Classe Audio SSP-300 manual

Owner’ s Manual SSP-300 Surround Pr ocessor[...]

NO TICE All of us at Classé take extreme care to ensur e that your purchase will remain a prized investment. W e are proud to inform you that all Classé components have been officially appro ved for the European Community (CE) mark. This means that your Classé product was subjected to the most rigorous manufacturing and safety tests in the worl[...]

Important Safety Instructions 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. F ollow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water . If a liquid does enter your component, immediately disconnect it from the AC mains and take it to your Classé dealer for a thor ough checkup 6. Clean only with dry cloth.[...]

4 Contents W elcome to the Classé family .......................................................................... 6 Unpacking and Placement ............................................................................... 7 unpacking y our surround processor .......................................................... 7 placement ...................[...]

5 T he Menu System .......................................................................................... 40 system setup ........................................................................................... 40 volume setup ......................................................................................... 41 rotary ................[...]

6 W elcome to the Classé family Congratulations on your purchase of a Classé product. I t is the result of many years of continuous refinement, and we ar e sure that you will enjoy it for many years to come. W e value our relationship with our customers. Please allow us to stay in touch with you by returning y our warranty card now , before you [...]

7 Unpacking and Placement unpacking y our surround pr ocessor Carefully unpack your surround pr ocessor according to the supplied instructions, and remo ve all accessories from the carton. Important! Keep all pac king materials for future tr ansport of your Classé pr oduct. Shipping your ne w component in anything other than its purpose- designed [...]

8 register y our pur chase! Having found the serial number , now would be a good time to fill out the registration card. Please r egister your purchase so we can advise you of updates and other items of interest. It will take only a minute or so . Please complete the card no w , before you forget. warm up/br eak-in period Y our new Classé surroun[...]

9 Oper ating V oltage The SSP-300 surround processor is set at the factory (internally) for 100V , 120V , 230V , or 240V AC mains operation, as appropriate for the country in which it is to be sold. (230V only in European U nion countries, in compliance with CE regulations.) The voltage setting may not be changed by the user . Make sure that the la[...]

10 A W or d About Installation E very effor t has been made to make the Classé SSP-300 simple and straightforward to install and use. Still, w e have no way to evaluate other variables such as the size and shape of your r oom, its acoustics, and the associated equipment you have chosen to use with your surround processor . All of these factors in?[...]

11 Special Design F eatur es high-bandwidth video cir cuitry Modern high definition video sour ces provide truly stunning picture quality . Ho wever , the technical requirements of passing these r emarkable signals along to the display are quite challenging. In recognition of the degradations that normally occur when passing these pristine signals[...]

12 Re-Equalization™ The tonal balance of a standard film soundtrack will be ex cessively bright and harsh when played back ov er high quality audio equipment in the home because film soundtracks were designed to be played back in large mo vie theatres using very different professional equipment. Re-Equalization r estores the correct tonal balan[...]

13 Adv anced Speaker Array™ The people at THX have also found a solution to a problem that dogged high performance multichannel systems for years: the apparent conflict between optimal music and movie setups. Y ou see, movies are mix ed in highly standardized environments, with ev en spaced surround speakers in an array designed to pro vide a di[...]

14 THX Ultra 2 Cinema Mode As you might expect, the THX Ultra 2 Cinema mode does a similarly terrific job of optimizing the system for accurate reproduction of mo vie soundtracks. When in THX Ultra 2 Cinema mode, ASA cr eates a diffuse soundfield that emulates the much larger array of surround speakers found in a state of the art commercial theat[...]

15 The volume control system on your SSP-300 solves this pr oblem by responding differently based on the specific circumstances (e.g. ho w quickly you are turning the knob and where in the volume range you ar e). After extensive testing, we feel we have created factory default settings that most people will find intuitive and a real pleasure to u[...]

16 extr aordinar y longevity Another benefit of having wor ked with highly refined circuit designs so extensively o ver many years is that we have vast experience in what wor ks well over the long term. By using only the highest quality parts to begin with, and then using them in an informed way as a result of both accelerated aging experiments a[...]

17 Initial Setup W e understand that you may be anxious to begin enjoying your new surround processor . Our best advice: take advantage of the considerable experience your Classé dealer offers to make sure you get all the performance you deserve. Ho wever , if you want to set up your new system yourself, this section is designed to get the system [...]

18 5 Now y ou are r eady to po wer up y our new SSP-300 and its associated amplifiers. N ote that the initial power up takes approximately 90 seconds, during which time the blue LED on the standby button will flash. After approximately 45 seconds the LCD scr een will display “initializing, please wait….” Once this period is complete the LED[...]

19 7 Please take a moment to read the rest of this manual. It is important that you become familiar with the full capabilities of y our new surround processor if you ar e to get maximum value from your purchase. (Alternatively , you may prefer to have your dealer perform a comprehensive installation of the system, leaving the technical details to t[...]

20      F r ont P anel 1 Standb y button & LED indicator The front panel S tandby button will toggle the surround processor between its fully operational status and a standby mode that leaves the surround processor off , yet ready to r espond to system commands via any of the sup[...]

21 2 Menu button P ressing the front panel M enu button will call up the menu system, replacing the normal status display in the LCD touchscreen of the SSP-300. 3 LCD touchscreen M uch of your interaction with the SSP-300 will be with the LCD touchscr een (and the SSP-300’ s supplied remote control). It will usually display the various input sele[...]

22 6 V olume Knob The large knob on the right side of the front panel of the SSP-300 is used to control the volume of the system. The volume is raised or lower ed in precise 1dB increments throughout the range of the control most likely to be used while listening to music. At extremely lo w volumes, the step size is increased somewhat to make it ea[...]

23 Rear P anel The table below shows the thr ee types of inputs of the SSP-300 and which outputs can be used. The ✔ symbol indicates a signal is available, the ✘ symbol indicates a signal is not available. F or example, with a Component Input an S-V ideo signal is available from the Main output, but not from the R ec 1 or Rec 2 output. See the [...]

24 N ote that the three analog video standards offer varying degrees of performance: • Component video offers the highest picture quality • S-Video is second-highest in picture quality • Composite video offers the lowest pictur e quality F or this reason, you ar e advised to use component video connections whenever possible, and S-video conne[...]

25 N ote that the three analog video standards offer varying degrees of performance: • Component video offers the highest picture quality • S-Video is second-highest in picture quality • Composite video offers the lowest pictur e quality F or this reason, you ar e advised to use component video connections whenever possible, and S-video conne[...]

26 7 Optical Digital Inputs These connectors accept digital audio signals in the EIAJ optical (sometimes called “T oslink™”) digital interface standard from a digital satellite receiv er , compact disc, DVD play er or other digital source component. Connect the optical digital output of your source component to either of the EIAJ optical inpu[...]

27 11 IR Input: Main and Zone Y our Classé surround processor includes two 1/8th-inch mono mini-jacks to support the infrared (IR) remote controls that ar e ubiquitous today . Infrar ed commands exist (for example) for toggling the surround processor between oper ate and standby , in addition to discrete command codes for either oper ate or standb[...]

28 13 Microphone Input The MIC input on the rear of the SSP-300 is used during auto-calibration of the system. F or a quick setup, connect the supplied microphone to this input and follo w the procedure outlined in the I nitial Setup section of this manual. F or more details, please refer to The M enu System , later in this manual. 14 Analog Audio [...]

29 18 Component V ideo Inputs and Output The SSP-300 provides thr ee Component video inputs. These are labeled COMPONENT INPUT 1 , 2 , and 3 . Connect the Component video output of your source component to the appropriate Component video input of the SSP-300 using high quality 75 Ω video cable for the best results. Note: Progr essive and High De?[...]

30 19 A C Mains P o wer Switch The main power switch for the SSP-300 is adjacent to the r eceptacle for the power cord. S witching the unit on puts it in standby mode. The surround processor should be in standby before being switched off . Danger! P otentially danger ous voltages and curr ent capabilities exist within y our surround pr ocessor , ev[...]

31 T he Remote Contr ol Y our new surround processor comes with a versatile remote control which can contr ol both the SSP-300 itself and several aspects of the rest of a Classé-based system. The buttons are arranged in logical groups accor ding to their functions. 1 Basic Functions This section along the top of the remote control groups four func[...]

32 5 Navigation and Contr ol Menu Ke ys The five keys at the center of this group are the navigation keys. They are similar to what you may have seen on remote contr ols for DVD players, and ar e used to navigate of the menu systems of the SSP-300. The four keys around the navigation keys are used to directly access certain control menu scr een. ?[...]

33 Understanding Surr ound Sound T oday’ s sophisticated surround sound systems seem to spawn a bewildering array of technologies and acronyms. In this section, we will attempt to giv e you a basic understanding of what all that jargon means. As a result, you will be better equipped to take advantage of the best that home entertainment has to off[...]

34 By contrast, modern soundtracks use discr ete channels of information. That is, each speaker has a distinct signal that is completely independent of every other channel. This approach is clearly more desirable, since it gives the mo vie makers more creativ e control over the quality of y our experience. M usicians also prefer discrete formats, s[...]

35 F or example: movie soundtracks ar e created in highly-standardized envir onments, in order to offer ex cellent performance in large, commercial theaters. Acoustically , your home is a radically different environment than that for which the mo vie soundtracks were optimized. Therefore it makes sense that you might want to compensate for the diff[...]

36 Using the SSP-300 Y our SSP-300 includes a versatile touchscreen LCD display which supports most of your day-to-day operations (as well as a flexible menu system for functions you use less often). While the use of this touchscreen is quite intuitive, it is also quite extensive. This section of the owner ’ s manual outlines the use of this tou[...]

37 mode selection While you can specify default surround processing modes for each individual input, you may occasionally wish to choose something other than the default for a particular recording. F or example, when watching a classic movie from the 1940’ s, you may prefer to hear it in the original mono mode (using only the center channel speak[...]

38 system trims The System T rims menu controls several parameters of the SSP-300’ s operation that may occasionally need adjustment to suit a particular recording. • lev el trims are pro vided for L/R balance, center , surround, rear speakers, and subwoofer . As an example, you might bump up the center channel speaker by 2-3 dB if the dialog i[...]

39 position select The SSP-300 supports four different families of settings for various listening positions you may use. The P osition Select menu allows y ou to easily choose among your various listening positions. F or example, you might use position 1 to optimize the sound for the seating arrangement you use when watching a movie, but hav e a di[...]

40 T he Menu System P ressing the front panel M enu button to the left of the LCD touchscreen brings up a comprehensive menu system, that is divided into a further six sections as shown belo w . When this button is pressed you may toggle between the “M enu ” and the “Home ” screens. F or easy viewing during setup, the menu scr eens are alwa[...]

41 Her e, you can: • customize the behavior of your volume control • tailor your inputs to your particular source components • configure and calibrate the system to take best advantage of your loudspeakers • create shortcuts to your preferr ed or most frequently used functions • program the behavior of the SSP-300’ s DC triggers volume[...]

42 The most significant factor in the perceived responsiv eness of the volume control is the speed at which the knob is being turned. W e all naturally tend to move volume knobs more quickly when we need to make a bigger change, and we tend to slo w down as we approach our desired volume. Thus, if the SSP-300 sees the knob moving relativ ely quick[...]

43 • high speed: determines the responsiveness of the control when the knob is being turned slowly . A setting of 0 will cause the volume to change as slowly as possible at high knob speeds; a setting of 100 will cause the volume to change as quickly as allowed at high knob speeds. (The menu is the same as the one abo ve except for the indication[...]

44 mute setup Her e you can choose how you want the mute button to function. • classic - When the mute button is pr essed no audio will be heard. The next two choices are useful in situations where y ou wish to still hear the audio source but temporarily reduce the volume to a lo wer level. F or example, let ’ s say you are watching a football [...]

45 • The left button acts like the backspace key on a computer keyboard, mo ving the cursor to the left and eliminating any characters along the way . • The right button moves the cursor to the right, adding characters along the way . (Change each character to what you want as you go along, using the + and – buttons.) • The + and – button[...]

46 The position button allows you to assign a default position setting (a collection of level and delay settings) to a particular input. (This default setting can be temporarily overridden at any time in the H ome menu.) The video button takes you to a menu in which you can specify what type of video signal (if any) the source being set up will sup[...]

47 speaker setup The Speaker S etup menu (found via the following path: system setup/speakers) allows you to tell the SSP-300 about the speakers with which it is working, so it can pro vide the best and most appropriate signals to each speaker . • speaker config allows you to customize y our speaker configuration and set up the bass management [...]

48 • THX setup sends you to a screen in which you can configur e some THX-specific features. Specifically: • THX Ultra 2 sub should be engaged if you are using a sub woofer that is certified by the THX Ultra 2 standar d. Such subwoofers ar e essentially flat to 20 Hz under what might be considered worst-case acoustic conditions for bass, a[...]

49 • autocalibration uses the provided micr ophone to calibrate the system automatically for optimal performance in each of these four positions. Simply plug in the microphone to the mic input on the r ear panel, place the microphone at the desired position, and then pr ess auto levels and auto delays in turn, allowing the SSP-300 to run its test[...]

50 triggers setup Each of the SSP-300’ s DC triggers may be programmed to either “logic” (12V) or “inverse logic” (0V) settings. The ability to change the way the trigger operates can solve installation-specific problems that otherwise require external devices that add to both the cost and complexity of your system. F or more information[...]

51 brightness The brightness setting of the SSP-300 has three possible values: lo w , medium, and high . Select the appropriate setting based on the level of ambient light typically found in y our listening room while using the system. A high brightness setting usually works best in brightly-lit rooms; you may find that a low er setting is less vi[...]

52 temp. displa y The temp. display button leads to a screen on which you may select how long the temporary on-screen display shown on your television lasts when you make a change to the SSP-300. Y our choices are none (effectively turning off these small OSD messages on the television), and 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 seconds. NO TE: Anytime there is a statu[...]

53 Dolby Pro Logic II Dolby Pr o Logic II has three user-adjustable parameters. P anorama is a simple on/off toggle (highlighted means “ on ”) that will present a wider and deeper front soundstage. This effect is some what signal-dependant, meaning that it is more pronounced with some r ecordings and less so with others. W ith a good recording,[...]

54 The remote Fke y menu has four buttons, one each for the four Fkeys on your remote control. P ressing any of these buttons on the L CD touchscreen takes you to a subordinate, scrolling list of possible functions for that particular Fkey . Selecting the one you want is as simple as scrolling thr ough the list (by touching either the up or down ar[...]

55 T r oubleshooting In ge nera l, y ou sho uld re fer any servi ce p rob lem s to yo ur Clas sé d eal er . B efo re con tact ing yo ur d eale r , ch eck to see if the pro ble m is li sted her e. If it is, try t he sugg este d s olut ion s. I f non e of th ese sol ves the pr oble m, cont act yo ur C lass é d eale r . 1 Ever ything appears to be o[...]

56 3. Only one speaker seems to be pla ying. ✓ Does the problem occur with all inputs? If so, check the inter connect cables between the preamp and the po wer amp. If no fault is found ther e, check the speaker wires for secure connections. Important! Be certain that the pow er amplifier is off before chec king any connections between the surr o[...]

57 Care & Maintenance T o remove dust fr om the cabinet of your surround processor , use a feather duster or a lint-free soft cloth. T o remov e dirt and fingerprints, we recommend isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. Dampen the cloth with alcohol first and then lightly clean the surface of the surround processor with the cloth. Do not use ex [...]

58 Specifications All specifications are accurate at the time of printing. Classé reserves the right to make improv ements without notice. ■ F requenc y response DC – 200kHz ± 0.1dB ■ Distortion (THD + noise ) 0.003% ■ Maximum input voltage (single-ended) 5V rms ■ Maximum output voltage (single-ended) 10V rms ■ Gain r ange -100dB to[...]

59       Dimensions[...]

Classé Audio 5070 F rançois Cusson Lachine, Quebec Canada H8T 1B3 +1 (514) 636-6384 +1 (514) 636-1428 (fax) http://www .classeaudio.com email: cservice@classeaudio.com Copyright © 2006 Classé Audio, I nc. Printed in Canada. V 2.4 041006[...]