Operation Manual

Setting Up and Using the Model LH500 and LH1000

WARNING: Hartke amplifiers can deliver very high power levels. Driven to full

power, they can damage connected loudspeakers, regardless of brand, size,

or configuration. Care should be taken not to strain connected loudspeakers

as this can cause permanent damage and will degrade the performance of

the entire system. If you see connected loudspeakers moving excessively,

turn your system down immediately or use the equalization and/or Limiter

control to reduce the amount of subharmonic (extremely low frequency)

signal.

Setting up your Hartke Systems LH Series Bass Amplifier is a simple procedure

which takes only a few minutes:

1. Remove all packing materials (save them in case of need for future service)

and decide where the amplifier is to be physically placed. To avoid potential

overheating problems, be sure that the rear panel is unobstructed and that

there is good ventilation around the entire unit, particularly behind the rear-

panel fan.

2. Begin by hooking up your bass cabinet or cabinets, using the 1/4”

unbalanced Speaker output connectors on the rear panel; it is never a good

idea to power up any amplifier that is not connected to loudspeakers. We

recommend the use of a single 4 ohm cabinet or two 8 ohm cabinets. Hartke

amps are optimized for use with Hartke bass cabinets, although other brands

of speakers can be substituted. Any appropriately rated bass cabinet with a

minimum impedance of 4 ohms (that is, 4 ohms or greater) can be used. In

order to ensure correct phase correlation, the tip of the Model LH500 and

LH1000 speaker jack should be connected to the “+” (hot) input of your

loudspeaker, and the sleeve of the Model LH500 and LH1000 speaker jack

should be connected to the “-” (ground) input of your loudspeaker. If you are

using the LH1000 with a single cabinet of 4 ohms or 8 ohms, set the BRIDGE

mode switch to BRIDGE mode and use a Speakon cable to connect your

cabinet. If you are using the LH1000 with two 8 ohm cabinets, you can use

the LH Series in Bridge mono or Dual Parallel. In Dual Parallel (Bridge mode

switch off), use two 1/4-inch speaker cables to connect to the Channel A and

B SPEAKER OUTPUTS. For more information on Bridge and Dual Parallel mode

see the section, “Using The LH1000 in BRIDGE and Dual Parallel Modes” later in

this manual.

3. Next, connect the 3-pin AC plug into any grounded AC socket. Don’t turn

the amplifier on just yet, though.

4. Use a standard music instrument cable to connect your bass to the

appropriate Input jack on the front panel (if your bass has active circuitry,*

connect it to the “Active” input; if not, connect it to the “Passive” input). On

the front panel of the Model LH500 and LH1000, set the VOLUME control to

“0” (fully counterclockwise) and set BASS, MID and TREBLE to their center “0”

position. Finally, set BRITE and LIMITER switch to their “Out” position.

* Bass guitars that have active circuitry normally require a battery for the

circuitry to be functional.

Model LH500

Model LH1000