Amplifier-Loudspeaker Connections - Infinity IRS Epsilon Owner's Manual

Epsilon

Amplifier-Loudspeaker Connections

Remove the four screws and the access panel from each Epsilon and place them out of the way. Observe that the
battery snaps are female and male, and mate with the battery compartment snaps of the opposite sex. Place one 9V
battery into each battery compartment by inserting the snap-top of the battery into the upper end of the compartment.
Once the snaps are aligned, push up and in on the bottom of the battery, so that all of the snaps mate properly and the
battery seats inside the compartment.
Battery maintenance
For best operation, the batteries should be changed approximately every two years, well before they are fully
discharged. They can be removed by prying out their bottom ends and then pulling them down with your fingers to
unsnap the connections.
Initial balance switch settings
Place each of the three balance switches in its FLAT position. You will most likely want to experiment with these
switches once your system is fully connected and operating, so do not replace the access door yet.
Place the speakers near the initial positions you have chosen, leaving sufficient room behind them to make the cable
connections.
AMPLIFIER-LOUDSPEAKER CONNECTIONS
Speaker wire polarity
All speaker wires are marked with symbols, color stripes, different color insulation or different color conductors (for
example, copper and silver) to identify which conductor is which, at each end. This simple convention prevents
inadvertent reversals of polarity that can cause serious audible artifacts and poor sound quality.
Unless otherwise indicated, this manual assumes that the "+", copper, red, or striped conductor in a wire-pair is the "+"
conductor and connects to the red, "+" or "4 Ohm" terminals of the amplifiers and speakers.
Epsilon input terminals
The Epsilon's HIGH PASS and LOW PASS input terminals accept most of the speaker-wire terminations currently in
use. If you have wires with unusual connectors or terminals that don't fit the Epsilon inputs, please seek assistance
from your dealer. The input terminals' knurled posts provide plenty of grip for finger-tightening the connections. Do not
use pliers to tighten the posts; you could damage them or strip their threads, making it impossible to undo the
connections.
Amplifier output terminal identification
Amplifiers have a variety of identifications for output terminals. Most solid-state amps have just two output terminals per
channel; often these are red and black terminals, or screw-type terminal strips. Amps with output transformers have
several output terminals, usually identified by the speaker load impedance they are intended to drive, such as 4Ω Ω or 8Ω Ω ,
and also a common terminal.
In this manual, we call the amplifier output terminals "+" and "-", meaning that the "+" terminal is the red, "4Ω Ω ", or "+"
terminal, and the "-" terminals is the black, "common", ground, or "-" terminal. When the amplifier has output terminals
for more than one speaker impedance, always use the "4Ω Ω " terminal for the "+" connection.
Amplifier phase (polarity)
The connections from the amplifiers to the Epsilon loudspeakers' LOW PASS and HIGH PASS input terminals depend
on the phase of the amplifiers' outputs referred to their inputs. Amplifiers are either inverting or non-inverting; that is,
their outputs either go positive when the inputs go positive (non-inverting), or their outputs go negative when the inputs
go positive (inverting). In the first case, the inputs and outputs have a phase relationship of approximately 0°; in the
second the phase 1 relationship is approximately 180°. We use the terms "polarity" and "phase" interchangeably when
we discuss this 0°/180° relationship.
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