Mackie SWA1801 User Manual - Introduction

3

Lend Me Your Ears

Exposure to extremely 

high noise levels may 

cause permanent hear-

 ing loss. In di vid u als vary 

 considerably in sus cep ti -

bil i ty to noise-in duced hearing loss, but nearly 

everyone will lose some hearing if ex posed to 

suffi ciently in tense noise for a pe ri od of time. 

The U.S. Gov ern ment’s Oc cu pa tion al Safety and 

Health Ad min is tra tion (OSHA) has spec i fi ed 

the per mis si ble noise lev el exposures shown in 

this chart.

According to OSHA, any exposure in excess 

of these permissible limits could result in some 

hearing loss. To ensure against potentially dan-

gerous exposure to high sound-pressure levels, 

it is recommend ed that all persons exposed to 

equipment capable of producing these levels use 

hearing protectors while this unit is in opera-

tion. Ear plugs or protectors in the ear canals or 

over the ears must be worn when operating this 

amplifi cation system in  order to prevent a per-

manent hearing loss if exposure is in excess of 

the limits set forth  here. 

Duration Per Day    Sound Level dBA,    Typical

      In Hours               Slow Response       Example

8                                        90                       Duo in small club

               6                                        92                               

               4                                        95                       Subway Train

               3                                        97

               2                                      100                       Very loud classical music

            1.5                                      102

               1                                      105                       Patrice screaming at Ron about dead lines

            0.5                                       110

      0.25 or less                             115                       Loudest parts at a rock con cert

The SWA1801 

can pro duce a 

max i mum SPL of 

135 dB @ 1m

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for choosing Mackie’s ac tive 

sound reinforcement speaker sys tems.

The SWA1801 is a high-output active sub-

woofer system. It features a high-pre ci sion 18" 

transducer combined with application-spe cifi  c 

amplifi er technology. The system is com posed of 

a single, com pact subwoofer cab i net with built-in 

control and am pli fi  er elec tron ics.

Connecting and setting up the SWA1801 is 

a breeze. It accepts a stereo or mono line-level 

sig nal via fe male XLR input jacks. Male XLR 

Thru jacks are provided for daisy-chain ing the 

signal to ad di tion al SWA1801 cabinets. The 

built-in cross over separates the low fre quen cies 

from the high fre quen cies, and routes the high 

fre quen cies to the male XLR high-pass output 

jacks. Connect these to the in puts of full-range 

active speak ers such as the Mackie SA1521s, 

or to an amplifi er pow er ing a pair of pas sive 

speak ers such as a combination of the Mackie 

M•1400i and C300s. A Phase switch gives you the 

option of reversing the po lar i ty of the sig nal to the 

subwoofer by 180º. A Subwoofer Level con trol 

al lows you to adjust the bal ance be tween the sub-

woofer and the full-range speak ers.

The built-in amplifi er produces 800 watts of 

con tin u ous power. The amplifi er module sits on 

a heatsink that elim i nat es the need for fans, 

dra mat i cal ly ex tend ing life ex pect an cy, and elim i -

nat ing main te nance cycles. A tre men dous ben e fi t 

of hav ing the amplifi er located with in the subwoofer 

cab i net is that the SWA1801 func tions as a sys tem, 

op ti miz ing acous tic, elec tron ic, and me chan i cal 

de signs to achieve the high est level of per for mance 

and val ue.

The cabinet is constructed with 15 mm thick 

multi-layered birch plywood. Carrying han dles are 

in te grat ed into each side for easy loading, and cast-

 ers are attached to the rear for easy trans port.

CONTENTS

Lend Me Your Ears ...........................................................3

INTRODUCTION...............................................................3

REAR PANEL DE SCRIP TION...........................................4

HOOKUP DIAGRAMS......................................................5

CONNECTIONS................................................................6

PLACEMENT.....................................................................6

AC POWER  ......................................................................7

THERMAL CON SID ER ATIONS........................................7

SERVICE IN FOR MA TION.................................................7

        Warranty Service ......................................................7

        Troubleshooting ........................................................7

        Repair........................................................................9

SWA1801 SPEC I FI CA TIONS .........................................10

SWA1801 LIMITED WARRANTY ...................................11

Don’t forget to visit our website at 

www.mackie.com

for more information about this and oth er Mackie products.

R

Part No. 0002871-90  Rev. B  8/05 

©2004-2005 LOUD Technologies Inc.  All Rights Reserved.