack. This measurement standard was developed by the EIA (Electronic Industries Association) so manufacturers of electronic components and equipment racks could build products in standardized heights that would fit in a uniform space. Please call your Parasound dealer or call directly to Parasound Technical Services if you need additional advice about rack mounting the P 3.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Balanced XLR Jacks and Their Pin Configuration

The balanced inputs of the P 3 use XLR jacks that conform to the industry standard of: Pin 1: Ground, Pin 2: Positive (+), Pin 3: Negative (--). The balanced outputs on some components use terminals with 3 screws instead of XLR jacks. These are compatible with the P 3 as long as you match the bare wires to the corresponding pins on the XLR plug: + to pin 2, - to pin 3, and Ground to pin 1.

Interconnect Cables and Their Color Codes

Common color codes for input and output jacks are red for right and white for left. Match the colors at the outputs from your preamplifier or surround controller to the inputs on your P 3 so you’ll always hear the channels in their intended position.

Left and Right Direct 1 Input Jacks

Balanced connections will give you the best sound. If your source components have balanced XLR output jacks, we recommend that you connect them to these inputs. Refer to the Balanced

and Unbalanced Lines in the Technically Speaking section for additional information about

why we recommend using balanced lines.

What You’ll Need:

• One pair of balanced interconnect cables with XLR connectors

• An audio source component with balanced output connectors

Before Connecting

Leave the P 3’s AC cord disconnected until you have made all connections to prevent any surprise burst of sound.

Make sure that all your cables are long enough so they are not strained or stretched once they are connected.

Make sure the Direct 1 Select switch on the P 3 is in its balanced (left) position.

To Connect

Plug the male end of one of the balanced cables into the right Balanced Direct 1 input jack on the P 3

Plug the female end of this cable into the right channel output connector on your source component.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the left channel.

CONNECTING A SOURCE COMPONENT TO THE BALANCED DIRECT 1 INPUTS ON THE P 3

3&4

XLR Connectors

Male

Female

Left and Right Direct 1 Unbalanced Inputs

If your best-sounding audio source component has only unbalanced RCA output jacks, connect them to the P 3 unbalanced Direct 1 input jacks.

What You’ll Need:

• One pair of shielded interconnect cables with RCA plugs

• A source component with RCA output jacks

Before Connecting

Leave the P 3’s AC cord disconnected until you have made all connections to prevent any surprise burst of sound.

Make sure that all your cables are long enough so they are not strained or stretched once they are connected.

Make sure the Direct 1 Select switch on the P 3 is in its unbalanced (right) position.

To Connect

Plug one end of the first cable into the right Direct 1 input jack on the P 3.

Plug the other end of this cable into the right channel output jack on the source component.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the left channel.

CONNECTING A SOURCE COMPONENT TO THE UNBALANCED DIRECT 1 INPUTS ON THE P 3

RCA Plugs

Right

Left

3&4

YOU SHOULD KNOW

To achieve the purest sound reproduction, the tone control and record outputs don’t function for Direct Inputs 1 and 2. Therefore, you cannot alter the tone or make recordings from components that are connected to the Direct inputs.

CAUTION

Right

OUTPUTS

Left

CD PLAYER

COMPONENTS

TAPE DECK

TUNER

510

AUX

Direct 2 Unbalanced Input Jacks

The P 3 Unbalanced Direct 2 input jacks are for your next-best-sounding source component if

the Direct 1 input jacks are already connected to another source.

What You’ll Need:

• One pair of shielded interconnect cables with RCA plugs

•A source component with RCA output jacks

Before Connecting

Leave the AC cord of the P 3 disconnected until you have made all connections to prevent any surprise burst of sound.

Make sure that all your cables are long enough so they are not strained or stretched once they are connected.

To Connect

Plug one end of the first cable into the right Direct 2 input jack on the P 3.

Plug the other end of this cable into the right channel output jack on the source component.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the left channel.

CONNECTING A SOURCE COMPONENT TO THE P 3 UNBALANCED DIRECT 2 INPUTS

RCA Plugs

Right

Left

3&4

CAUTION

Right

OUTPUTS

Left

CD PLAYER

COMPONENTS

TAPE DECK

TUNER

510

AUX

Connecting a Source Component to the Aux Inputs on the P 3

The P 3 has a single Aux input, but two pairs of Aux jacks for either a phono or a line level

source. The Aux Select switch determines if you’ll hear the source connected to the Aux-Phono jacks or the source connected to the Aux-Line jacks.

It’s possible to use both pairs of Aux jacks, but this requires using the rear panel Aux Select switch when you want to switch from a phono to a line level source.

What You’ll Need:

• A turntable or other source component

• One pair of shielded interconnect cables with RCA plugs. Most turntables have these cables permanently attached

Before Connecting

Remove power to all the components in your audio system.

Move the Aux Select switch so it points left toward the Aux-Phono jacks.

To Connect

Insert one of the turntable cable plugs into the P 3 right Aux-Phono jack.

Insert the other plug into the P 3 left Aux-Phono jack.

Connect the ground wire from your turntable to the P 3 Phono-GND (Ground) terminal. Unscrew the GND terminal post slightly and insert the bare end or spade lug of the turntable’s ground wire. Tighten the terminal post down firmly.

Connecting Another Source Component to the Aux Inputs on the P 3

Follow the same steps as when connecting a turntable with the following exceptions:

Move the Aux Select switch so it points right toward the Aux-Line jacks.

There is no separate ground wire for line-level source components.

To Connect

Plug one end of the first cable into the right Aux-Line input jack on the P 3.

Plug the other end of this cable into the right channel output jack on the source component.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the left channel.

CONNECTING A TURNTABLE OR OTHER COMPONENT TO THE AUX INPUTS ON THE P 3

3&4

CAUTION

Right

OUTPUTS

Left

TURNTABLE

Connect the outputs of your CD player, tuner, or any other line level source to the CD and

Tuner jacks. All of the line level inputs are electrically identical.

What You’ll Need For Each Input Connection:

• One pair of shielded interconnect cables with RCA plugs

•A source component with RCA output jacks

Before Connecting

Remove power to all the components in your audio system.

To Connect

Plug one end of the first cable into the right CD (or Tuner) jack on the P 3.

Plug the other end of this cable into the right channel output jack of the source component.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the left channel.

CONNECTING OTHER SOURCE COMPONENTS TO THE CD AND TUNER INPUTS ON THE P 3

RCA Plugs

Right

Left

CAUTION

Right

OUTPUTS

Left

COMPONENTS

CD PLAYER

TUNER

510

+ 19 hidden pages

Parasound P 3 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual