The CasaTunes CT-250A, CT-2100A and CT-2150A amplifiers are 2-channel class D power amplifiers that offer 2 x 50W/channel, 2 x 100W/channel and 2 x 150W/channel, respectively. They are a perfect choice to use with the pre-amp only outputs, Zones 7 & 8, on the CasaTunes CT-12X8 Matrix Amplifier.
These amplifiers are rack mountable. You can mount these in the rack as a single unit, or a dual unit, side-by-side without requiring any additional rack space. The rack mount hardware for both configurations is included.
These energy friendly amplifiers use less than 0.5W in standby mode, and can be switched in & out of standby with a 12V input trigger. You can connect the 12V output triggers on Zone 7 & 8 on the CasaTunes CT-12X8MA to control the amplifier.
Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as:
WARNING! Do not expose the apparatus to dripping or splashing.Do not place objects filled with liquids near the apparatus.
WARNING! To reduce the risk of fire orelectric shock, Do notexpose this apparatus to rain or moisture.
WARNING! Equipment must be connected to a Mains socket outlet with a protective earthing connection.
WARNING! Never push objects of any kind into the apparatus through openings as they may touch dangerous voltage points or short-out parts that could result in a fire or electric shock.
IMPORTANT! Ensure adequate ventilation. Do not install in a cabinet that is smaller than 60cm (24”) wide x 45cm (18”) deep x 20cm (8”) high. If you do the device may overheat.
The AC fuse inside the unit is not user-serviceable. If you cannot turn on the unit, contact the dealer from whom you purchased this unit.
Occasionally you should dust the unit all over with a soft cloth. For stubborn stains, use a soft cloth dampened with a weak solution of mild detergent and water. Dry the unit immediately afterwards with a clean cloth. Don’t use abrasive cloths, thinners, alcohol, or other chemical solvents, because they may damage the finish or remove the panel lettering.
WARNING! BEFORE PLUGGING IN THE UNIT FOR THE FIRST TIME, READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION CAREFULLY.
AC outlet voltages vary from country to country. Make sure that the voltage in your area meets the voltage requirements printed on the unit’s rear panel. e.g. ~ 110V / 240V, 50/60HZ The power cord is used to disconnect this unit from the AC power source. Make sure that the plug is readily operable (easily accessible) at all times.
If you do not intend to use the unit for an extended period, remove the power cord from the AC outlet.
The unit is defined as Class1 in EN60065 (low voltage directive) and MUST BE EARTHED. Connect only to a mains socket outlet with protective earth, and only use the power cord supplied.
Never handle this unit or its power cord while your hands are wet or damp. If water or any other liquid gets inside this unit, have it checked by your CasaTunes dealer
The AC fuse inside the unit is not user-serviceable. If you cannot turn on the unit, contact the dealer from whom you purchased this unit.
Under no circumstances should the speaker output terminals of the unit be short circuited, grounded or connected to another output.
Avoid installing the amplifier in positions where the front panel is exposed to direct sunlight – may cause control to become sluggish.
Never connect more than eight CasaTunes controllers. The supply is internally fused (self resetting) and may open circuit. Never connect the unit’s 12VDC terminal (‘BusRun’ port) to an external power supply.
We declare under our sole responsibility that this product, to which this declaration relates, is in conformity with the following standards:
Following the provisions of Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC and EMC Directive2004/108/EC, the EC regulation 1275/2008 and its frame work Directive2009/125/EC for Energy-related Products (ErP).
This product has been certified and conforms to UL60065 and certified toCAN/SSA, IEC 60065
FCC interference statement
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. certified and conforms to UL60065 and certified toCAN/SSA, IEC 60065
IMPORTANT! Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one of the following measures:
NOTE: THIS CLASS B DIGITAL APPARATUS COMPLIES WITH CANADIAN ICES-003.
For models having a power cord with a polarized plug:
CAUTION: TO PREVENT ELECTRIC SHOCK, MATCH WIDE BLADE OF PLUG TO WIDE SLOT. FULLY INSERT.
REMARGUE: CETAPPAPEIL NUMĖRIQUE DE LA CLASSE B EST CONFORME À LA NORME NMB-003 DU CANADA.
Sur les modèles don’t la fiche est polarisée:
ATTENTION: POUR ĖVITTERLES CHOCS ĖLECTRIQUES, INTRODUIRE LA LAME LA PLUS LARGE DE LA FICHE DANS LABORNE CORRESPONDANTE DE LA PRISE ET POUSSER JUSQƯ AU FOND.
The amplifier has six separate amplified zones and two pre-amplified zones. Each zone has controls for bass, treble, balance, loudness, gain, mono and maximum volume limiting.
The two pre-amplified zones include a low pass filter that when selected only passes low frequency audio, ideal for driving Active Subwoofers. When the low pass filter is selected the tone and loudness settings are defeated.
Each zone maybe set to a specific volume level when powered on.
You can have up to 96 zones by adding more CT-12X8 matrix amplifiers.
To share the same sources between units you can daisy chain the sources by connecting the Digital Coax Outputs for Sources 1-12 on one unit to the Digital Coax Inputs on the next unit, and repeat for each additional unit.
The amplifier has twelve separate sources.
Sources 1-8 are either Analog Stereo, or Coax Digital Audio (PCM). Digital Coax has priority if both are connected.
Sources 9-12 are either Coax or Optical Digital Audio (PCM). Only one connection to each source is allowed.
You can adjust the gain on each Analog Source, up to +10dB in 2dB steps.
Sources 1 -12 support a programmable delay of up to 600ms in 5ms steps
Up to10 seconds of 44.1 KHz 16 bit stereo sounds may be generated as part of a page preset. Suitable wav files are uploaded to the unit using the ADP program.
After an AC power outage the amplifier restores its settings to the pre-interrupted state. All internal settings are stored in non-volatile memory.
The amplifier may be readily set to the default settings. Restoring Defaults clears all memory and resets the zone allocations to zones 1 – 8
The amplifier may be updated with the latest operational firmware by either Internet download or by using rear panel USB and ADP program.
The amplifier automatically monitors the temperature and takes progressive action depending on the temperature.
When the temperature reaches:
There are 8 outputs, one for each zone, on the rear panel of the amplifier labeled AMP ON Control 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. When a zone is powered, the associated output is switched to 12V DC. This can be used to control a secondary amplifier and switch it in & out of standby mode.
A zone may be linked to multiple zones. Zone linking ties the source selection together, and optionally the volume and standby. This is useful for closely coupled audio areas where it is advantageous to have different volume control but the same source, or the same volume with separate standby control. Zone linking is setup either via the front panel user interface or Web application
The amplifier is controlled, monitored and programmed via Ethernet. In most instances, the CasaTunes music server will be used to control the amplifier.
The amplifier has 10 buffered IR emitters. Ports 1-8 have IR routing, and are intended to control specific input source components. Two IR ports 9 & 10 are the sum of all IR sources; these control All the zone source components.
There are 14 amplifier presets and two page presets.
Presets 1 - 14 are momentary and cause the amplifier to go to a predetermined state, i.e. standby, volume & source selection.
The Page Preset mode is for paging applications and is invoked by a contact closure between the 0V and PG1 or PG2 terminals. The contact closure must have an external power source i.e. a 12 – 24V AC/DC powered door bell. When the contact closure is released (power sensed across PG – 0V terminals) the amplifier zones return to their previous states. PG1 is always assigned to the Page Preset. PG2 may be assigned to any one of the 15 available Presets.
Use the amplifier Web application to configure the presets.
Solid Aluminium front Panel
Receiver for front panel IR control – Used only for amplifier control, not IR passthrough
The power indicator glows blue whenever AC power is applied
LCD Touch Panel display for menu guided control and programming. The display is dimmed to “Off” after 15 minutes of inactivity
Set high enough to provide unrestricted airflow through the chassis for convection cooling
IEC socket
Plug in terminal clamp connectors accept 1.5mm² speaker wires
Coax digital inputs
Coax digital outputs for expansion to further amplifiers
MAIN IN is 10/100 Base T primary Ethernet port for connection to the Home network Router or switch
EXT OUT is 10/100 Base T secondary port for connection to another amplifier MAIN IN Ethernet Port
Zone 7 & Zone 8 analog audio L/R outputs
Source S1 – S8 analog audio L/R inputs
3.5 mm mono jacks. IR1 thru IR8 are used to control specific source equipment, where each IR port may be assigned to a specific keypad(s). IR9 & IR10 are used to control source equipment common to all zones. These ports output the combined IR1 – IR8 infrared signals
Optical digital source inputs
For connection to keypads
AMPON 1 thru 8 outputs are set to 12VDC when zone is on
12– 24V AC/DC powered doorbell trigger terminals
Figure 1 depicts a typical configuration where the amplifier is providing audio into six of the possible eight listening zones. Only three of the Zones are depicted. Each zone consists of a room with a pair of speakers and a suitable controller. Each zone may be listening to any of the connected sources: CasaTunes music server, Amazon Echo Link, TV, etc
Each zone has a specific control requirement. Choose the controllers that best suit the application.
The Keypad’s may be plugged into any of the eight keypad ports. Source control IR emitters are plugged into the IR Ports. There are ten IR ports: IR1 thru IR8, and IR9 & IR10.
IR1 thru IR8 route source specific IR signals from connected keypads, while IR9 & IR10 output the common IR or the sum of all received IR signals.These Ports may be used for source equipment that is common to all zones.
Speakers in each zone are connected to the amplifier by “Home Run” speaker cables.
The preamplifier output zones are completely independent of the digital amplifier zones. These can be used in locations where a high or lower power amplifier / speaker is required.
A preamplifier zone may be connected to a secondary power amplifier for higher power amplification, or a preamplifier zone may be zone linked to one of the digital amplifier zones and provide line level outputs to a subwoofer.
The amplifier has eight stereo RCA audio inputs for connecting source equipment. These source inputs also feature a coax digital input. If a signal is present on the coax digital input it takes precedence over the analog input. There are four additional digital-only source inputs featuring both coax and optical inputs.
A zone may select from any of the connected sources. Someone in the Lounge may be listening to stream 1 from the CasaTunes music server while another in the Study may be listening to music from stream 2 on the CasaTunes music server.
All eight zones may select the same source, in such circumstances there is a possibility that all eight zones may be trying to control the same source – not always desirable – so a system should be well planned and where appropriate additional source equipment installed.
In larger installations multiple amplifiers can be linked together to increase the number of zones.
Figure 2 shows a stack of amplifiers with the source equipment connected to the first amplifier. These source inputs are converted to digital audio, buffered and then sent to the next amplifier in the stack. Use good quality coax digital shielded RCA cables. The cables should be < 3m (10 ft).
The maximum recommended expansion is eight units.
The Ethernet can be connected as shown. However, if a localEthernet router or switch is available and it has enough ports then connect each amplifier to the router / switch directly.
The CasaTunes CT-12X8 amplifier has a built-in web application which may be used for configuration, control and monitoring of amplifier functions.
To open the amplifier web application, enter either the IP address of the amplifier. i.e. http://192.168.1.24
The home page provides access to the Amplifier Zones. Selecting a Zone opens its control page.
The first Zone defaults to the name Location 1, all other zones if unnamed are listed as Zone 2, Zone 3, etc.
The Zone Control Page provides status & control of:
A blue button indicates the item is selected or is ON.
Because of Web browser limitations, Slider setting changes are made using a positional touch on the slider
The Zones button returns to the previous page.The Settings button opens the Settings page.
The Zone Settings Page provides status & control of:
The back arrow button returns to the Zone Control page.
To access the configuration pages in the browser enter the IP address with a config extension. i.e. http://192.168.100.24/config There are 5 configurations pages and a log page that may be selected
The Device Configuration page provides Device information:
Wired Ethernet: The Network configuration is set to use DHCP by default. If a Static IP address is selected, then the IP settings will appear in a drop-down
Date & Time: Configure the NTP server and if/when Daylight Saving time is observed
If any of the settings have been changed they do not take effect until the Save Changes button has been selected
This allows you to rename the audio Sources on the amplifier – the names will appear on connected keypads and Tablets or Mobiles running the CasaTunes App. Source names have a maximum of 15 characters (less when using exotic characters)
The gain of each analog source may also be adjusted using the Left/right buttons. These changes happen live.
If any of the settings have been changed they do not take effect until the Save Changes button has been selected
All CasaTunes amplifiers on the network are listed. The MAC address is displayed to show which unit is being configured. CasaTunes amplifiers have a MAC address label fixed either to rear panel or cover.
Zone Settings: The Zone name may be changed – click the name to edit. Zone names have a maximum of15 Characters (less when using exotic characters). These names will appear on connected Keypads and Tablets running the CasaTunes App
The amplifier physical Zones 1- 8 may be configured with a different logical zone or system zones: ranging from 0 – 95
Each Keypad port can have a zone assigned. This enables source specific IR routing and for keypads that support this feature, the keypad’s zone will be automatically assigned depending on its keypad port connection
Zone Linking: Zones can be linked together so that the source selection and optionally power and/or volume apply to all zones in the group.There is no limit to the number of zones in a group, but a zone may only be a member of a single group
If any of the settings have been changed they do not take effect until the Save Changes button has been selected
Servers is the list of network shares where music files are located.
UNC path is in the form \\server\share\ and may also include folder names. Enter the path of the connected Network share by clicking the Add button and editing the UNC path name
Username is generally required and is usually set to ‘guest’ for shares that are configured without a user. If a domain is required then the username is entered in the form ‘Domain\User’
Password is used when the user has an account with a password.
If any of the settings have been changed they do not take effect until the Save Changes button has been selected
IR signals received on any one of the IR inputs do not need to be transmitted on every IR output. Use of the IR Routing feature enables control over which IR outputs transmit an IR signal depending on its origin and optionally the currently selected source. Source specific IR routing is useful for controlling source equipment and is available for all keypad ports that have a zone selection on the zones page.
IR input selects the keypad port to configure for IR routing.
Selected IR Outputs is a table of check boxes that when checked transmits source related IR to specific IR outputs.
If any of the settings have been changed they do not take effect until the Save Changes button has been selected
IR signals received on any one of the IR inputs do not need to be transmitted on every IR output. Use of the IR Routing feature enables control over which IR outputs transmit an IR signal depending on its origin and optionally the currently selected source. Source specific IR routing is useful for controlling source equipment and is available for all keypad ports that have a zone selection on the zones page.
Diagnostic Log is a useful tool for diagnosing connection issues and possible faults. This log is not stored in memory, so information is only collected during the current active power cycle.
Events: Non-volatile log of certain parameters like power interruptions, high temperature events, etc.
The amplifier firmware is based in part on FreeRTOS.org™ V5.0.2 and the uIP TCP/IP stack.
For more information on FreeRTOS.org™ please visit http://www.freertos.org
Source code for FreeRTOS.org™ can be downloaded from their official website.
The following copyright and statements for uIP TCP/IP stack are required by license:
Copyright (c) 2001-2003, Adam Dunkels. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source & binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
