GoldenEars:
BeanCounter:
GoldenEars:
Atleastonceayear,cleanall
audioconnectionsonyoursystemwithisopropylalcohol.
12VDCRemoteTurn-On
Whatdoeshum120dBbelowthepeakoutputmean?
Performthehumtestyourself.
Itisbesttousethesamelengthofspeakerwireforapairof
speakers.Notallspeakercablessoundthesame,sotrydifferentones.
Cheaperconnectorsareavailableoverseas.WhybuyCardas
connectorsintheUSAandshipthemoverseastothemanufacturer?You
guessedit:theoxygenfreecopperandshortsignalpathmakethemsound
better,workbetter,andlookrealcool.
Tightenallconnections,aslooseconnectionscancausearcing
andcorrosion.Bothcandegradethesound.
Thisisanoptionalconveniencefeature.Twoscrewterminalson
thelowerrightcanbeusedtoconnecttotheremoteturn-onfeatureofsomepreamplifiers
andsurroundsoundsystems.Makesuretheplusandminusareconnectedproperly.The
ampmustbeturnedOffthesamewayitisturnedOn:Ifremoteturn-onisusedtoturnOnthe
amp,thenitmustalsobeusedtoturnOfftheamp.IfthefrontpowerbuttonisusedtoturnOn
theamp,thenitmustalsobeusedtoturnOfftheamp.Theturn-oncircuitisdesignedto
respondtoawiderangeofvoltages.Itwillworkfrom3VDCto18VDC.
Noiseismeasuredindecibels
(dB).ThenoisefloorofanormalCDis96dBbelowpeakoutput,alimitationof
16bitencoding.Ifyougofrom96dBtothe 120dBoftheSLC-A600,thereisa
differenceof24dB.Thisisnot25%better,becausedBarenotlikenormal
numbers.WithdB,every3dBlowerishalfthenoise.SotheSLC-A600isover
100timesquieter.(Withhum,themoredBsbelowthepeakoutput,thequieter
itis.)Thismeansthatthehumcomponentsarenotlouderthanthenoisefloorat
only1wattoutput.Inotherwords,youcanenjoythefulldynamicrangeofaCDat1watt
outputwithoutthehumdegradingtheCD’snoisefloor.
CardasSpeakerconnectors
+
+
RightandLeftareinthesameorientationasRight-LeftRCA
connections.Wiresgooneithersideofthecenterpostbetweencenterpostandcopper.Be
suretoconnectthesideofthespeakerwiretothesideoftheCardasconnectorembossed
with.Firmlytighteningthescrewswillgiveyoubettersound.
Withtheampknobswhereyounormallylistenand
everythingoffexcepttheamp,stickyourheadascloseaspossibletothecenterof
thewoofer.(Don’ttouchit!)Withmostampsyouwillhearbackgroundhum.The
SLC-A600iscompletelyquiet.Checkyourotherequipment:Preamp-turniton
andrepeatthetest.CD/DVD-plugdirectlyintotheampinputs.Playsomething,
putiton,andthenlistenforhum,motornoiseandbackgroundclutter.
(Thisisafanatic’stestforanentiresystem.)Clean
aCD.ThenputathumbprintonthebottomsideoftheCD.PlaytheCDandlisten
carefully-theCDplayerwillcompensateforthethumbprint,butitwillnotmakea
perfectcorrection.ThencleantheCDandlistenagain.Ifyoucanhearthe
differencewithandwithoutthethumbprint,thenyoursystemiscapableof
revealinggreatspatialdetail.Ifyoursystemdoesnotpassthistest,thenthefault
isnotintheSLC-A600.
PAUSE
Performthethumbprinttestyourself.
7
