Avalon Acoustics AVALON ASCENDANT manual

Serial Numbers____________________________________ Handcrafted by: ¾ _____________________________ ¾ ¾ _____________________________ ¾ ¾ _____________________________ ¾ ¾ _____________________________ ¾ This product is certified to meet the require ments of the European Union (EU) Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive (89/336/EEC). [...]

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3 Table of Contents Introduction………..………….……………………………………………………..…………………….5 2 Unpacking Instructions………………………………………………………………………..…………..6 Introduction……….…….……………………………………………?[...]

4 9 Accuracy of Bass Reproduction..……………………………………………………………………..29 Introduction…………………………….……………………….………………….29 9.1 Sensitivity to Time-Related Information………………………………………………….29 “Fast Bass”…………?[...]

5 1. Intr oduction Your new Avalon Acoustics Ascendant loudspeakers represent a true breakthrough in the development of moving-coil l oudspeakers intended for accurate m usic reproduction. Upon initial listening, th e immediacy and presence of a live performance become s instantly apparent. The intent is to closely reproduce the original musical ev[...]

6 2. Unpacking Instructions Introduction Your Avalon Acoustics loudspeakers were shipped in a heav y-dut y crate to ensure their safe arrival. It is recommended to save this crate for possib le future use. Due to the weight of the speak ers, it will require two persons to un-crate them and position t hem for listening. Pl ease arrange for your deal[...]

7 2.1 Opening the Crate The crate features a one-piece top assembly, which is fastened to the crate bo ttom with screws around the lower perimeter. To unpack, rem ove the screws and lift the upper portion of the cr ate straight up (this will require two people). Next, slide each speaker part way off of the crate base so that the pl astic bag can be[...]

8 2.2 Installing the Grilles The grille assemblies are behind a panel on the outside of the sp eaker crate. Remove the screws securing the panel, and then carefu lly pull the grilles straigh t out. The grilles are installed with friction fasteners and pr ess into place on the speaker cabinets. Please see Figure 2.2. Orientation of the Felt Anti-Dif[...]

9 2.3 Replacing Grille Pins The grille pins installed on the grille assemblies are fragile and can be easily damaged. Should any of the pins break , you may replace them using the following procedure. I . Place the grille assembly face-down on a padded surface (a towel or carpeting). 2. Remove the damaged grille pin by pu lling it straight ou t wit[...]

10 5. Place the exposed end of the grille pi n in the open mounting hole. Check to insure that the grille clo th is not trapped between the pin and frame. Use a small hamme r and gently tap the new grille pin in place. Then, pull the insertion tool off the new pin and verify that the pin flange is flush with the surface of the grille. Please refer [...]

11 3. W iring Instructions Introduction The crossover is encapsulated in a ch amber in the bottom of the speaker cabinet, mini mizing the effect of vibrati on on the component s. The Ascendant is equipped with a high- quality binding post for connecting the speaker cables. Spade lugs designed for #10 screws are recommended for cable termination. Co[...]

12 4. Br eak-in Period Your new Avalon Acoustics loudspeakers have an initial break-in period. They w ill not perform to their full sonic potential when first installed in your system. This is due to a residual polarization o f the dielectric materials used in the crossover capacitors a nd int ernal wiring. (See note 1) As music i s played through [...]

13 5. Maximizing Performance These details are imperati ve to obtaining optimum results from y our Avalon Acoustics loudspeakers. Break-in The break-in period is criti cal to maxim izing sonic perform ance and should take place before other adjustments (see the discussion on page 12). The break-in should begin with three t o six hours of quiet musi[...]

14 Toe-in Adjusting the toe-in angle of the speakers is useful i n tailoring the sound to best match the charact eristics of your system and listening room . When the speakers are facing straight forwar d, they tend to create a large, expansive sound-stage, painted with broad brush strokes. As they are rotated toward the listening position , the im[...]

15 First Reflection Points Since the ear/brain system tends to integrate the sounds arriving within a 10 millisecond time window, it is important to c ontrol the early refl ections arriving from the side walls to the listening position. A hard-surfaced wall can produce a strong frequency-dependent reflection that can interfere with t he reproduced [...]

16 6. Car e of Y our A valon Loudspeakers Cabinet Your Ascendant loudspeakers are finish ed with a high quality furniture lac quer. This is a modern finish which is beautiful y et durable, and requires only m inimal at tention. The speaker should be dusted wit h a soft, non-abrasive cloth. Using the suppl ied furniture cream or equivil ent and a li[...]

17 7. W arranty Your Avalon Acoustics loudspeakers are warranted against defects in workmanship and m aterials for a period of three years, provided that the encl osed registration card is returned to the factory wi thin seven days of the purchase date. If the registrat ion card is not returned within t he seven day period, this warranty is null an[...]

18 3. Avalon Acoustics reserves the right to inspect any products which are the subject of any warranty claim prior to repairing or replacing. Final determina tion of warranty coverage lies solely with Avalon Acoustic s. Any products which conform to this warranty shall be repaired or replaced by Avalon Acoustics as soon as po ssible following rece[...]

19 8. Room Acoustics and Speaker Position Introduction The listening room forms the final li nk of the playback system, as i mportant as any other com ponent in the chain. Just as an otherwise superb syst em is handicapped by an inferior pre-am plifier (for exampl e), so can a well-matched system be hinde red by poor room acoustics. It is not neces[...]

20 An Optical Analogy Let us use an optical analogy t o aid our understanding of acoustics. Imagi ne that you are in a room that is lit only by a candle in its center. There is a unifo rm am ount of light cast in all directions. If a large mirror is held closely to candle, one half of the room becomes darkened, while the other half receives twice a[...]

21 8.1 Standing Waves The parallel surfaces of most listening rooms can lead to a potential problem in the low frequencies. A sound wave can be repeatedly reflected from opposing surfaces, back and forth. If the distance between the surfaces is an integral multiple of one-half the sound wa velength, a standing wave will be set up. This m eans that [...]

22 8.2 Flutter Echo These same parallel, reflective surfaces can also pr oduce a different audible problem . If there is little absorption at higher frequencies, a m usical transient containing hi gh frequencies, such as a hand clap or the strike of a percussion instru ment, can be heard bouncing repeated ly between the surfaces. Called flutter ech[...]

23 It is not necessary to acoustical ly treat the entire room t o achieve good results. Strategic treatm ent of specific locations can realize considerable benefits. Remember that when sound waves refl ect from a flat surface, the angle of reflection is equal t o the angle of incidence, ju st as a mirror reflects light wa ves. Therefore, the most i[...]

24 8.4 Bass r einfor cement By bass reinforcement , we mean the effect of the room boundaries on the propagation of sound. It is widely known that speaker placement relative to the floor and walls can affect the relative amount of bass that the system produces. To make this interactio n more clear, let us refer to the optical analo gy of the candle[...]

25 By properly selecting the distances to each surface, we can extend the in-room bass response of the speaker m uch deeper than its anechoic response. Please see Figure 8.5. This is because the bass reinforcement provides a boost which is complementary to the bass roll-off that would be present in an anechoic chamber. Figure 8.5 - Anechoic respons[...]

26 Figure 8.7 - In-room response when the speaker is placed 2.3 feet from the side wall, and 3.9 feet from the rear wall. Figure 8.8 - In-room response when the speaker is placed 3.6 feet from the side wall, and 6.6 feet from the rear wall. 8.5 Summary of Recommendations Now that we have looked at som e of the common problem s of listening room s, [...]

27 about the only com mon item that can absorb a meaningful am ount of energy is heavily uphol stered furniture. Another effective means of absorp tion is the use of sonic traps. • High Frequency Absorption and R oom Symm etry Since flutter echo is a high-frequency effect, it become s m uch easier to manage potential problems in this area. Almost[...]

28 of depth enhances the feeling of involvem ent when liste ning, due to the three-dimensional solidity of im ages. Therefore, it is m ore important to have a greater dist ance from the speakers to the r ear wall than to the side walls. Typically, this is easier to achieve if the sp eakers are placed along the short wall of the listening room. 8.6 [...]

29 9. Accuracy of Bass Repr oduction Introduction We have all had the experience of listening to speak ers with poor bass quality. Perhaps the bass was muddy, or ill-defined. Possibly th e bass was exaggerated or b loated. These distortion s are distracting and keep u s from enjoying the full m easure of the performer’s intent. Concerning the rep[...]

30 9.2 Rationale There is an old saying, "There's no such thing as a free l unch." There are many trade-offs in speaker design, as in almost any area one can t hink of. In this case, the trade off is between transient response and anechoic frequency response (the speaker's frequency response in an anechoic chamber). Almost all m[...]

31 9.3 Measur ements of Audio Equipment It should be recognized that measurem ents are not the final arbiter of s ound quality of audio components. Often times a measurem ent standard has evolved because it is eas ily performed, or because it is easily repeatable, or it has shown some link t o certain audible characteristics. Unquest ionably, it is[...]

32 Loudspeaker Measurements Returning to loudspeakers, a sim ilar situation has devel oped. Although nobody listens to m usic in an anechoic chamber, loudspeaker m easurements are comm only perform ed i n them.(3) Although various proposals have been made for perform ing low frequency measurem ents in a more realistic setting, there ha s been no ag[...]

33 Briefly, the interaction of the disper sion pattern of the speaker with the re flective surfaces in the room (and the variation of both with frequency ) creates an in-room frequency response t hat may vary m arkedly from the anechoic response. 9.4 Listening Qualities We have seen how many speaker system s store resonant bass energy, resulting i [...]

34 other. Thus, two woofers with the same frequency re sponse will necessarily exhibit the sam e time (phase) response. However, many crossove r networks display non-m inimum phase response, and will thereby alter the phase response of the woofer in the speaker system. Transient Response Effects A speaker with poor transient response w ill store en[...]

35 electric bass will prove to be a consistent low-frequency source. The difference betw een direct injection and miking of the speaker/amplifier is easily audible with high -quality speakers. 10. Featur es • Advanced light weight driver di aphragm materi als minim ize energy storage and tim e-domain distortion. • Each driver individually teste[...]

36 11. Specifications Driver Complement I " Proprietary composite dome tweeter 2- 7" Nomex-Kevlar com posite cone woofer Impedance 4 ohms (3.6 ohm s minimum ) Frequency Response 28Hz to 25kHz (+/- 1.5 dB, anechoic) Recomm ended Amplifie r Power 50 to 200 watts Wiring Methods Two position binding post Dimensi ons 37" high 10" wid[...]

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