QSC Audio PowerLigh 3 User Manual

PowerLight™ 3 Series

2500 to 8000 watt, lightweight, 2RU amplifiers for use in the most
demanding concert and live-sound reinforcement applications.

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Power, fl exibility, pristine audio quality and legendary
QSC reliability — the ultimate concert amplifi ers.

Perfect for portable live

sound and installed sound

applications, including

outdoor events, stadiums and

arenas, casinos, nightclubs,

restaurants, hotels, houses of

worship, corporate campuses

and convention centers.

The concert stage is
the ultimate test of
professional audio
technology.

Concert audio performance has to be impec­cable. Reliability, unshakable. Effi ciency, un­beatable. Factory support, unstoppable. For
decades, QSC has set the standards in every
one of these mission critical dimensions.

Top grossing concert performers are the
most demanding clients in the world.
There’s no room for compromise among
the professionals who provide the techni­cal foundation that allows those artists to
express their creativity. Time after time, tour
after tour, show after show, these industry
leaders stake their reputations — and their
businesses — on QSC technology, without
second chances or retakes. Night after
night, venue upon venue across the globe,
QSC professional audio systems do exactly
what Pat Quilter and his team of engineers
designed them to do – deliver.

Ultimate Audio Performance

One world class power supply,
two output technologies.

Over four decades of R&D, we’ve learned
to take innovative leaps one at a time.
Since PowerLight™ remains the world’s
most effi cient supply, we developed new
output stages.

PL340 & PL325:
Ultimate Class H Technology

We design for the total show: load-in to
load-out and everything in between. That’s
why the 2-tier linear PL340 and PL325 not
only have ruler-fl at response into 8 ohm
loads, but similar transparency and detail
into 2 ohms.

PL380: Ultimate Class D Technology

Class D amplifi er design offers ultimate
power conversion effi ciency and entails
greater complexity than linear topologies.
It is also harder to master since it has more
signal-conversion stages, each a source of
errors that must be corrected. The PL380

more than doubles the output power
and thermal capacity of our previous 2RU
designs, but it looks and sounds “linear,”
whether on the bench or driving speakers.
Rigorous testing and precise alignment of
feedback networks produce stable closed­loop response.

The modulator converts analog input sig­nals into varying on-off ratios – the PL380
amplifi er’s responds in under 5 nanosec­onds. A crystal controlled, synchronized
power supply and Class D clocks prevent
interference between power stages.

Our new Class D switching section uses a
single pair of industrial strength devices that
easily handle kilowatts of energy without
extra complexity. Our painstakingly refi ned
PCB design controls high frequency cur­rents to prevent internal interference. A
proprietary dynamic current limiter monitors
power stress in the output devices, deliver­ing the maximum power possible within
safe operating limits.

Output fi ltering is another key to ultimate
audio performance. Proprietary winding
techniques pack more copper on a smaller
coil, for better effi ciency and lower distortion.

Ultimate Real-World Headroom

If you’ve been up on the riser ringing out
drum monitors, or out at FOH aligning the
subs with the mains, you know that head­room is not measured by instantaneous
peak power ratings. It’s the ability of the
entire amplifi er, from power supply to output
devices, to produce high voltages and cur­rents for extended periods of time. Power­Light 3 Series amplifi ers go head-to-head
with products claiming much higher output.

Ultimate System Compatibility

Zero Signal Latency

Of course the PowerLight 3 Series has
DSP options. But none of them impose a
latency penalty inside the amplifi er. There’s
no other way to ensure compatibility with
other amplifi ers; no other way to avoid

compromising signal alignment in multi-way
sound systems.

Flexible System Architecture

Choices: they’re what the PowerLight 3
Series is all about. Upgrade analog racks and
monitor them on stage. Go all the way to
fully networked digital signal distribution and
processing with remote system manage­ment. Combine elements of both approach­es. It’s your decision, as it should be.

Ultimate Ruggedness

The real art of amplifi er design is deliver­ing ultimate power output while protecting
the entire system. Like all QSC designs,
PowerLight 3 Series amplifi ers had to pass
every one of our electrical and mechanical
stress tests – so tough, we’ve never found
another amplifi er brand that has survived
the full test cycle.