130446-1 Rev.

A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

is called Loudspeaker Offset Integration (LOI). The LOI

4 Circuit Theory circuit, when switched on, prevents excessive bass fre-
quency cone excursions below the audible frequency
range. It operates essentially as a band-pass filter. The
4.1 Overview low frequencies are rolled off at 18 dB/octave with a
It should be noted that over time Crown makes improve- 3 dB corner of 35 Hz (Butterworth response). Ultra-
ments and changes to their products for various rea- sonics are rolled off with a second order Bessel response
sons. This manual is up to date as of the time of writing. and 3 dB corner of 50 kHz.
For additional information regarding these amplifiers, A compression circuit in each channel may be switched
refer to the applicable Technical Notes provided by off, on slow, or on fast by switches on the rear panel.
Crown for this product. Sketches have been added to This compressor is activated by either input overload
this section for clarification of the various concepts pre- or distortion (clipping). Input overload compression is
sented, as well as block diagrams for the amplifier and in fast speed when the compressor switch is in the off
specific portions of the amplifier. For detailed schemat- position. The compression ratio is infinite (it operates
ics refer to Section 6. as a peak limiter).
The Macro-Tech 5002VZ amplifier incorporates several The four-quadrant topology used in the grounded out-
new technological advancements, including real-time put stages is called the Grounded Bridge, and it makes
computer simulation of output transistor stress, low- full use of the power supplies. This patented topology
stress output stages, an advanced heat diffuser em- also makes peak-to-peak voltages available to the load
bodiment, a programmable input processor (PIP) ex- which are twice the voltage any output device is ever
pansion system, and articulated VZ power supplies. exposed to. The Grounded Bridge is covered in detail
Custom circuitry is incorporated to limit temperature and in Section 4.2.
current to safe levelsmaking it highly reliable and tol- The two channels may be used together to double the
erant of faults. Unlike many lesser amplifiers, the Macro- voltage (bridged-mono) or the current (parallel-mono)
Tech 5002VZ can operate at its voltage and current lim- presented to the load. This feature gives the user flex-
its without self-destructing. ibility in maximizing the power available to the load.
Real-time computer simulation is used to create an ana- Macro-Tech amplifiers utilize a wide bandwidth multiloop
log reading of the junction temperature of the output feedback design with state of the art compensation tech-
transistors (herein referred to as the output devices). niques. This produces ideal behavior and results in ul-
Current is limited only when the device temperature be- tra-low distortion values.
comes excessiveand just by the minimum amount
necessary. This patented approach, called ODEP (Out- Aluminum extrusions have been widely used for
put Device Emulation Protection) maximizes the avail- heatsinks in power amplifiers due to their low cost and
able output power and eliminates overheatingthe reasonable performance. However, measured on a
major cause of device failure. ODEP in the MA-5002VZ watts per pound or watts per volume basis, that extru-
also provides indication of amplifier thermal reserve sion technology doesnt perform nearly as well as the
(front panel ODEP indicators) and may provide control cut fin radiator technology developed for the Macro-
of VZ mode when the VZ mode select switches are Tech 5002VZ power amplifier.
placed in the VZ-ODEP position. Our thermal diffusers are custom cut radiator fins on a
The amplifier is protected from all common hazards that solid heat sink block. They provide an extremely high
plague high-power amplifiers, including shorted, open ratio of area to volume, or area to weight. All power de-
or mismatched loads, overloaded power supplies, ex- vices are mounted directly to massive heat spreaders,
cessive temperature, chain-destruction phenomena, which are electrically hot. Making the heat spreaders
input-overload damage, and high-frequency blowups. electrically hot allows improved thermal performance
The unit protects loudspeakers from DC in the input by eliminating the insulating interface underneath the
signal and from turn-on and turn-off transients. It also power devices. The chassis itself is used as part of the
detects and prevents unwanted DC on the outputs. thermal circuit, and this maximizes utilization of the avail-
Additional protection features include input voltage able resources.
sense as well as overvoltage (AC mains). 4.2 Grounded Bridge Theory
A mode of protection which may be switched on or off The Grounded Bridge topology is ground-referenced

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-1

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

Figure 4.1 Simplified Grounded Bridge

by the output stages rather than the power supply. ducts to deliver Vcc to the load and the high side NPN
Composite devices are constructed to function as gi- stage is off.
gantic NPN and PNP devices since the available cur-
rents exceed the limits of existing individual devices. The low side operates quite differently. The power sup-
ply bridge rectifier is not ground referenced. This al-
The devices connected to the load are referred to as lows the power supply to deliver +Vcc and Vcc from
high-side NPN and PNP and the devices connected the same bridge rectifier and filter as a total difference
to ground are referred to as low-side NPN and PNP. in potential, regardless of their voltages with respect to
Positive voltage is delivered to the load by increasing ground. The low side of bridge uses inverted feedback
conductance simultaneously in the high-side NPN and from the high side output to control the ground refer-
low-side PNP stage. At the same time, conductance of ence for the rails.
the high-side PNP and low-side NPN is being de-
creased. As the output swings positive, the output signal is fed
back to the low side and is inverted to drive the low
side with a negative signal. The negative signal causes
4.2.1 Grounded Bridge Operation the low side PNP to conduct (as the high side NPN con-
Figure 4.1 is a simplified example of Crowns patented ducts) shifting the ground reference toward Vcc until,
Grounded Bridge output topology (ignoring the articu- at the peak, Vcc = 0V. At this time +Vcc equals the full
lating characteristics of the VZ supply). It consists of potential (from rail to rail, not rail to ground) of the power
four quadrants of three-deep Darlington (composite) supply with positive polarity. Since the high side is de-
emitter-follower stages per channel: one NPN and one livering +Vcc to the speaker load (which is ground ref-
PNP on the high side of the bridge (driving the load), erenced at all times), the speaker sees the full potential
and one NPN and one PNP on the low side of the bridge developed by the power supply with a positive polarity.
(controlling the ground reference for the rails). The out-
put stages are biased to operate class AB+B for ultra When the input drive signal is negative and the high
low distortion in the signal cross-over region. side PNP conducts to deliver a negative voltage to the
load, that output is again fed to the low side and in-
The high side of the bridge operates similar to a con- verted to cause the low side NPN to conduct. As the
ventional bipolar push-pull output configuration. As the low side NPN conducts, +Vcc swings toward the 0V
input drive voltage becomes more positive, the high side ground potential. At the peak: +Vcc = 0V. At this time
NPN conducts current and delivers positive voltage to Vcc equals the full potential developed by the power
the speaker load. Eventually, full +Vcc is across the load. supply, but with negative polarity. Since the high side is
At this time the high side PNP is biased off. When the delivering Vcc to the speaker load, the load sees the
drive signal is negative going, the high side PNP con-
4-2 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.
130446-1 Rev. A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

full (negative) potential developed by the power sup- Q513, Q515, Q517, and Q536 are the HS NPN output
ply. devices. These devices are biased class B, in soft cut-
off. Together with driver and pre-driver, they function as
The total effect is to deliver a peak to peak voltage to a three-deep Darlington. The output devices work in
the speaker load which is twice the (static) voltage pro- parallel as a giant composite. The over-all bias topol-
duced by the power supply. Benefits include full utiliza- ogy is referred to as AB+B, originally conceived and
tion of the power supply (it conducts current during both patented by Crown engineers in 1966. This is still the
halves of the output signal; conventional designs re- most efficient, stable, and distortion free method used
quire two power supplies per channel, one positive and today in BJT output stages.
one negative), and never exposing any output device
to more than half of the peak to peak output voltage D506 is the flyback diode for the HS NPN output quad-
(which does occur in conventional designs). rant. In the event that a back EMF (flyback) pulse ex-
ceeds power supply voltage, the flyback diode will shunt
4.2.2 Output Stage Circuitry this voltage to the supply in order to protect the output
Circuitry on the positive and negative output modules devices.
include bias circuitry, current limit circuitry, last voltage
amplifiers (LVAs), pre-drivers, drivers, output devices, PNP pre-drivers, drivers, output devices, and flyback
and the Low Side error amp. Temperature sensors are diode D508 are a mirror image of the NPN side.
also mounted to the heatsinks via the output modules. Overall, the High Side of the bridge operates much like
The positive LVAs (Q501, Q502, and Q503) convert the a conventional output stage, but the Low Side (LS) is
negative output of the voltage translator stage to a posi- quite unique.
tive drive voltage for the NPN High Side (HS) predriver. The LS senses output voltage and common buss (0.04
There are three LVA transistors in parallel due to the ohms above ground) potential. The audio output is in-
very high voltages (therefore higher current and ther- verted by U503. Also in the U503 input circuitry are static
mal requirements) that are present when the power and dynamic balance controls. These controls provide
supply is in high voltage mode. D522 prevents the +LVAs a fine balance of the grounded bridge. Output of the
from producing a high negative output to the HS NPN op-amp drives the LS pre-driver circuits through the LS
stage. bias network.
Q507, Q508, and Q509 are the -LVAs and are arranged LS bias is controlled in a fashion similar to that of the
in mirror image to the +LVAs, including D513. HS. Two transistors, Q529 and Q530, fix LS bias volt-
On the positive side, D514, D515, and C506 via the age as measured from pin 15 (hot) to pin 13 of appli-
+LVAs act to limit slew rate. D514 and D515 also pre- cable ATE port TP1 or TP2. Potentiometer R556 adjusts
vent dangerously excessive current through the LVAs. bias in the LS.
D516, D517, and C507 are the negative HS mirror im- Diodes D504 and D505 control polarity of applied LS
age. drive signal. Via the bias transistors, signal is delivered
Q534 and Q540 provide two-speed current limiting in to the bases of the pre-drivers Q527 (NPN) and Q528
the output stage. Sense lines are arranged such that (PNP). Pre-drivers, drivers, and output devices in the
excessive current through any single HS output device LS operate class AB+B, exactly like the HS. The major
will result in current limit protection. Q535 and Q541 are difference is that rather than driving a load, the NPN
the negative side mirror image. and PNP stages control the ground reference for the
high voltage rails. As the HS NPNs conduct, LS PNPs
Q505 on the positive output module works in tandem conduct, and vice versa (as explained in section 4.2.1).
with Q505 on the negative output module as a Vbe
multiplier circuit. They produce and, with great stability, When the ODEP circuit senses that limiting drive is nec-
control bias for the High Side NPN and PNP devices. essary to prevent a dangerous thermal condition, it pro-
Potentiometer R505 is used to precisely set bias volt- vides an output which limits drive to the output stages.
age. Bias voltage is easily measured from pin 2 (hot) to For the HS, this limiting is accomplished on the main
pin 4 of ATE ports TP1 and TP2. Refer to Section 2 for module and is explained in section 4.4. For the LS, ODEP
appropriate test procedures. provides (via wires labeled LL) a signal which limits
bias feed to the LS output devices. This is accomplished
Q504 is the HS NPN pre-driver and Q511 is the HS through current mirrors Q532 and Q531 (LS NPN quad-
NPN driver. These devices are biased class AB for ul- rant), and Q542 and Q543 (LS PNP quadrant).
tra low distortion in the zero-crossing region.

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-3

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

4.3 VZ Power Supply The VZ supply is divided into segments to better match
VZ means Variable Impedance and is the name of the voltage and current requirements of the power tran-
Crowns patented articulated power supply technology. sistors. Remember that audio signals like music are
It enables Crown to pack tremendous power into just complex waveforms. Refer to Figures 4.2 and 4.3.
5.25 inches of vertical rack space. For music the average level is always much less than
A power supply must be large enough to handle the the peak level. This means a power supply does not
maximum voltage and current necessary for the ampli- need to produce full voltage all the time.
fier to drive its maximum rated power into a specified The VZ supply is divided into two parts. When the volt-
load. In the process of fulfilling this requirement, con- age requirements are not high, it operates in a parallel
ventional power supply designs produce lots of heat, mode to produce less voltage and more current.
are heavy, and take up precious real estate. And its no
secret that heat is one of a power amplifiers worst en- The power transistors stay cooler and are not forced to
emies. needlessly dissipate heat. This is the normal operating
mode of the VZ power supply.
According to Ohms Law, the bigger the power supply,
the more heat the power transistors must dissipate. Also, When the voltage requirements are high, VZ switches
the lower the resistance of the power transistors, the to a series mode to produce higher voltage and less
more voltage you can deliver to the load. But at the current. The amplified output signal never misses a beat
same time that you lower the resistance of the transis- and gets full voltage only when it needs it.
tors, you increase the current passing through them, Sensing circuitry watches the voltage of the output sig-
and again increase the amount of heat they must dissi- nal to determine when to switch VZ modes. The switch-
pate. ing circuitry is designed to prevent audible switching
distortion to yield the highest dynamic transfer function
4.3.1 VZ Supply Operation you hear only the music and not the amplifier. You
An articulated power supply, like VZ, can circumvent get not only the maximum power with the maximum
much of this problem by reducing the voltage applied safety, you also get the best power matching to your
to the transistors when less voltage is required. Reduc- load.
ing the voltage reduces the heat. Since the amplifier
runs cooler, you can safely pack more power into the In Figure 4.2, the individual components are
chassis. shown. Upstream of the toroid transformer,
though not shown, is where shutdown protec-
Toroid Bridge 1 tion and soft-start circuitry taps in to control AC
+VCC Buss mains input to the power supply. The VZ Control
circuitry senses audio level and switches the ar-
+ ticulating VZ supplies to either parallel (high cur-
rent) mode for lower level audio, or series (high
voltage) mode for high program peaks.
D 810
Figure 4.3 shows current flow with power supply
and grounded bridge operating to-
gether. Notice that the ungrounded
HI V HI I VZ supply operates much like a
VZ Control
Bridge 2 (MOSFETs) Circuitry battery. More exactly, it is a float-
ing DC supply made up of two in-
ternal batteries which operate in
+ either series or parallel.
D 811 In both examples it can be seen that when the
MOSFET switch is off, the dual supplies are
forced to operate in a parallel mode. Audio level
is sensed via a line tapping off the NFb loop.
When audio level is rising and at about 80% of
-VCC Buss the parallel mode supply voltage, the MOSFETs
Figure 4.2 Simplified VZ Supply (the switch is actually a three-device compos-

4-4 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.

130446-1 Rev. A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

VZ Power Supply & Grounded Bridge Output Topology

+ (+Vcc)

+Vcc (Positive Rail)

R R
Input
signal
Load
+ S1 + (speaker)
V1 V2 Inverting Op-amp

HIGH SIDE -Vcc (Negative Rail) LOW SIDE

Parallel =
Series =
(-Vcc) R = Switch Resistance

Figure 4.3 Simplified VZ Supply in Operation

ite switch) are turned on. No current will flow through 4.3.2 VZ Supply Circuitry
either of the control diodes (D810 and D811, as shown For simplicity, only channel 1 circuitry will be covered
for channel 1) because reverse polarity is applied unless noted otherwise. The actual VZ switch circuit is
through the MOSFET switch. Since this happens to both located on the VZ switch assembly. This assembly con-
rectifier sources at the same time, and the negative side tains the filter capacitors, MOSFET switches, and con-
of Bridge 1 is then shorted to the positive side of Bridge trol diodes (D810 and D811). Three MOSFETs are used
2, the supplies are forced to operate in series mode. in parallel for sharing the high current supplied to the
Like two batteries, the supplies will provide double volt- rails. Operation of this section was covered in detail,
age in series mode, double current in parallel mode. minus circuit designations, in Section 4.3.1.
Although shipped from the factory in VZ-ODEP mode,
       
                           

the user may switch modes to Lock Low voltage (high                                       

current), or operate the supply in VZ-AUTO mode. VZ-      !
    

     "     
    #

ODEP is similar to VZ-AUTO mode, except that in AUTO

                           

mode, in the event ODEP is activated to protect the                $       $   $  

  $ % #

amplifier, the VZ will automatically lock into low voltage  

         ! &      
   '   
 

(high current) mode. While this mode of operation will       

               
   !

cool the amplifier more quickly in the event that the ther-
mal reserve is exhausted, it may cause voltage clip- The output of a 555 timer (U703) on the control module
ping rather than ODEP limiting. Seldom will the ampli- determines whether the MOSFETs are switched on
fier be operated locked in high current mode unless a (high) or off (low). This 555 device and the various
very low impedance is being driven. sources that feed the 555 are the things that make the
articulation work.
The master 555 trigger is controlled by the output of

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-5

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

U702A. S700, physically accessible from behind the The ODEP circuitry actually comes in two parts, one
front grille, determines the VZ operating mode. In high positive and the other negative. For the purposes of
voltage mode (Q42930-0 Control Module only) the out- this discussion, only the channel 1 ODEP circuitry is
put of U702A is held low. This in turn keeps the 555 covered here, and the focus will primarily be on the
output high and the MOSFETs are kept on. In the high positive half.
current mode, U702A is held in the opposite polarity,
keeping the output of the 555 low and the MOSFETs off. An LM-334Z thermal sensor provides a calibrated out-
In the AUTO position of S700, the audio level sense put from the output modules. At 25C its output is 2.98V,
circuitry controls the threshold and reset inputs to the with a 10 mV increase per every 1C rise in heatsink
555. The 555 will then switch states to high voltage when temperature.
the audio level is sufficient and will switch back down This thermal sensor output, from the positive sensor,
automatically when level has dropped sufficiently. Ca- goes to three destinations. First is a buffer which drives
pacitors in the U705 circuitry control the speed of the the calibrated temperature test point at pin 7 of TP1/
down-shift. In the VZ-ODEP mode, the switch operates TP2. Second is an over-temperature limit trip (thermal
as it would in AUTO mode unless ODEP limiting is in limit amplifier, as shown below). This will cause both
progress. When ODEP limiting occurs, optic coupler the positive and the negative ODEP circuit to go into,
U704 pulls the reset control low to the 555 to turn the and remain in, hard ODEP until the heatsinks cool. Third,
MOSFET switches off, and keep them off (low voltage/ it goes down into a circuit which combines thermal and
high current mode) until the ODEP limiting condition output power information.
clears.
The thermal sensor from the negative output module
Upstream of the toroids are the soft-start and protec- only performs this last function.
tion mechanisms used to power down the amplifier.
Although tied into the power supply primary, these cir- A pair of sense lines from the Low Side emitter resistors
cuits are covered in Section 4.6, Protection Systems. provide current information. Combined with VCC infor-
mation, actual instantaneous power is calculated. A
The low voltage power supply utilizes a separate trans- combining circuit determines the net thermal condition
former. The front panel power switch and a 1A fuse based on the power being delivered for the existing
(F702) are the only components upstream of this trans- heat level. The ODEP amplifier accepts this input infor-
former. The output of the rectifier produces 24VDC mation and, using an RC model of the heat transfer
unregulated. U715 and U716 produce regulated characteristics of the output devices (as mounted in
15VDC respectively. (A separate fullwave rectifier pro- the heatsinks), creates a complex output proportional
duces pulsed DC for Over-voltage sense and Soft-start to the thermal reserve of the output devices.
control.)
Output from the positive ODEP amplifier ranges from
12V (cold) to +9V (hard ODEP). This output drives the
4.4 ODEP Theory positive LS bias feed control circuit (see Section 4.2.2)
To protect the output stages from adverse thermal con- and the negative HS Voltage Translator feed control cir-
ditions, a specially developed ODEP (Output Device cuit (see Section 4.5.2). Also, this circuit provides test
Emulator Protection) circuit is used. It produces a com- point monitoring information and VZ-ODEP VZ mode
plex analog output signal proportional to the always control information.
changing safe-operating-area (SOA) margin of the out-
put transistors. This output signal controls the Voltage Output from the negative ODEP amplifier ranges from
Translator stage and Low Side output stage bias. This +12V (cold) to 9V (hard ODEP). This output drives the
action removes only the drive that may exceed the safe- negative LS bias feed control circuit (see Section 4.2.2)
operating-area of the output stage. and the positive HS Voltage Translator feed control cir-
cuit (see Section 4.5.2). Also, this circuit provides test
Thermal sensors give the ODEP circuitry vital informa- point monitoring information, VZ-ODEP control informa-
tion on the operating temperature of the heat sinks on tion, and front panel ODEP (thermal reserve) LED con-
which the output devices are mounted. This tempera- trol information.
ture signal combines with the complex ODEP signal to
form the heart of our patented ODEP protection scheme. Also tapping into the ODEP output control of LS bias
feed and Voltage Translator feed are signals from the
4.4.1 ODEP Operation fault, power (turn-on delay), and power loss (brown-
Refer to Figure 4.4 for a diagram of the basic operation out) circuits. By using the output of ODEP for LL and
of the ODEP system. LH control, these sources can mute the audio to the

4-6 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.

130446-1 Rev. A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

Channel 1 ODEP Circuitry shown

ODEP Inputs: ODEP Outputs:
Temperature Calibrated Temperature, for monitoring
VCC ODEP Level, for monitoring
Output Current ODEP Level, for Bi-ODEP control of VZ Supply
ODEP Level, to limit drive at Voltage Translators (LH)
ODEP Level, to limit Low Side Bias (LL)
ODEP Indication (front panel LEDs)
Off Main On Main Module

Module

/ D E K M A D 5 * F ) * + , * A D 5 4 A * 0 4 5 , 4 5

( ) * + , -

^ 2 5

6 4 L L * A J + , E K L K * A

; 1 N O O P Q

( : >

) C * A + D E < * 3 7 2 A

) C * A + D E ; K + K 5 J + , E K L K * A

/ 2 E F

R 9 V

( S T : U > D 5 S / W

N - S >

V
=

( - X + > Y / K 7 * Z

( 0 G H I 0 4 5 , 4 5

( > / /

( > / /

N ; ^ -

8 9

( 0 G H I J + , E K L K * A

- : ; <

0 4 5 , 4 5

( ; ; -

( . / -

/ ? * 5 @ 2 A B

( . / 0 1 -

J ] ; ) -

) C * A + D E 1 2 F * E

I [ -
/ 2 + + 2 3 0 4 5 , 4 5 6 4 7 7

I [ ; 0 < <

N . / 0 1 -

N 0 G H I J + , E K L K * A

N . / -

( ; ^ -

8 9

S P ; <

0 4 5 , 4 5

/ ? * 5 @ 2 A B

N ; ; -

N > / /

) C * A + D E 1 2 F * E

N > / /

N 0 G H I 0 4 5 , 4 5

N ) * + , -

( - S >

/ 2 E F

^ 2 5
; 1 N O O P Q

N : >

) C * A + D E < * 3 7 2 A

Figure 4.4 Simplified ODEP Circuitry

output stage: a. until power-up delay has timed out; b. ing. When the thermal condition clears, this limiting con-
immediately upon indication of any failure mode; c. im- dition will also clear.
mediately upon loss of AC mains (power-down or ac-
tual loss of AC service). +VCC enters via dual PNP transistor pack U116.
Positive ODEP bias is adjusted by R182. The voltage at
that point controls the static balance of the U116 de-
4.4.2 ODEP Circuitry vice. U116 combines the VCC and output current sense
TEMP signals are produced by U500 and U501 on information, the output of which represents output power
the output modules. U108, on the main module, is a level. The common output is brought into RN101 where
buffer which drives the temperature sense test point. it provides the reference for temperature and power.
U117A has a fixed window voltage of 6.2V via Zener U112B is the active device and, together with the power
D129. If heatsink temperature level exceeds about signal, drives the ODEP amplifier U112A. The RC net-
130C, U117A output will cause both the positive and work in the feedback path of U112A models the ther-
negative ODEP amplifiers to go into hard ODEP limit- mal junctions from output device die to housing, hous-

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-7

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

ing to case, and case to heatsink under both static and 4.5.1 Balanced Gain Stage
dynamic conditions. The Balanced Gain Stage (BGS) amplifier U100A con-
The output of the positive ODEP amplifier drives +ODEP verts the input audio from a balanced configuration to
test point pin 11. It also drives U114A and U114B which single-ended with (electrical) unity gain. The compres-
in turn drive LH and +LL respectively. The output of sion device is essentially a resistive shunt across the
the negative ODEP amplifier drives the ODEP indica- balanced BGS input. The BGS drives the Variable Gain
tion circuitry and ODEP test point pin 9. Negative ODEP Stage and provides information to the compressor con-
also drives U114C and U114D which in turn drive +LH trol circuit and to the PIP connector.
and LL respectively.
4.5.2 Variable Gain Stage
Also entering the U114 comparator networks are the The Variable Gain Stage (U100B) taps signal from the
PWR (power relay engage), PWRLOSS (brown-out), and wiper of the front panel level control (R120). Gain of the
FAULT (any protection which shuts down the amplifier) front-end is set by the gain of this stage. The sensitivity
signals via blocking diodes. If any of these signals drop switch (S100, located on the rear panel) selects the
low, the feed to the LS bias and Voltage Translator drive amount of gain in this stage. Overall amplifier sensitivity
will be shut down via LL and LH. This action mutes may be set for 26 dB fixed gain (about 5.1Vrms), 1.4V,
all audio in the event of a dramatic failure. or 0.775V. Since overall amplifier gain after this stage is
26 dB, this stage will have a fixed gain of 0 dB (26 dB
4.5 Front End Theory setting), about +12 dB (1.4V setting), or about +16 dB
(0.775V setting). The output of this stage drives the Er-
Figure 4.5 explodes the front-end portion of the overall
block diagram. Once again, only channel 1 will be dis- ror Amp.
cussed in detail.
4.5.3 Error Amp
Input to the amplifier is only via a PIP module. The stan- The Error Amp (U105) input comes from the Variable
dard module shipped with the MA-5002VZ is the PIP2- Gain Stage with or without Loudspeaker Offset Integra-
FXQ. Whether this, or any other module is used, the tion (LOI), and is summed with amplifier output in a nega-
amplifier senses a balanced input from the installed tive feedback (NFb) configuration. Output of the Error
module. Amp drives the Voltage Translators and provides error

Figure 4.5 Front End Circuitry Block Diagram

4-8 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.

130446-1 Rev. A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

signal information. An error signal (spike) is produced 4.5.7 Inverting Stages

any time the shape of the output waveform differs from Overall, the amplifier is non-inverting. Four stages within
the output of the Variable Gain Stage and LOI by more the amplifier, however, do invert the audio signal for a
than 0.05%. This error signal drives the error signal (ES) net non-inversion. The individual stages are: the BGS,
input to the PIP connector, the error signal sense test which inverts the audio; the Variable Gain Stage, which
point, and the compression control circuit. inverts it back; the input side of U106 and U107 (which
drives the Voltage Translators) re-inverts the audio (the
4.5.4 Compressor Voltage Translators are a common-base configuration
The compression circuitry senses error signal and BGS for high voltage gain); and finally, the LVAs invert the
level. If the BGS overloads, or an error signal is present, audio for the last time for a net non-inversion through
the compression control circuit (U101) produces a com- the amplifier.
pression drive pulse. A switch on the rear panel selects
the speed of the integrator circuit to follow. In the off
position, the error driven compression is disabled, but
4.6 Protection Systems
The MA-5002VZ has several protection mechanisms to
the input overload compression remains on (in fast limit drive or shutdown the amplifier completely in the
speed) to protect the front end. The compression drive event of a fault of almost any kind. Mechanisms include:
pulse also drives the IOC Integrator (U102). The IOC ODEP (covered in depth in Section 4.4), current limit
integrator not only tells the IOC indicator circuit when to (covered in Section 4.2.2), over-voltage (on AC mains),
turn on, but ensures that the indicator will remain on DC/LFI, common mode output current, output thermal,
long enough to be visible to the human eye. transformer thermal, FET thermal, loss of AC mains,
The compression integrator (U102, Q100) sets com- compression (covered in Section 4.5.4), LOI (covered
pression speed and produces an output pulse which in Section 4.5.5), and slew rate limit (covered in Section
controls attack and decay times. An optic device (U103) 4.2.2). After any non-latching fault which has shut down
provides a resistive shunt to the input audio according the amplifier clears, the amplifier will automatically power
to the degree of compression required and the dura- back up via soft-start. Because the fans within the MA-
tion of that compression. The amplifier input impedance 5002VZ cool the amplifier (under normal conditions) to
is not affected by compressor operation. prevent thermal shutdowns and ODEP limiting, the fan
control circuit is also covered in this section.
4.5.5 Loudspeaker Offset Integration Refer to Figures 4.6, 4.7, and 4.8. Figure 4.6 shows soft-
LOI (U104A/B) senses amplifier feedback and prevents start and fan control. Figure 4.7 shows the soft-start con-
dynamic DC offset. It operates essentially as a dual fil- trol signals. Figure 4.8 shows the over-all protection
ter system with band pass from about 35 Hz to about scheme of the MA-5002VZ. Each augments the others,
50 kHz. The upper roll-off has a second order Bessel and explode the basic block diagram of the unit (Fig-
response while the lower roll-off has a third order ure 4.9).
Butterworth response.
4.6.1 Soft-start
4.5.6 Voltage Translator and LVA Stages Soft-start circuitry controls the rate at which power is
The Voltage Translator stages (Q104, Q104) channel initially applied to the primary of the toroid transformers
the signal to the Last Voltage Amplifiers (LVAs, located for the high-voltage power supplies. For ease of expla-
on the output modules), depending on the signal polar- nation, assume the amplifier is operating properly and
ity, from the error amp U105. The LVAs, with their push- is just being turned on from the front panel power switch.
pull effect through the High Side bias servo devices,
drive the fully complementary output stage. For more Before the power switch push-button is depressed, the
information on the LVAs, refer to Section 4.2. input to the low voltage supply is open. The high volt-
age supply is isolated via input relay K700 and triac
U106 and U107 bring in feedback information and pro- Q701 (which is in parallel with K700).
tection muting to the Voltage Translator stages. The feed-
back controls gain from the Voltage Translators to the Several things occur immediately at turn-on. First, the
output jacks. The protection inputs (LH) pull off feed low voltage supply powers up and produces its main
to the Voltage Translators in proportion to ODEP limit- unregulated 24VDC and regulated 15VDC. It also
ing, and completely shut down the feed in the event of immediately produces pulsed DC via full-wave rectifier
power-down or a Fault. D709/D714.

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-9

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

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Figure 4.6 Soft-start and Fan Control

As this occurs, all op-amps in the amplifier receive Note: Any protection signal within the amplifier which is
power, including front-end stages, relay power control used to shut it down will discharge this capacitor (C120),
U111C, and standby control U111B. The output of immediately causing the relay (K700) to open. Upon
U111C powers relay K700 via relay drive transistor clearance of such a shut-down protection signal, the
Q700. When the output of this op-amp goes high, Q700 charge will begin again with the same ramp effect and
turns on and the relay closes. The output of U111C is same delay.
held low until the amplifier delay times out by compar- The ramped voltage on the capacitor C120 is also
ing a high voltage on its inverting input to an RC net- sensed by Standby amplifier U111B. Its unity gain out-
work voltage on its non-inverting input. R329 and R330 put is non-inverting. It drives the Soft-start op-amp
fix a window at about +10.4VDC. At turn-on, C220 (a (U701A) inverting input with its ramp to control the rate
10 F cap) is fully discharged. In that first instant, it keeps at which the field develops in the toroid. On the non-
15V on the non-inverting input of U111C, keeping its inverting input to U701A is the pulsed DC drive from
output low. As the capacitor charges it produces a the U701B/Q708 pulse circuit. Jumper JP1 may be set
ramped rise in voltage as it charges through R327. Af- to 50 or 60 Hz, but must be set properly to have the
ter about 4 seconds, the voltage between R327 and correct pulse width for soft-start. Pulse width is deter-
R328 exceeds the window voltage and U111C output mined by C717 and either R777 (50 Hz) or R777 in par-
goes high, in turn causing relay K700 to close. allel with R806 (60 Hz).

4-10 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.

130446-1 Rev. A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

The output of U701A controls the Soft-start. Refer to fields have built up in the high voltage supply, and the
Figure 4.6 for a graphic of Soft-start operation. main relay closes. At time 3 a protective action occurs;
note that the DC supply remains. At time 4 the condi-
When the output of U701A goes low, the opto-triac de- tion clears and the restart begins. Time 5 is akin to time
vice U700 turns on. While on, the input triac Q700 con- 2, and time 6 is another protective action. The lower
ducts. Positor R702 limits peak input current to the tor- graph shows Q701 operation (high = on).
oid to a maximum of 22A peak (with 120VAC mains).
U701A combines the sloped input from the C120 cir- Any time a protection mechanism has acted and the
cuitry on the main module with the pulsed DC. As the condition then clears, this entire process repeats.
portion of time which the output of U701A goes low in-
creases, the amount of time where AC mains conduct 4.6.2 Over-voltage
to the transformer (via Q700 and R702) increases until One mode of amplifier protection is a shutdown in the
it remains on. When the U111C PWR circuit times out, event of over-voltage on the AC mains. This is sensed
the relay closes, bypassing the current limiting soft-start by the pulsed DC signal produced by the full-wave rec-
circuit. Soft-start control signals are shown in Figure 4.7. tifier in the low voltage supply.
The upper signal is that produced by C120. At time 0
the amplifier is off. At time 1 the power switch is pressed R780 picks off the pulsed DC, and U707D will, if the
(on). At time 2 C120 has fully charged, the magnetic voltage is too high, shift its output to a low. When this
happens, the over-volt/therm red LED on the control
module lights and signal OV1 goes low
to the main module.
A low (over-voltage condition) on
OV1 causes U211C to shift to a
low output. This low, through D1,

causes C120 to discharge im-

mediately. This in turn causes the

main relay to drop out, soft-start

to reset, and the LL and LH

to clamp audio drive. Over-volt-

age is a non-latching fault con-
dition.
4.6.3 DC/LF
The amplifier senses its own out-
put for DC or very low frequency

and will interrupt the amplifier

channel in the event of DC or low

frequency.
The feedback loop is sensed for
voltage and the current sense

signal provides current informa-

tion. An RC network at the input
to U109C/D will prevent the LF
circuit from activating with nor-
mal audio frequency material,
and will ensure activation with

high level subsonic currents or

voltages.

If U109C/D sense a DC (or LF)

level, it will output a low, which

will, through D102, discharge
Figure 4.7 Soft-start Signal C120 and initiate power supply

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-11

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

shutdown. A low will also cause the DC/LF red LED on

the main module to light. DC/LF is a non-latching pro-

tection mechanism.

4.6.4 Common Mode Output Current

Common mode current in the output stage

can only be due to an output stage failure

or full power output of RF energy. Com-

mon mode current occurs when a high

current level exists in both the positive and

the negative halves of the output stage.

U115 is a specialty device. It serves as

both an Opto-SCR, and as a conventional

SCR. It must have both an optic gate and

conventional gate firing at the same time

in order to latch. The conventional gate is

fired by current sense of the output stage

Low-side. The optic gate is fired by the

High-side current sense. If high currents

exist in both sides simultaneously, the SCR

will latch on, and remain on until the unit is

turned off.

When the SCR latches, low voltage causes

the red LED (labeled Output Module) to

light, and places a low on the FAULT sig-

nal line. A low on the FAULT line is sensed,

via D112, by C120. Once again, a low here

discharges C120 and shuts down the am-

plifier. FAULT is a latching protection

mechanism (the only one in the amplifier).

4.6.5 Output Thermal

Output over-temperature protection has

been covered, to a degree, in Section

4.4.2, ODEP Circuitry. The calibrated tem-

perature sense from the positive half of the

output stage drives an over-temperature

amp, U117A. If heatsink temperature ex-

ceeds a limit of about 130C, the amplifier

will go into hard ODEP. This does not shut Figure 4.8 Over-all Protection Scheme
down the amplifier, but does clamp the au-
dio. Refer to Section 4.4.2. results in amplifier shutdown by way of shared over-
voltage circuitry. Refer to Section 4.6.2.
4.6.6 Transformer Thermal
The main power transformers have built-in thermal 4.6.7 FET Thermal
switches which open in the event of transformer over- A special circuit has been designed into the MA-5002VZ
temperature. In the event that the thermal switch opens to protect the MOSFET switches in the VZ supply. The
in the channel 1 toroid, Q709 turns on, causing U707D voltage drop across the FETs (while conducting) is pro-
to go low. When it does, the over-voltage/thermal switch portional to device temperature. Control circuitry senses
LED on the control module is energized and the OV1 the voltage and, if necessary, the supply will be forced
signal is tripped; the fans are also forced to high speed. into low voltage (high current) mode to allow the FET
Transformer thermal protection is self-resetting. This devices to cool.
4-12 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.
130446-1 Rev. A MA-5002VZ Service Manual

4.6.8 Power Loss fier thermal reserve. The LEDs are amber (although they
The MA-5002VZ has the ability to sense a brown-out may have a reddish appearance) and are normally on.
condition on the AC service. This is accomplished by They dim and/or extinguish in the event that the
sensing the low-voltage power supply at U111A. Local amplifiers thermal reserve is exhausted. ODEP indica-
capacitors on the 15VDC keep this chip powered for tors will also extinguish whenever the main supply re-
a short time after the low voltage supply drops out on lays are open (such as a protection action being acti-
power-down/loss. vated, or during Soft-start time-out).
An RC network, consisting of C1 and R6, will cause the Green SPI/IOC LEDs show signal presence (SPI) and
output of U111A to shift low the instant low voltage is any form of distortion (IOC). They flash dimly with the
lost. This negative potential discharges C120 causing audio to show signal. In the event of an IOC condition
immediate opening of the main relay, and reset of the (output waveform differs from input by >0.05%, or input
Soft-start circuitry. It is essential that C120 be discharged overload) the light will be on brightly. An occasional flash
immediately in the event that power is restored before of IOC usually indicates clipping. If the IOC light locks
C120 would otherwise discharge. The power-loss cir- in, it usually indicates a protective action, or hard ODEP
cuit is common to both channels. Its output goes to limiting.
LL and LH to immediately mute audio upon power- ILOAD/ILIMIT LEDs flash green with the audio when pro-
down or power-loss, thus preventing turn-off audio noise. gram material is being delivered to a load. Its function
is similar to that of the SPI, except that SPI is voltage
4.6.9 Fan Control driven and does not require a load. ILOAD comes on
The MA-5002VZ, unlike other members of the Macro- when the amplifier is loaded, and its brightness is in
Tech family, has two onboard fans. They are mounted proportion to the output current. This is the ILOAD func-
to the chassis divider assembly and pull cool air from tion. In the event of current limiting action, the light will
the front and discharge it across the output stage flash to red. This is the ILIMIT function.
heatsinks to the rear of the amplifier. Also unlike the other
Macro-Techs, the fans are fully ODEP proportional (they
operate in proportion to output stage temperature and 4.8 Mono Modes
calibrated ODEP control voltage). The MA-5002VZ has three main operating modes,
namely dual (stereo), bridge mono, and parallel mono.
U713B combines channel 1 temperature and ODEP
level, U713A for channel 2. D706 and D707 form a di- There are a number of precautions which should be
ode OR gate. The output of the OR gate drives one taken when operating the amplifier in either of the mono
input to U707B. The other input to U707B is from the modes. The VZ mode switches for each channel must
DC pulse width control circuit (U701B). U707B oper- be set to the same setting. Sensitivity, LOI, and Com-
ates in a fashion similar to that of U707A, the Soft-start pressor switches for channel 2 make no difference. The
control amplifier. A graphic example of the fan control input must be to channel 1 only. The input to channel 2
waveforms would look a good deal like those in Figure and controls for channel 2 are NOT defeated in either
4.7, except that the thermal drive would be unique from mono mode, therefore no connection to channel 2 may
that of the Soft-start ramp. be made in either of the mono modes. The channel 2
level control should be turned down (counterclockwise)
The fans will also be forced to operate at full speed in fully in either mono mode.
the event a toroid transformer thermal switch trips open.
Monaural amplifier operating modes are covered in
detail in the MA-5002VZ Reference Manual. The dis-
4.7 Display cussion below primarily aids in understanding how the
Amplifier front panel indication includes a total of 7 LEDs. mono modes work for testing purposes.
These include Enable, ODEP, SPI/IOC, and ILOAD/ILIMIT.
The Enable indicator is an amber light which indicates 4.8.1 Bridge Mono
presence of the low voltage supply. It is powered by the Bridge mono is intended for loads of 4 ohms or greater.
unregulated +24VDC supply. It will be on any time the The feedback loop for channel 1 also drives the input
power switch is depressed (unless the low voltage fuse to channel 2 in this mono mode. The input to channel 2
blows). is, however, inverted. This causes the output of chan-
nel 2 to be of equal magnitude and opposite polarity
ODEP indicators provide an on-line indication of ampli- (for double voltage output). The output of the amplifier

2000 Crown International, Inc. Circuit Theory 4-13

MA-5002VZ Service Manual 130446-1 Rev. A

is balanced, and channel 1 hot output is connected to The channel 1 and 2 amplifier hot outputs must be
load hot (+), channel 2 hot output is connected to load shorted by an external shorting buss (10 AWG or larger).
return ( ). The amplifier output to the load(s) is taken from either
channels hot output to load hot, and either channels
4.8.2 Parallel Mono negative output to the load return ( ). The shorting buss
Parallel mono is intended for loads less than 4 ohms must be removed prior to changing from parallel mono
(as low as 1 ohm) in a monaural amplifier configuration. to either other mode.

Figure 4.9 Macro-Tech 5002VZ Amplifier Block Diagram

4-14 Circuit Theory 2000 Crown International, Inc.