Audio Note IO Limited Owner's Manual

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IO LIMITED

MOVING COIL CARTRIDGE AND

POWER SUPPLY

OWNER’S INFORMATION

1) IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

2) CE DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY
DISPOSAL
POWER REQUIREMENTS

3) INTRODUCTION

4) OVERVIEW
UNPACKING AND INSTALLATION

5) VALVE INSTALLATION

6) CONNECTION

7) OPERATION

8) TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

9) WARRANTY INFORMATION

10) CONTACT INFORMATION

CONTENTS

SUCH REPLACEMENT MUST ONLY BE CARRIED OUT BY A
QUALIFIED SERVICE TECHNICIAN.

Do not attempt to replace any fuses without first disconnecting the unit
from the mains electricity supply.

! IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION !

RISK OF SHOCK OR ELECTROCUTION! INTERNAL OPERATING
VOLTAGES ARE LETHAL!

Do not remove top cover, unless specifically instructed to do so in the user
manual.

This unit contains fuses and other safety components in accordance with
BS60065 requirements.
In the event of failure, replacement fuse or safety component must be of
the same part type and value.

This product generates high levels of heat. Adequate ventilation must
be provided. Do not restrict airflow through any ventilation slots or
place the unit on any surface that may restrict airflow.

Valve equipment operates at extremely high temperatures;

KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN AND ANIMALS.!

Do not store or operate this unit in areas of high humidity or in close
proximity to water / moisture.

Do not expose or immerse the unit in liquid of any kind.

This product must be earthed – ensure that the mains supply cable earth /
ground is correctly connected.

OTHER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS: -

Never touch the power cord with wet hands.

Always remove the power cord by grasping the plug, not the cable.

Never expose the unit to excessive heat or magnetism.

Never let an inexperienced person repair or reassemble the unit.

Never put anything, especially metal objects, inside the unit.

Never place excessive weight on the unit.

POWER REQUIREMENTS

Power requirements for electrical equipment vary depending on your geographical
location. Please ensure that your unit meets the power requirements in your area.
The power requirement for your unit is marked on the serial number plate, located on
the rear panel.

If you are in doubt, please contact your dealer before plugging the unit into the mains
supply.

CE DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

DISPOSAL

This product must not be disposed of as normal household waste. To
prevent possible harm to the environment please separate the product
from other waste to ensure that it can be recycled in an environmentally
safe manner. Please contact your retailer or the appropriate local
government office for collection facilities.

We declare under our sole responsibility that this product is in conformity
with the following standards or standardized documents:

BS EN 60065 in accordance with the regulations 73/23/EEC, 89/336/EEC
(from 1 January 1997)

CE 94

Peter Qvortrup,
Director
Audio Note (UK) Limited
Viscount House
Star Road, Star Trading Estate
Partridge Green
West Sussex
RH13 8RA
United Kingdom

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Thank you for purchasing this Audio Note (UK) product. With the correct care it
should give you many years of pleasure and enjoyment.

Please take the time to read all of the information in this manual before connecting
your new component to an electrical supply or your system, to ensure both your
safety and satisfaction.

Please note that due to our desire to continually improve products, specifications are
subject to change without notice. Therefore it is important to refer to the manual that
is supplied with your product for the most accurate information; manuals downloaded
from our website or obtained from other sources may no longer fully apply to your
product.

If you have any questions regarding the information contained within this document
or your new component, please feel free to contact us: -

Audio Note (UK) Limited

Viscount House

Star Road, Star Trading Estate

Partridge Green

West Sussex

RH13 8RA

United Kingdom

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

e-mail: [e-mail]

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of the Audio Note (UK) IO Limited Moving Coil
cartridge. It is, without question, the finest and most technically significant Moving
Coil cartridge available today. No other cartridge offers such an unparalleled
combination of hitherto unknown performance, information retrieval, dynamic
contrast, tonal accuracy and sheer musical enjoyment.

Generator Principle

The moving coil principle was chosen as the basis for the design of the IO range of
cartridges, as it offers greater linearity in terms of electrical output from the
mechanical movements of the stylus than any other system. We investigated moving
iron, moving magnet, strain gauge, electret and electrostatic generators, and even
took the unusual step of acquiring a Toshiba cartridge that employed light emitting
diodes to generate the signal from the groove, but in the end it was felt that the
quality of the moving coil system as described by P. G. A. H. Voigt would yield the
best overall results.

Mechanical Construction

To ensure that the stored information on the disc is precisely recovered, it is essential
that the mechanical movement of the stylus is accurately translated into an electrical
signal. Any extraneous excitations arising as a result of vibrations in the cartridge
housing must be eliminated.

Therefore in the design of the Audio Note (UK) cartridges considerable attention has
been paid to the rigidity and structural integrity of the body, and to ensuring that the
adopted mechanical construction stores the absolute minimum of resonant energy,
which will degrade the signal derived from the disc being played.

Mechanical integrity of the cartridge body is an aspect of design that has never been
adequately dealt with before, and as a result all other cartridges suffer greatly from
colourations derived from internal resonances and/or energy stored in their body
assemblies.

To achieve the incredible level of mechanical integrity required for the IO cartridges,
all aspects of body design were reexamined, to minimize standing waves and
eliminate any resonating air pockets within the assembly.

The benefits of getting the mechanical assembly right would be lost if the complete
assembly could not be rigidly mounted in the tonearm, hence the incorporation of the
largest possible surface mounting area and the provision of up to six (6!) bolts to
secure the cartridge to the head shell.

IO LIMITED MOVING COIL CARTRIDGE