User manual CLASSE AUDIO CT-5300

[. . . ] Owner's Manual CA-5300 / CT-5300 Five-Channel Amplifier NOTICE All of us at Classé take extreme care to ensure that your purchase will remain a prized investment. We are proud to inform you that all Classé components have been officially approved for the European Community (CE) mark. This means that your Classé product was subjected to the most rigorous manufacturing and safety tests in the world. The CE mark certifies that your purchase meets or exceeds all European Community requirements for manufacturing consistency and consumer safety. [. . . ] If you are using another brand of preamplifier or processor, please refer to its operating manual to verify that the pin assignments of its output connectors correspond to those of your amplifier. If not, have your dealer obtain cables with the appropriate output pin connecting to the equivalent input pin. 2 Single-Ended (RCA) Input Single-ended cables using RCA connectors are the most common form of analog connection used in consumer electronics. When implemented carefully and with use of high quality interconnecting cables, this standard can provide excellent performance. Classé has gone to extraordinary effort to ensure that the single-ended (RCA) input of your power amplifier is as good as possible. However, this connection standard cannot offer the immunity from interference that balanced interconnection does--hence our recommendation to use the balanced inputs when possible. Speaker Outputs Twopairsofhighqualityfive-way binding posts are provided on the amplifier, in order to facilitate bi-wiring. In practice, bi-wiring involves connecting two (preferably identical) sets of speaker cables between each amplifier channel and its corresponding loudspeaker. In many cases, the benefit is a subjectively improved level of clarity and detail from the speaker, as a result of being able to feed the two separate sections of its crossover and driver complement with identical, yet separate signals. 3 14 (Many high quality loudspeakers also offer two sets of connections on their speakers. Generally, one set of the connections on the loudspeaker feeds the portion of the speaker's crossover network that supplies the woofer with its signal; the other set of connections connects to the portion of the crossover that supplies the rest of the speaker with the midrange and high frequencies. ) Although the binding posts on your Classé amplifier will accept bare wire connections, we strongly recommend the use of high quality spade or hook lugs, crimped and soldered onto the ends of your speaker wires. Using high quality connectors will ensure that your speaker connections do not gradually deteriorate from fraying and oxidizing bare wires. It also helps prevent accidental short-circuits from poorly-terminated connections. 4 Classé CAN-Bus Control Ports These RJ-45 connectors are reserved for control and communication applicationsusingClasséAudio'simplementationoftheControllerArea Network(CAN)Busspecification. RefertotheCAN-Bus section located later in this manual for more information. IR Input and Output Your Classé amplifier includes two 1/8th-inch mini mono-jacks in order to support the IR remote controls that are ubiquitous today. IR commands exist for toggling the amplifier between operate and standby, as well as discrete command codes for either operate or standby. These codes may be used in "macros" for sophisticated remote control systems, facilitating the control of the amplifier in the larger context of a complete system. Actually, this IR Input and Output description is a bit of a misnomer: the input supplied to these plugs is electrical in nature, not IR. It is obtained by using standard IR receivers, distribution amplifiers, and emitters (available fromyourdealer)totranslatetheremote'sflashesofinfraredlightinto corresponding pulses of electricity. The big advantages here include being able to easily route the signals anywhere they might need to go, and the reliability of a solid electrical connection. Since an IR distribution system such as your dealer may design for you usually must control many products, your amplifier includes both an IR input (for the control of this product) and an IR output (so as to pass along the same signal to the next product). This allows you to "daisy chain" your control wires from one product to the next. The amplifier is designed to respond to IR commands of 5 Volts DC, with the tip of the mini-plugs defined to be "positive" relative to the shank of the plug. 5 15 6 DC Trigger Input and Output Many audio/video preamplifiers can supply a DC control voltage to associated equipment in order to induce desired behavior. [. . . ] If the LED continues to blink, there is a fault condition in the amplifier itself, and it should be disconnected and taken to your Classé dealer for service. · Ifitpowersupwithoutanydifficulty, poweritbackdownand reconnect only the inputs. If it goes into its blinking protection mode, something is wrong with a component "upstream" of the amplifier--probably a DC offset or similar problem. Your amplifier is trying to protect your loudspeakers (even small amounts of DC can increase distortion anddamagespeakersinrelativelylittletime). Trydifferent source components to discover whether the problem is limited to a single source, or exists all the time (which would indicate a problem with the preamplifier/processor). [. . . ]