Emotiva SA-250 User Manual - Connections
Page 13
Connections
Connections
Connecting speakers to your sA-250
Your SA-250 has no special connection requirements; audiophile grade five-way binding posts are
provided for speaker connections.
• Always turn off the amplifier before connecting or disconnecting speaker cables or signal
source interconnects.
• Always verify that your speaker cables are firmly attached, and not shorted to each other or
to any other cables, before powering up your SA-250.
• Always use high-quality speaker wire; 18-gauge or heavier.
• If you must use thinner wire, try to keep the length as short as possible.
• Be careful to wire all speakers “in phase” (the plus/red terminal on each speaker to the plus/
red terminal on your amp).
Note: The location of the speaker terminals are mirror images for the left and Right channels
(Channel 1 and Channel 2); the + terminals are both toward the oUTsIDE of the sA-250;
the - (ground) terminals are toward the CENTER of the sA-250.
• Try to use wires of equal length and gauge for both speakers in each pair (use the same gauge
and length for both fronts, or for both surrounds; don’t use a long 16-gauge wire for one
speaker and a short 10-gauge wire for the other).
• If you use stranded cables, use care to avoid short circuits (from stray strands touching).
• Emotiva offers very high-quality, pre-made speaker cables at reasonable prices.
You will find them in the Interconnects section of our website at www.emotiva.com.
Connecting an input source to your sA-250
Your SA-250 amplifier has both balanced and unbalanced inputs; switches independently select
which input is active for each channel. Be sure to set these switches correctly. If your source
component offers both types of outputs, a balanced connection is generally preferred, especially
for long cable runs and in noisy environments. We suggest using reasonably high quality cables,
keeping cables no longer than necessary, and avoiding running signal cables near power cables
and speaker cables whenever possible.
The balanced inputs on the SA-250 each accept a balanced audio signal through either an XLR
connector or a stereo (3-wire) 1/4” phone type connector wired to a balanced signal source.
You may also connect an unbalanced signal source to your SA-250 using a 1/4” connector wired as
unbalanced/monaural. (If you do so, since you will be using the balanced input, even though your
input signal is unbalanced, you should still set the switch to the Balanced position.
DO NOT connect a digital signal to the inputs of your SA-250 (or you may damage it or your
speakers).