Phoenix Gold Xenon Amplifier User Manual
www.phoenixgold.com
Congratulations on purchasing one of the finest amplifiers available in the car audio marketplace today.
The Xenon amplifiers were designed and engineered with the spirit of the original Phoenix Gold MS and M
series to deliver bulletproof performance at any impedance while delivering unbelievable sound quality.
Cosmetics:
Exotic sports cars were used for styling inspiration.
The aluminum top is a custom tooled stamped,
grained, and anodized case, the two intake vents are
located on top of the case allow the variable speed
cooling fan(s) to push cool air through the heatsink
and exhaust out the side endcaps. The end caps are
not removable and are made of a proprietary rubber,
unlike an
y other amplifier on the market today. Using
the same proprietary rubber, four large rubber grommets hide all mounting and terminal connections for
INTRODUCTION
the ultimate in stealth installation. The extruded heat
sink resides inside the bottom of the amplifier. In the
center of the amplifier is a 5mm ultra bright blue LED
in a custom tooled headlight bezel which
compliments the Xenon trademark.
Function:
All of the Xe.Tune™controls for the crossovers,
sensitivity, and bass boost are located on the top of
the amplifier.All crossovers are ultra precise LinkwitzRiley 24dB per octave and a separate high and low
pass filter is available for each set of channels. This
means that any standalone Xenon amplifier can be
set to bandpass by turning both crossovers on. This
feature is rarely available on any other amplifier on
the market today. All crossover frequency
potentiometers have 41 detents or “clicks”so the end
user can set the exact crossover frequency desired.
For example, turn the potentiometer 12 clicks for
exactly 85Hz. No more turning the potentiometer and
guessing where your crossover points are. Full Range
Auxiliary Outputs, LPL and RMD Ports come standard
on all units.
Large direct-insert 4 gauge power terminals and 12
gauge speaker terminals are also standard. On the
X200.4 and X1200.1, there is a second set of power
terminals located on the opposition side of the amplifier.
This allows the installer to use dual 4 gauge inputs, or
use the separate input for a power capacitor.
Power Output:
All Xenon amplifiers are rated according to the new
CEA-2006 standard which is identical to how we have
always rated all Phoenix Gold amplifiers. For example
the X1200.1 will make a MINIMUM of 1200 watts with
less than 1% THD @ 14.4 Volts from 1 to 4 ohm. Each
Xenon amplifier comes with its own birth certificate
that will meet or exceed our printed specifications.
Xenon amplifiers are designed to handle extreme
abuse and drive almost any load. With Xe.Load
nology its very easy to choose what speakers to wire to
the amplifier to get maximum power from the amplifier.
It doesn't matter whether its a DVC 2 ohm, SVC 4
ohm, or three DVC 1 ohm speakers. A Xenon amplifier
automatically senses the load from 1 to 4 ohm and
drives it with full power every time. This makes life
simple for the end customer and guarantees he will
always receive full power regardless of the load.
2
™
Circuit Topology:
The Xenon series two and four channel models use
the legendary Triple Darlington output stage. This is
same circuitry found in our MS, M, ZPA, ZX, and
Titanium amplifiers. This topology is not cheap. This is
why you rarely see any car amplifiers and only high
end home amplifiers using this circuitry. This provides
the ultimate in sound fidelity, headroom, reliability and
can drive difficult loads without problems.
Darlington output stage has three levels of amplification
t ramp up the energy to the speaker load. The first
tha
sub-stage is the pre-drivers, which get their
signal from the voltage gain stage and increase the
available current in it or "stiffen" the signal. This
stiffened signal is then fed to the driver transistors
where it is stiffened even more. Finally, the output of
the driver transistors is fed into the output transistors
where it is stiffened substantially; enough to drive the
speaker load wired to the amplifier.
All monoblocks are Class D technology. One clear
advantage is that Class D amplifiers are much more
efficient and this allows us to make a lot more power
with a lower operating temperature and ease the
strain on customer's electrical system. Of course,
Class D amplifiers are low pass only, but 99% of
monoblocks will be used on subwoofers. The average
efficiency of a Xenon Monoblock is 80% from input to
output, which means only 20% of the amplifier’s
energy is turned into heat.
Cooling System:
We have completely reengineered the way amplifiers
are thermally monitored with our Xe.Flow
gy. First, we've added nearly 5 times the mass of heat
sink relative to our very successful TCCH system used
in the Titanium amplifiers. We also have bolted the
transistors to the major heatsink, with minor extruded
heatsink clamp down bars. This allows the transistor
to have a heatsink on both sides of the device.
Additionally, every model has a variable speed fan
(except X400.1) located in the center of the amplifier
for even more thermal dissipation. The combination of
improved mass and the ability to move hot air out of
the amplifier make it nearly impossible for them to
engage their thermal protection.
Our competitor's amplifiers use a basic thermal
protection that simply shuts the amplifier off when the
heatsink reaches 90 degrees C. With the Xe.Flow
technology the temperature of the amplifier is constantly monitored and its operation is optimized
tech-
according to the temperature of the amplifier. For
example, in the VERY RARE case that a Xenon amplifier begins to reach an unsafe temperature, the amplifier slowly reoptimizes the output of the amplifier. This
adjustment in volume is very slight and the end user
will most likely never hear it (less than 2dB), this puts
the amplifier in an operating range that allows the
amplifier to continue to play.The amplifier will monitor
its own temperature and adjust its power output, so it
will continue to play even on those hot days in the
trunk in Texas.
The Triple
™
technolo-
Reliability:
Phoenix Gold has always been know for delivering
more than what the customer expects. The Xenon line
is no different, we have nearly double the number of
output devices relative to the Titanium series. For
example, the ultra reliable Ti500.4 was a 500 watt
amplifier that used 8 output devices. We've taken that a
step further with the X100.4, a 400 watt amplifier, that
uses 16 of output devices,
and the monstrous X200.4
uses 24 devices! This coupled with an excessive
amount of bussbars,
low ESR capacitors, Xe.Load and
Xe.Flow technology make these amplifiers impossible
to shut down at almost any load.
Sound Quality:
During the electrical design process, some of the
finest parts were chosen to achieve the finest sound
quality customers expect from a Phoenix Gold amplifier.
Multiple small capacitors are located throughout the
PCB layout. By using multiple smaller capacitors in
parallel, this lowers the effective ESR of the circuit,
(This is the same concept as if you were to parallel
multiple subwoofers to achieve a lower impedance.)
Since multiple small caps will have a lower ESR this
will make them able to deliver energy much quicker
than a few large caps. The end result is tighter, more
accurate, and dynamic bass. The output stage
on the two and four channel models are loaded
with audiophile 150 Volt 15 amp Sanken output
transistors. Sanken output transistors are used due to
their high level of specification and amazing bandwidth of 60MHz. Each model of the amplifier design is
critically listened to and evaluated by Phoenix Gold
Engineering and Product staff for hours to ensure the
sound quality is as close as possible to our in house
master reference audio system.
Thank you again for purchasing Phoenix Gold
product. We appreciate your business and desire
to own the finest audio products.
Continuous Output Power: (Wattage Rated according to CEA 2006 Specifications of 14.4VDC and no more than 1%THD)
MONOBLOCK SPECIFICATIONS
requency Response: . . . . . . . . . . . . . .± 1dB from 20Hz to 300Hz
F
Signal to Noise Ratio: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>90dB
Subsonic and Low Pass Crossovers: . . Linkwitz-Riley 24dB per octave
X400.1
Into 4, 2 and 1 ohm . . . . . . . . . .400 x 1
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . . .40A
Power/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .8 Gauge
Dimensions:
Low Pass Crossover Range: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Hz to 300Hz
Subsonic Crossover Range: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Hz to 55Hz
Boost: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +18 dB @ 45 Hz
Bass
Input Sensitivity: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 millivolts to 8 volts
Lowest Recommend Load: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 ohm
X600.1
Into 4, 2 and 1 ohm . . . . . . . . . .600 x 1
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . . .60A
ower/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .4 Gauge
P
Dimensions:
X1200.1
Into 4, 2 and 1 ohm . . . . . . . . .1200 x 1
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . .100A
Power/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .4 Gauge
Dimensions: . . . . .22L x 10.6W x 2.5H
TWO & FOUR CHANNEL SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency Response: . . . . . . . . . . . . . .± 1dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
Signal to Noise Ratio: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>100dB
High and Low Pass Crossovers: . . .Linkwitz-Riley 24dB per octave
Crossover Range: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Hz to 400Hz
Bass Boost: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+18 dB @ 45 Hz
Input Sensitivity: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 millivolts to 8 volts
Lowest Recommend Load: . . . . . . .2 ohm bridged or 1 ohm stereo
X100.2
Into 4, 2, and 1 ohm stereo . . . .100 x 2
Into 8, 4, and 2 ohm bridged . . .200 x 1
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . . .40A
Power/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .8 Gauge
Dimensions: . . . . .14L x 10.6W x 2.5H
X200.2
Into 4, 2, and 1 ohm stereo . . . .200 x 2
Into 8, 4, and 2 ohm bridged . . .400 x 1
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . . .60A
Power/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .4 Gauge
Dimensions: . . . .15.5L x 10.6W x 2.5H
. . . . .14L x 10.6W x 2.5H
. . .18.25L x 10.6W x 2.5H
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
X100.4
Into 4, 2 and 1 ohm stereo . . . .100 x 4
Into 8, 4 and 2 ohm bridged . . .200 x 2
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . . .80A
Power/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .4 Gauge
Dimensions: . . .18.25L x 10.6W x 2.5H
X200.4
Into 4, 2 and 1 ohm stereo . . . .200 x 4
Into 8, 4 and 2 ohm bridged . . .400 x 2
Recommended Fuse Size: . . . . . . .120A
Power/Ground Wire Size . . . . . .4 Gauge
Dimensions: 22L x 10.6W x 2.5H
Xe.flow™–Efficient Cooling!
Combines traditional internal heat sink design with cold air induction via a temperature controlled variable speed fan.
This provides forced cold air movement across the Xenon amplifier heatsink. In addition, a proprietary thermal feedback
circuit continuously monitors the temperature of the amplifier and optimizes the amplifier’s operation to guarantee
the amplifier will continue to play regardless of how hard the amplifier is driven.
Xe.load™–Max Power for All Loads!
Plug-n-Play speaker sensing optimizes amplifier to deliver full power into any load between (4ohm -1ohm). Xe.load
™
makes life easy by allowing the user to get full power regardless of the impedance of his woofer or full range speakers.
Xe.tune™–Crossover Features!
Audiophile 24dB Linkwitz-Riley crossover controls provide state of the art slope control. The Xe.tune™detented control
system allows users to perfectly adjust crossover slope every time without errors or guess work. Every Xenon amplifier has
a separately defeatable continuously variable high and low pass filter for maximum processing flexibility
Now that’s total control!
3
M O N O B L O C K S
RMD LPL RRL R
INPUT
Speaker Outputs
Used to connect the amplifier
to speakers. The separate +
and – terminals are internally
wired in parallel. Minimum
speaker cable size is 12
gauge. Lowest recommend
impedance is 1 ohm.
CLICKS 5-55Hz 30-300Hz
SUBSONIC LOWPASS
Remote Voltage Display
Input Connect the optional
RMD Voltage Display to
this jack.
1* <10 28
2 <10 28
3 <10 28
4 <10 28
5 <10 28
6 <10 29
7 <10 31
8 <10 33
9 10.5 36
10 11.8 40
11 13.0 45
12 14.7 50
13 16.9 57
14 20.8 68
15 25.0 81
16 27.0 93
17 28.8 100
18 30.0 105
19 31.0 111
20 32.2 116
21 33.4 122
4
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RMD
CLICKS 5-55Hz 30-300Hz
SUBSONIC LOWPASS
22 34.8 129
23 36.0 136
24 37.2 143
25 39.5 153
26 41.0 165
27 42.8 175
28 45.0 189
29 46.5 204
30 52.5 226
31 53.8 248
32 54.5 259
33 54.8 268
34 55.0 274
35 55.3 281
36 55.8 289
37 56.0 296
38 56.4 304
39 56.9 310
40 57.0 312
41** 57.0 313
*Full Counter-Clockwise **Full Clockwise
INPUTS
Connect preamp signal
cables from the head unit
to these terminals. To maximize noise rejection, we
recommend using Phoenix
Gold ARx.800, ARx.700,
ARx.600 or ARx.500 series
twisted pair interconnects.
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