Golden Ears:
Bean Counter:
Golden Ears:
12VDC Remote Turn-On
What does hum 120dB below the peak output mean?
Perform the hum test yourself.
It is best to use the same length of speaker wire for a pair of
speakers. Not all speaker cables sound the same. Try different ones on your
system.
Cheaper connectors are available overseas. Why buy Cardas
connectors in the USA and ship them overseas to the manufacturer? You
guessed it: the oxygen free copper and short signal path make them sound
better, work better, and look real cool.
Tighten all connections, as loose connections can cause arcing
and corrosion. Both can degrade the sound. At least once a year, clean all
audio connections on your system with isopropyl alcohol.
This is an optional convenience feature. Two screw terminals on
the lower right can be used to connect to the remote turn-on feature of some preamplifiers
and surround sound systems. Make sure the plus and minus are connected properly. The
amp must be turned Off the same way it is turned On: If remote turn-on is used to turn On the
amp, then it must also be used to turn Off the amp. If the front power button is used to turn On
the amp, then it must also be used to turn Off the amp. The turn-on circuit is designed to
respond to a wide range of voltages. It will work from 3VDC to 18VDC.
Noise is measured in decibels
(dB). The noise floor of a normal CD is 96dB below peak output, a limitation of
16 bit encoding. If you go from 96 dB to the 120 dB of the SLC-A300, there is a
difference of 24 dB. This is not 25% better, because dB are not like normal
numbers. With dB, every 3 dB lower is half the noise. So the SLC-A300 is over
100 times quieter. (With hum, the more dBs below the peak output, the quieter
it is.) This means that the hum components are not louder than the noise floor at
only 1 watt output. In other words, you can enjoy the full dynamic range of a CD at 1 watt
output without the hum degrading the CD’s noise floor.
Speaker Warning:
Cardas Speaker connectors
+
+
Cone speakers lose their flexibility with age. The powerful bass may
tear older speaker cones. Speaker damage can occur before your hear distortion.
Right and Left are in the same orientation as Right-Left RCA
connections. Wires go on either side of the center post between center post and copper. Be
sure to connect the side of the speaker wire to the side of the Cardas connector embossed
with . Firmly tightening the screws will give you better sound.
With the amp knobs where you normally listen and
everything off except the amp, stick your head as close as possible to the center of
the woofer. (Don’t touch it!) With most amps you will hear background hum. The
SLC-A300 is completely quiet. Check your other equipment: Preamp - turn it on
and repeat the test. CD/DVD - plug directly into the amp inputs. Play something,
put it on , and then listen for hum, motor noise and background clutter.
(This is a fanatic’s test for an entire system.) Clean
a CD. Then put a thumb print on the bottom side of the CD. Play the CD and listen
carefully - the CD player will compensate for the thumb print, but it will not make a
perfect correction. Then clean the CD and listen again. If you can hear the
difference with and without the thumb print, then your system is capable of
revealing great spatial detail. If your system does not pass this test, then the fault
is not in the SLC-A300.
PAUSE
Perform the thumb print test yourself.
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