Owner's Manual

Parasound ZoneMaster 4 Owner’s Manual Page 7
Rear Panel Audio Connections
Channel pairs (left and right) are grouped into 2 zones. Typically each room or area is considered a
zone but this will be determined by the system integrator.
Always disconnect the AC cord (or turn off the master AC switch on the back) to your ZoneMaster 4
before plugging in or unplugging any connections. Inserting or removing an interconnect cable’s plug
from any power amp’s input jacks while this power amp is turned on can result in a burst of sound that can
damage your loudspeakers. Make sure there is no strain or tension on any input cables, speaker wires, 12
volt trigger wires or the AC cord that could cause them to pull loose.
Audio Input Connections
The Bus Input Jacks
These are standard RCA line level audio Inputs that any zone can select as its source. To select the Bus as
the input for one or more zones set each zone’s Input switch to its Bus position.
The Speaker Level Input Connector
This is an additional type of audio input that any zone can select as its source. The speaker level input
enables the ZoneMaster 4 to connect to any audio receiver or stereo system even if it lacks preamp output
jacks. This is a high impedance input and the ZoneMaster 4’s speaker level input can connect to the
speaker terminals on any receiver or amplifier. This will not reduce its output power or degrade the sound
quality of the speakers that are already connected directly to the “host” receiver or amplifier. Audio
connected to the Speaker Level input connector can be routed to any zone by setting each zone’s Input
switch to the Bus position. Speaker level audio is also converted to line level and routed to the Bus Loop
Out jacks which provide a line level output to drive additional amplifiers.
Note: You should connect only the Bus RCA Inputs or the Speaker Level inputs, but not both
or you could hear both sources at the same time.
Note: You can detach the speaker input connector block to make it easier to attach and
secure the 4 speaker wires. It accepts bare wires up to AWG 16. Each wire should
be twisted tightly and/or tinned with solder to prevent stray strands that could short
circuit the amplifier. Since the Speaker Level input consumes a small fraction of a
watt of your receiver's power output using large gauge speaker wire provides
absolutely no performance advantage.
Line Input Jacks for Channels 1 through 4
These are standard line level audio Inputs for each channel. Connect these jacks to the Left and Right
output jacks on your preamp, whole-house audio controller or the zone outputs of your AV receiver.
Ensure that the Input switch is set to Line In for each zone that is connected this way.