ACI Talisman Owners manual

Talisman

Reference Tower with AWS

Owner's Manual

Table of Contents:

Guarantee/Warranty …2
Quick Start Guide …4
Specifications …5
Design Philosophy …5
Adaptive Woofer System …7
Using your Speakers …9
Avoiding Damage …10
Hookup …11
Positioning the Talisman ...11
Break-In …12
Troubleshooting …13
Warranty Registration …14

Audio Concepts, Inc.

901 South 4th Street, La Crosse, WI 54601 Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Website: www.audioc.com Email: [e-mail]

All Rights Reserved 2003

Sound that Satisfies…

2

Audio Concepts, Inc.

Our Guarantee and Warranty

Satisfaction Guaranteed:

We’re sure you’re going to love your new Audio Concepts, Inc. (ACI) products! In the unlikely event
that you are not satisfied, please contact us within 30 days of receipt of your ACI products for a

hassle-free return.

Simply follow these procedures:

1. Return Authorization: Call us at [phone] or email [e-mail], within 30 days of receipt of your ACI

products for a return authorization number. Boldly mark the return authorization number on the outside of the box.
Include a brief note stating your name, address and daytime telephone number, along with a short description why the
products are being returned.

2. Returning: We request that you return the ACI products to us in their original packaging and include packaging

materials, manuals, etc. Ship by the most economical means (preferably UPS) and insure the products for the invoice
purchase price. The customer is responsible for return shipping. Please note: ACI can not accept C.O.D. returns.

3. Credit: Upon receipt and inspection, we will issue a refund for the invoice purchase price and invoiced UPS Ground

service only. Please note this return policy is in effect only if the ACI products are in new condition, in their original
packaging, without drilled holes, disassembled or any other modifications.

Speaker Manufacture’s Warranty:

ACI’s 5 Year Standard Warranty and 1 Year Total Assurance Guarantee
For 5 years from receipt, Audio Concepts, Inc. will, at its option, repair or replace factory defective

components. This warranty excludes products that have been abused, modified, or disassembled in
any way. This warranty does not apply to products, which have been damaged in shipping. Audio
Concepts, Inc. liability is limited only to the replacement of defective parts. No other liabilities or
obligations are expressed or implied.

For the 1st year of ownership, ACI also provides a unique Total Assurance Guarantee, (TAG). TAG
from ACI not only covers everything included in our standard 5 year warranty, but we will also pay
for shipping to ACI and back to your front door. TAG is limited to shipping destinations in the

Continental U.S.
The ACI 5 Year Standard Warranty and 1 Year Total Assurance Guarantee are fully transferable

from the original owner to a secondary owner provided that the original owner notifies ACI, by phone
call or by filling out the on-line form: www.audioc.com/order/warranty_transfer.htm

No warranty will be transferred absent this notification.

Simply follow these procedures:

1. Return Authorization: Call us at [phone] or email [e-mail] for a return authorization number. If

the warranty repair is during the first year of ownership, additional instructions will be given to you at that time. Boldly
mark the return authorization number on the outside of the box. Include a brief note with your name, address and a
daytime telephone number, along with a short description why the products are being returned.

2. Returning: Carefully repack defective ACI merchandise in their original packaging. Ship by the most economical

means (preferably UPS) and insure the products for their full retail value. The customer is responsible for return
shipping (unless the 1st year TAG applies). Please note: ACI can not accept COD or Freight Collect returns.

3. Replacement: Audio Concepts, Inc. will inspect and determine the cause of failure and will pay return shipping on the

defective goods replaced or repaired.

Please ship any returns to the following address:

Audio Concepts, Inc., 901 So. 4

th

Street, La Crosse, WI 54601 [phone]

3

IMPORTANT NOTICE

All new speakers require a minimum of 60 hours break-in-time before
they sound the way they are supposed to. A speaker's performance improves significantly
once broken in. It is critical that you have at least 60 hours on your speakers before you
evaluate them. Don't worry if your speakers do not sound perfect the first time you play
them. This is normal until they are broken in. If you are having difficulty getting enough
hours on your speakers and your 30 day return privilege is getting near, call us. We will
work with you. Please give us the courtesy of breaking the speakers in before you
determine they don't sound right.

Many of our customers break their speakers in by:
A) Leaving them on at moderate listening levels when they are not home.

B) Leaving them on at moderate listening levels while they sleep.
C) Running pink noise through them.

These methods are not convenient for everyone and we understand this. But please
know that you are not giving yourself, your speakers or us a fair chance if you do not break
them in before critical evaluation.

THANK YOU!

Talisman: Quick Setup Guide

Please take the time to read the complete owner's manual. Reading the manual will insure your
complete satisfaction. For those of you who
must get it running now:

• The Talisman will not sound the best until it

has 80-100 hours or more of running time.

• The Talisman has a powered woofer

section. A power cord is supplied. A shorter
or longer cord may be substituted as long
as it is of equal or heavier wire gauge.

• The Talisman amplifier draws very little

current at idle. It is best to leave it switched
on all the time unless you will be away for
an extended period.

• The Talisman has a ground lift switch on the

rear panel. Depending on your household
and system wiring, one of the two switch
positions will yield the lowest noise level.

• The Talisman is shipped with the woofer

preamp controls set for flattest anechoic
response. The volume control setting is
marked with a very small dot on the
faceplate. Both lowpass filters should be set
at 150Hz, and the phase should be at 0.
See diagram.

• Most users will never want to change the lowpass or phase settings. Some users will want to adjust the

volume control slightly. For example, placement near a wall might result in too much "warmth". In this
case, adjust the volume control down slightly. In other systems, you may wish for a bit more "warmth". In
this case, adjust the volume control up slightly.

4

The AWS System:

Shipping with your Talisman is a comprehensive manual on using the parametric functions of the AWS
system. A CD with test tones and comprehensive instructions is also be included.

Using the parametric EQ essentially involves four steps:

1. Locate the center frequency of the peak. This is most easily
accomplished with an SPL meter and test disc or a computer based test
system.* This can also be done "by ear" using test tones and very
experienced listeners will be able to find the offending frequency
listening to music.

2. Use the frequency control to center the control on the peak you want
to eliminate or reduce

3. Use the Volume control to cut the level of the peak by the desired
amount

4. Use the Q control to adjust the width of the desired cut.

*Parametric equalization works very well for reducing peaks in the
frequency response. In general, parametric EQ is not very effective at
filling in gaps caused by room acoustics. In other words, be very careful
of using any boost. Boost is likely to be ineffective and potentially
damaging to the system.

*The least expensive means of instrument based measurement will be using a Radio Shack analog SPL meter
and a CD recorded with test tones. If you use the Radio Shack meter be sure to use a correction chart to
account for the basic inaccuracy of the devise.

5

The Talisman

Thank you for your order and congratulations on becoming the owner of an Audio Concepts, Inc. (ACI)
speaker system. The Talisman is an audiophile quality system that will provide you with many years of
listening pleasure. Be sure and take a moment to register your warranty either by mail or on-line at

www.audioc.com.

ACI is all that you have grown to expect and demand. We are music lovers first. We only design and
build speakers that we would desire to own ourselves. These principles comprise our foundation, and they
always will. Now, ACI is achieving at a level beyond what we have aspired to before. The potential of Home
Theater has inspired us to move further beyond convention and to rise above the status quo. The new
Talisman is the ultimate example of this perspective. It is at once powerful yet flexible, elegant yet bold. Its
internal woofer amplifier employs a fully discrete output stage and generates high current. The result is a
speaker equally adept at recreating the visceral dynamics of home theater and the essential musical purity
usually attained only by speaker that lack its ease of range. A parametric EQ allows unparalleled ability to
adjust not only the speaker's balance, but to eliminate prominent room resonance as well.

As in all ACI products, the finest drivers are used with extensively engineered and tested precision
crossover networks. The cabinets are built to be extremely inert with extensive internal bracing. The midrange
chamber is specially shaped and damped. All design and quality aspects combine to yield absolute state-of­the-art sonics. The use of the finest lacquers and hardwoods results in a cabinet of exceptional beauty and
durability.

Specifications

Frequency response: 30-20kHz ±3db
Nominal impedance: 8 ohms
Sensitivity: 87db 1 watt/1 meter
Bass-loading: Equalized, low Q, sealed alignment
Recommended RMS Power: 20-100 watts
Woofer Amplifier: 180 Watt RMS with AWS (Adaptive Woofer System)
Tweeter: 1” silk dome, ferro-fluid cooled, shielded
Mid: 5 ¼” cast-frame, rubber surround, double magnet, long-throw, shielded
Mid-Bass: 6 ½” cast-frame, rubber surround, long throw, shielded
Woofer: 10" extreme excursion, rubber surround

Dimensions: 48 1/8” tall, 9 1/4” wide and 16 1/8” deep
Weight: 115lbs
Recommended accessories: DH Labs Speaker Cables

Design philosophy for the Talisman

Modern speaker design is a combination of science, art and sweat. A successful design such as the
Talisman requires thousands of hours utilizing computer modeling, several generations of prototypes, precision
testing, critical listening and many "fine tunings".

Our design goals for the Talisman were to produce a speaker that would set standards both for two­channel and multi-channel use. The Talisman had to be the ultimate tower for full-range response. The
Talisman had to be an attractively proportioned and constructed speaker with smooth, uncolored, wide-range
response, three-dimensional stereo imaging, good sensitivity, high power handling and dynamics, see through