Troubleshooting/Balanced Connection Notes - Infinity IRS Epsilon Owner's Manual

Epsilon

Troubleshooting/Balanced Connection Notes

Damaged power cord
If the power cord or one of its molded terminals is damaged, cut, has loose pins, an exposed wire or a missing ground
pin, replace it at once with an equivalent cord. The SCU's "IEC" power cord is a type commonly used with computers
and electronic instruments, and is widely available.
Avoid connecting and disconnecting equipment without first turning off the power to all of the
components
Long familiarity with audio equipment tends to make even experts casual about connecting and disconnecting
equipment. Not turning off the power to each component can lead to low frequency pulses or bursts of high power
noise that can damage amplifiers and/or loudspeakers. It is best to be cautious.
Avoid trying to find out how loudly the system will really play
This is like trying to find out how far you can stretch a rubber band - the answer is only known when the rubber band
breaks. With a high performance system like the Epsilon, it is easy to play music at levels well beyond those of actual
performances. Of course, it also is tempting to play some sonic spectacular as loudly as the equipment will let you.
Please remember that you can damage your equipment with sustained power levels beyond those required for realistic
reproduction.
This is especially true when an amplifier is driven into overload (clipping) and it generates huge amounts of high
frequency energy not found in any ordinary acoustic signals. This problem is most frequently encountered when
amplifiers of insufficient power are used. It is hard to tell the difference between amplifier overload and loudspeaker
overload, and to compound the matter, some recordings contain real sounds that can absolutely convince experts that
something is wrong with the playback system.
Any electronic or mechanical system can be driven to the point of failure and your Epsilon loudspeakers are no
exception. After you have become familiar with your new system and have sustained listening experience with it, a
doubt or a hunch that all is not well is often correct. If you have any doubts about the system's performance, call in an
expert immediately.
Avoid accidentally switching the SCUs phase switch
This is a really serious mistake, because it makes the feedback from the woofer to the SCU positive (regenerative)
instead of negative (controlling). The result is that the system oscillates, quickly reaching the power limit of the amplifier.
The audible result is horrendous noise, with a high likelihood of woofer and/or amplifier damage.
BALANCED CONNECTION NOTES
Many audiophile-quality components have balanced signal connections. If your equipment has such connections, we
recommend that you use them. In general, they offer superior sound and lowest noise.
However, some equipment made overseas has the "+" and "-" pins reversed from those specified by the standards of
the Audio Engineering Society (AES), which require that pin 2 is "+" and pin 3 is "-" . If the pins are reversed, the output
polarity of the signal to the speakers will be reversed from that of AES standard connections. The effects caused by this
signal polarity reversal depend on whether it occurs before the SCU or in the amplifiers following the SCU.
When using balanced output jacks, the rear panel gain control must be turned down by 6 db from the setting that would
be used on the unbalanced output. i.e., assuming that you were using a 27 db amplifier, the rear gain control would be
set to 0 db for the unbalanced mode. In the balanced mode the setting would be - 6 db.
Reversed polarity prior to SCU
Reversal of balanced connection polarity prior to the SCU causes no large problems as long as both channels are the
same. Many audiophiles believe that absolute polarity should be maintained from the signal source to the loudspeakers.
All Infinity loudspeakers are designed to deliver positive acoustic pressure when a positive signal is applied to the red or
"+" terminal.
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