L8400P (serv.man11) - JBL Audio User Guide / Operation Manual

L8400P/230

®

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this apparatus near
water.

6. Clean only with a dry cloth.

7. Do not block any ventilation 
openings. Install in accordance with
the manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Do not install near any heat
sources such as radiators, heat
registers, stoves or other apparatus
(including amplifiers) that produce
heat.

9. Do not defeat the safety purpose
of the polarized or grounding-type
plug. A polarized plug has two
blades with one wider than the
other. A grounding-type plug has two
blades and a third grounding prong.
The wide blade or the third prong
are provided for your safety. If the
provided plug does not fit into your
outlet, consult an electrician for
replacement of the obsolete outlet.

10. Protect the power cord from
being walked on or pinched, particu-
larly at plugs, convenience recepta-
cles and the point where they exit
from the apparatus.

11. Only use attachments/acces-
sories specified by the manufac-
turer.

12. Use only with the cart, stand,
tripod, bracket or table specified by
the manufacturer or sold with the
apparatus. When a cart
is used, use caution
when moving the
cart/apparatus combi-
nation to avoid injury
from tip-over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during
lightning storms or when unused for
long periods of time.

14. Refer all servicing to qualified 
service personnel. Servicing is
required when the apparatus has
been damaged in any way, such 
as power-supply cord or plug is 
damaged, liquid has been spilled 
or objects have fallen into the 
apparatus, the apparatus has been
exposed to rain or moisture, does 
not operate normally, or has been
dropped.

15. Do not use attachments not 
recommended by the product 
manufacturer, as they may cause 
hazards.

16. This product should be operated
only from the type of power source
indicated on the marking label. If you
are not sure of the type of power
supply to your home, consult your
product dealer or local power com-
pany. For products intended to oper-
ate from battery power, or other
sources, refer to the operating
instructions.

17. If an outside antenna or cable 
system is connected to the product,
be sure the antenna or cable system
is grounded so as to provide some
protection against voltage surges
and built-up static charges. Article
810 of the National Electrical Code,
ANSI/NFPA 70, provides information
with regard to proper grounding of
the mast and supporting structure,
grounding of the lead-in wire to an
antenna discharge unit, size of
grounding conductors, location of
antenna-discharge unit, connection
to grounding electrodes, and
requirements for the grounding elec-
trode. See Figure A.

18. An outside antenna system
should not be located in the vicinity
of overhead power lines or other
electric light or power circuits, or
where it can fall into such power
lines or circuits. 

When installing an outside antenna
system, extreme care should be
taken to keep from touching such
power lines or circuits, as contact
with them might be fatal.

19. Do not overload wall outlets,
extension cords, or integral 
convenience receptacles, as this 
can result in a risk of fire or electric
shock.

20. Never push objects of any kind
into this product through openings,
as they may touch dangerous volt-
age points or short-out parts that
could result in a fire or electric
shock. Never spill liquid of any kind
on the product.

21. The apparatus shall not be
exposed to dripping or splashing, 
and no objects filled with liquids,
such as vases, shall be placed on 
the apparatus.

22. Do not attempt to service this
product yourself, as opening or 
removing covers may expose you to
dangerous voltage or other hazards.
Refer all servicing to qualified ser-
vice personnel.

23. When replacement parts are
required, be sure the service tech-
nician has used replacement parts
specified by the manufacturer or
that have the same characteristics
as the original part. Unauthorized
substitutions may result in fire, elec-
tric shock or other hazards.

24. Upon completion of any service
or repairs to this product, ask the
service technician to perform safety
checks to determine that the product
is in proper operating condition.

25. The product should be mounted
to a wall or ceiling only as recom-
mended by the manufacturer.

Figure A.
Example of Antenna Grounding as
per National Electrical Code,
ANSI/NFPA 70

Low-frequency sounds are
normally omnidirectional,
meaning the listener can’t tell
where they are generated
from. However, frequencies
between 75Hz and 150Hz can
be localized, especially at
higher volume levels.
Positioning your subwoofer as
recommended will provide the
most natural soundstage and
imaging from your loudspeaker
system. 

Remember that these are just
guidelines. Since every listen-
ing room is different, JBL

strongly recommends experi-
menting with the positioning of
your subwoofer to obtain the
most pleasing results in your
room. One technique that can
help you find the ideal sub-
woofer location is to temporar-
ily place the subwoofer near
the main listening location.
Then move around the room
and determine where you hear
the most pleasing bass perfor-
mance. This would then be the
ideal location for the sub-
woofer.

When we designed the L8400P/
230 powered subwoofer, our
goal was to offer the user the
best possible performance
combined with the most flexi-
ble and complete installation
options. Please look over the
following three examples to
determine which description
best matches your system and 
follow the corresponding
hookup instructions.

To use the binding-post
speaker terminals with bare
wire, unscrew the collar until
the hole through the center
post is visible under the collar.
Insert the bare end of the wire
through the hole in the post,
then screw the collar back

down until the connection is
tight. The holes in the center of
the collars are intended for
banana-type connectors.

Speakers and electronics have
corresponding positive (+) and
negative (–) terminals. It is
important to connect both
speakers identically: positive
(+) on the speaker to positive

(+) on the amplifier and nega-
tive (–) on the speaker to
negative (–) on the amplifier.
Wiring “out of phase” results
in thin sound, weak bass and a
poor stereo image. 

With the advent of multichan-
nel surround sound systems,
connecting all of the speakers
in your system with the correct
polarity remains equally impor-
tant in order to preserve the
proper ambience and direc-
tionality of the program
material.

For more than 50 years, JBL
has been involved in every
aspect of music and film
recording and reproduction,
from live performances to the
recordings you play in your
home, car or office.

We’re confident that the JBL
system you have chosen will
provide every note of enjoy-

ment that you expected – and
that when you think about pur-
chasing additional audio
equipment for your home, car
or office, you will once again
choose JBL.

Please take a moment to regis-
ter your product on our Web
site at www.jbl.com. 

This enables us to keep you
posted on our latest advance-
ments, and helps us to better
understand our customers and
build products that meet their
needs and expectations.

Use this installation method for
Dolby Pro Logic applications
(not Dolby Digital, DTS or other
digital processing), where the
receiver/processor is equipped
with a subwoofer output, or a
volume-controlled preamp 
(line-) level output:

Use RCA-type interconnects to
connect the line-level sub-
woofer outputs on your receiver
or amplifier to the line-level
inputs on the subwoofer. 

Use this installation method for
Dolby Digital, DTS or other
digital surround processors: 

Use either the left or right line-
level input jack for the Low-
Frequency Effects channel; it
doesn’t matter which one you
choose. 

IMPORTANT: Make sure that
the LFE/Normal toggle switch
 is in the “LFE” position. This
will bypass the subwoofer’s
normal low-pass filter,
reducing the possibility of
signal degradation and more
accurately reproducing the
program materials. However, if
your receiver is passing a full-
range signal through its
subwoofer output, place the
toggle switch in the “Normal”
position, which will activate
the low-pass filter and protect 

the subwoofer from possible
damage. 
Connect this jack to the LFE
output or subwoofer output on
your receiver or amplifier. Con-
nect each speaker to the cor-
responding speaker terminals
on your receiver or amplifier.

Make sure that you have con-
figured your surround sound
processor for “Subwoofer On.”
Also, remember to configure
your receiver for 5.1-, 6.1- or
7.1-channel operation as
appropriate. 

IMPORTANT: Make sure that
the LFE/Normal toggle switch
 is in the “Normal” position.
This will activate the sub-
woofer’s low-pass filter, pro-
tecting the subwoofer from
possible damage and enabling
it to operate most efficiently by
reproducing only the low-
frequency materials that it is
best at handling. 

NOTE: If your receiver or
amplifier only has one sub-

woofer output jack, then you
will need to use a Y-connector
(not included). Plug the male
end of the Y-connector into
your receiver or amplifier’s
subwoofer output jack, and
connect each of the two
female ends to separate RCA-
type interconnects. Finally,
plug the RCA-type intercon-
nects into the line-level inputs
on the subwoofer.

Connect each speaker to 
the corresponding speaker 
terminals on your receiver 
or amplifier.

Make sure your receiver or
processor is correctly config-
ured to indicate that the sub-
woofer is “On.”

Note for advanced users: If
your receiver/processor has 
a built-in low-pass crossover
filter for the subwoofer output,
you may switch the LFE/ Nor-
mal toggle switch to the “LFE”
position to bypass the sub-
woofer’s internal crossover.