Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 SMc Audio
Go to page of 15
.
1 Using your VRE-1 Pre amplifier Congratulat ions on your pu rchase of the VRE-1 p reamplifier. Th e VRE-1 is simple to s etup and operate, but that sim plicity belie s an e xceptionally sophisticated design that includes a great deal of innovative thin king and t he best parts available today.
2 Preparing for use - locating your VRE-1: Your VRE-1 has a lot of wonderful attributes, an d one of th em is the fact that neither it nor its power sup ply produce appreciable heat . In addition, the Corian chassis is fa irly imm une to heat, so t he VRE-1 may be i nstalled in an enclosed cabinet.
3 Front Panel layout • Input selector sw itch: Rotary switch sele cts one of 4 inputs. • Polarit y swi tch and LED indicator: Sets system po larity (absolute polarity, sometimes called “ab solute pha se”). Up is norma l, non-inverted polarity, a nd flipp ing the switch down in verts signal po larity.
4 Front Panel layout • Input selector sw itch: Rotary switch sele cts one of 4 inputs. • Polarit y swi tch and LED indicator: Sets system po larity (absolute polarity, sometimes called “ab solute pha se”). Up is norma l, non-inverted polarity, a nd flipp ing the switch down in verts signal po larity.
5 • Circuit Ground Conne ctor: This binding p ost offers access to the system electrical groun d if needed. There is norm ally no connection to this po st. • Main I nput Group: 4 pairs of inputs are pro vided, lab eled 1 thru 4 (correspond ing to the front panel Input Selector switch).
6 near-idea l load on t he input and confer that magic tu be-like musicality. Th ey also act as a “brick wall” filter against DC and RFI contamination. In add ition, the y allow th e VRE-1 to b e conf igured f or voltage gain (up t o +6dB) if it is nee ded.
7 The Powe r Supply The V RE-1’s compan ion power supp ly provides carefully tailored DC p ower fo r the prop er operation of your preamp. The “Power 1 ” conne ction provides +/- 24 VDC of choke.
8 Please Note: The VRE-1 is a h and-built work of “industrial art.” It is a b eautiful object, and a great deal of effort h as gone into its creation. I ronically , because it is hand-made, you may f ind small blemishes that do not occur in the routine perfection of mass-marketed consumer goods.
9 This is important because I cannot fu lly break-in your VRE-1 before sh ipping. Your preamp has been thoroughly tested a nd listened-to, but this is just the beginning.
10 Acknowle dgements This project has been in development for a long time, and I sincerely thank everyone who contribute d in any wa y to its success. How ever, th ere are a few people I would like to.
11 Getting the most from y our VRE-1 preamplifier - a user’s guide Suggestions for AC cords and access ories After some thought, I h ave come to the d ecision to leave a “standard ” A C cord out of the parts com plement.
12 Grounding Options Your V RE-1 provides se veral o ptions f or mat ching ea rth ground arrangem ents for b est result s with y our system. A binding p ost connected to cir cuit ground is provided on.
13 Tuning the Stea lth power link cable Your VRE-1 use s a custom-b uilt power-link cable from S tealth Audio Cables. This cable inclu des a carbon-compo site sleeve t hat will slide along its length. The position of t his slee ve has a “tuning” effect - m oving it will affe ct the sound of your pream p to some degree.
14 Using the XLR-to-RC A ba lanced i nput adaptors As stated in the owner’s m anual, all 4 of the VRE-1’s inputs are actually balanced. I chose the connector arrangement based on a best-guess estima te of what most audiophiles are l ikely to have in their systems - one balanced s ource (X LR), and the rest unbalanced (RCA).
An important point after buying a device SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device SMc Audio Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier VRE-1 along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
