Bryston SP2 User Manual

SP2

PREAMP/PROCESSOR

O W N E R ’ S M A N UAL

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the user to the presence of un-insulated
“dangerous voltage “ within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to
persons.

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to aler t the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance
(servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the product.

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this apparatus near water.

6. Clean only with dry cloth.

7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat.

9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A
grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the pro­vided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

10. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the
apparatus.

11. Only use attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer.

12. Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is
used use caution when moving the car t/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.

14. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power­supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or
moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.

WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPARATUS TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.
DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO DRIPPING OR SPLASHING AND ENSURE THAT NO OBJECTS FILLED WITH LIQUIDS, SUCH AS VASES, ARE
PLACED ON THE EQUIPMENT.
TO COMPLETELY DISCONNECT THIS EQUIPMENT FROM THE AC MAINS, DISCONNECT THE POWER SUPPLY CORD PLUG FROM THE AC
RECEPTACLE.
THE MAINS PLUG OF THE POWER SUPPLY CORD SHALL REMAIN READILY OPERABLE.

BRYSTON LIMITED WARRANTY

Bryston analog audio circuits are warranted to be free from manufacturing defects for twenty (20) years from the original date of manufacture. The
warranty includes par ts and labour.
Bryston Digital circuits and cables are warranted for five years from the original date of manufacture. The warranty includes parts and labour.
Bryston products having motorized moving parts, excluding motorized volume controls, are warranted for three years from the original date of manu­facture. The warranty includes parts and labour.
Bryston will remedy the problem by repair or replacement, as we deem necessary, to restore the product to full performance. Bryston will pay ship­ping costs one way (usually the return portion) during the first three years of warranty coverage.
In the event of a defect or malfunction, contact Bryston’s repair centers for return authorization. Products must be returned using original packaging
material only. Packing material may be purchased from Bryston if necessary. This warranty is considered void if the defect, malfunction or failure of the
product or any component part was caused by damage (not resulting from a defect or malfunction) or abuse while in the possession of the customer.
Tampering by persons other than factory authorized service personnel or failure to fully comply with Bryston operating instructions voids the warranty.
This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which may vary from province to province and country to country.
As of 2006-02-22 Bryston will only warranty Bryston products purchased through authorized Bryston dealers. Bryston products with a date code
of 0608 or higher (date code format is “yyww”, where “yy” is the two least significant digits of the year and “ww” is the week of the year) must be
accompanied by a copy of the bill-of-sale from a Bryston authorized dealer to qualify for warranty service. The warranty is transferable from the original
owner to a subsequent owner as long as a copy of the bill-of-sale from the original authorized Bryston dealer accompanies the re-sale. The copy of the
bill of sale to any subsequent owner need ONLY include the Name of the Bryston Authorized Dealer and the Model and Serial number of the Bryston
product The warranty will only be honored in the country of the original purchase unless otherwise pre-authorized by Bryston.

BRYSTON SERVICE in CANADA: BRYSTON SERVICE in the USA:

Postal address: P.O. BOX 2170, Stn. Main

PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
CANADA K9J 7Y4

Courier address: 677 NEAL DRIVE
PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
CANADA K9J 6X7

PHONE: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

79 COVENTRY ST., Suite 5
NEWPORT, VERMONT
U.S.A. 05855-2100

PHONE: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

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BRYSTON SERVICE outside Canada and the USA:

contact your local distributor or

CHECK OUR WEB SITE: www.bryston.ca
E-MAIL BRYSTON DIRECTLY: [e-mail]
FAX BRYSTON DIRECTLY: 01-705-742-0882
PHONE BRYSTON DIRECTLY: 01-705-742-5325

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Safety Instructions & Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. Contact information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3. Introduction, Accessories and Power . . . . . . . . . 3

4. Front Panel Controls and Indicators . . . . . . . . 4~6

a. Using the Dynamic Range Control . . . . . . . . . 4

5. Rear Panel Input and Output Connections . . . . .7~8

a. Setting the Optical Input Assign . . . . . . . . . . 7

b. Programming the AUX Trigger Output . . . . . . . 8

6. SP2 Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8~10

7. Setup and Calibration of the SP2. . . . . . . . 10~16

a. Explanation of ‘Saved Settings per Source’ . . . . 10

b.SettingtheSpeakerConguration . . . . . . . . 10

c. Explanation of ‘Xtra Bass’ Mode . . . . . . . . . 11

d. Enabling the Subwoofer output in the Bypass mode 10

e. Setting the Speaker Crossover Frequency . . . . 10

f. Setting the Channel Delays . . . . . . . . . . . 12

g. Calibrating and Setting Levels/Channel to

Channel Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

h. Setting the THX Subwoofer Limiter or Bass Peak

Level Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

i. Enabling DTS-ES 6.1 Decoding . . . . . . . . . 13

j. Enabling THX Surround EX™ Decoding . . . . . . 14

k. Changing Dolby PLII Music Settings . . . . . . . 14

l. Changing DTS NEO:6 Settings . . . . . . . . . . 15

8. Appendix A – SP2 Surround Modes. . . . . . . . . 15

9. Appendix B - IR codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

10.SP2Specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

11. Example Hookup Diagrams. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

12. Suggested Surround Sound Placement. . . . . . . 19

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INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of the Bryston
SP2 pre-amplifier/processor. This product will pro­vide you with the finest available signal control and
DSP audio processing available. Like all Bryston
products the SP2 has been carefully designed and
engineered to deliver a lifetime of enjoyment.
The SP2 offers both pre-amplifier and digi­tal decoding functions, and it is very important
that you thoroughly read this manual BEFORE you
install and use the SP2.

UNPACKING

Your SP2 was carefully packed at the factory to
protect against any damage in shipping and han­dling. Carefully examine the packing and the unit
for any signs of external damage or impact and
report those to your dealer or Bryston prior to
using the unit.
Bryston advises that you keep all packaging
in the event that the unit may have to be returned
for service.

ACCESSORIES

In the carton you should have found the following
accessories in addition to the SP2:
1 Bryston SP2 Instruction Manual
1 IEC standard power cord
1 SP2 Infrared Remote Control unit with

backlight and battery installed

SAFETY

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you read and complete­ly understand the safety instructions and warning
on page one of this manual before installing or con­necting the SP2 to any electrical power source.

NEw FEATURES

• New “C” series cosmetics

• RS-232 software updates

• DSP firmware updates via SPDIF

• New Texas Instruments Aureus Audio DSP chip

• Seven times greater processing power

• DTS 96/24 5.1 surround decoding

• Dolby 96/24 two channel surround PLIIx
decoding

• Four independent hi-pass subwoofer crossover
points:

   ◊ FrontLeft/Right
   ◊ Centre
   ◊ Left/Rightsurrounds
   ◊ BackLeft/Right

• 7.1 decoding from 2 channel source in Dolby
PLIIx Music and Film modes

• 7.1 decoding from 2 channel source in DTS
Neo-6 Music & Cinema modes

• 7.1 surround effects decoding from 2 channel
digital sources

• 7.1 Surround effects decoding from 2 channel
analog sources

• 96/24 Stereo decoding

• 96/24 DTS 5.1 decoding

• 96/24 Matrix surround modes in 5.1

• 9Dynamic range adjustment per individual
input

• New, faster micro-controller

• New THX modes: Cinema, THX Music Mode,
THX Games Mode

• new THX ULTRA sub-woofer setting

POwER INLET & SwITCH

Located on the right hand side of the
rear panel, adjacent to the IEC power
cord socket is a large computer-style
switch that controls the main electrical
power to the unit. This is the ONLY
switch that actually completely turns
off all power to the unit. When the SP2

is connected to an appropriate AC
power source, and the power switch is switched to
the ‘I’ position, the unit automatically sets itself
into a STANDBY power mode, where-in only the
minimum necessary circuitry to respond to the
remote control’s power-on command or the
momentary push-button power switch on the front
panel are active. The RED standby LED on the
front panel illuminates.
Pressing the momentary POWER bush-button
switch on the front panel or the POWER button on
the remote immediately takes the unit out of its
STANDBY mode into its normal operating mode.
This is indicated by the illumination of the front
panel LCD display, the illumination of the LED cor­responding to the source you last selected, and the
units LED operating mode indicators.

NOTE:
If your unit’s LCD backlight does not illuminate

when the SP2 is plugged into an operating out­let, and switched out of STANDBY mode, please
check to see that the rear panel main power switch
{mains switch} is in the ON position.

If the SP2 is to be unused for an extended
period of time (i.e. a vacation) it is strongly recom­mended that it be turned off using the main power
switch on the back panel.

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SP2 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS & INDICATORS

SP2 PREAMP/PROCESSOR

1: POWER SWITCH (momentary)

2: STANDBY & INFRA-RED ACTIVITY INDICATOR
3: INFRA-RED RECIEVER (sensor)
4: DYNAMIC RANGE CONTROL
5: ALPHA-NUMERIC DISPLAY
6: MENU CONTROL Buttons
7: SOURCE SELECT Buttons & Indicators
8: DIGITAL MODE Switch & Indicator
9: SURROUND MODE Switch & Indicator
10: STEREO & STEREO DOWNMIX MODE Switch & Indicator

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS &
INDICATORS

1: POwER BUTTON

Pressing this push button switch takes the unit
in and out of its Standby power mode. See also
”POWER INLET & SWITCH” elsewhere on this page.

2: STANDBY & INFRA-RED ACTIVITY INDICATOR

If this LED is continuously red, it is an indication
that the SP2 is in Standby mode. When the SP2
is powered up, the LED is OFF, and flashes (Red)
when a valid IR code is detected.

3: INFRA-RED SENSOR

Receives infra-red remote control signals

4: DYNAMIC RANGE CONTROL

This push button switch permits the
selection of three dymanic range (or
compression) levels of signal sources
producing a Dolby Digital or DTS
encoded bitstream. The Dynamic
Range Control has no effect with PCM

and Analog input signals.
For the majority of applications the MEDIUM set­ting should be used. If you wish to turn off all of
the software’s built-in dynamic range management
functions (no compression and thus maximum

11: MONO & MONO DOWNMIX MODE Switch & Indicator
12: THX Button & Indicator
13: MODE Button & Indicator
14: BYPASS Button & Indicator
15: ANALOG BALANCE Control
16: MASTER VOLUME Control

See detailed descriptions of these switches, controls and indicators on
pages 3 through 7)

dynamic range) the switch can be set to “FULL”.

NOTE: Caution should be exercised when choos-
ing this option. Many smaller loudspeaker systems
cannot handle the extremely wide range signals
produced in this mode. Overall system volume
should be initially set quite low until you or your
dealer are able to determine the maximum safe
setting to avoid damage to your loudspeaker sys­tems or power amplifiers.

5: ALPHA-NUMERIC DISPLAY

Contains the two line, black on green 16 character
per line alphanumeric display which indicates the
status and functional mode of the SP2. This screen
is also used during the menu-setup function for
calibration of the SP2 to your system. If connected
to the Bryston Video Switcher, the menu-setup and
status display will also be available on your video
monitor with On-Screen Display (OSD).
On the first line, the decoding type [Dolby
Digital, DTS, Pro-Logic, Music, etc.] is displayed.

On the second line the type of signal being detect­ed from the currently selected input is displayed. A
sample screen is shown below:

4

SEL

TV/SAT

TAPEDVD

CD AUX

VCR

MODE

SURROUND

STEREO

MONO

6: MENU CONTROL BUTTONS

These three buttons labeled “”, “”,
and “SEL” (SELECT) are used to con­trol the menu and setup functions dis­played on the LCD. To enter a menu
mode, you can press any one of these
buttons. This will bring up the main
menu. Navigating any menu or sub-

menu is done using the two arrow ( and ) but­tons. Once the desired submenu or function is
highlighted, pressing “SELECT” will make it the
current menu or function.
To exit a menu, or back up a step use the arrow
buttons to highlight the ‘X’ displayed in the lower
right hand corner of the LCD window and press
“SELECT”, or wait 3 to 4 seconds for the menu to
time out and return to its previous state.

7: SOURCE SELECT BUTTONS & INDICATORS

Pressing any one of these
buttons will instantly switch
the SP2’s analog and digital
inputs to read the indicated
source.
If the SP2 is in its digital

mode, as soon as any input
is selected and switched, the decoder will auto­matically try to determine the new bitstream’s type
and mode.

8:

DIGITAL MODE SELECT BUTTON & INDICATOR

This button operates as a three-way toggle
function. The LED immediately above the
button has two colors - RED and GREEN,
and an OFF mode where it is not illuminat­ed.

When Digital Mode is selected, the decoder
will automatically default to a digital signal for the
selected input if one is present.
If a digital signal is present and detected, the
SP2 will automatically determine the type of bit­stream and select the proper decoding mode. The
indicator LED will turn green when this happens.
If NO DIGITAL SIGNAL is detected the SP2 will
default back to the analog input for the selected
source. This also automatically puts the SP2 into
its Digital Standby Mode. When this occurs the LED
indicator will turn RED
In this mode, the decoder will continually check
the selected source inputs for the presence of a
digital signal. If one is detected, the SP2 will auto­matically switch over to the pre-selected digital

operation mode for that source.
To defeat this auto-digital detect mode you
must press the button again. If you do the LED will
go OFF.
When this mode of operation is selected the
SP2 will look at ONLY its analog inputs. If a digital
signal does appear the SP2 will NOT recognize it
and will remain in its analog only mode until you
press the Digital button again to either select the
digital source or place the SP2 into its auto detect
mode as explained above.

9: SURROUND MODE BUTTON & INDICATOR

Pressing this button will engage the SP2’s
surround listening mode. When this function
is operational the LED will turn green. For
Dolby Digital and DTS bitstreams, the signal
will be decoded and presented with no addi­tional post-processing. For 2-channel source

material, the SP2 will synthesize surround
information based on the chosen Surround Mode
(see Appendix A: SP2 Surround Modes for more
information).

10: STEREO & STEREO DOwNMIX MODE

If this button is selected and the supplied

bitstream is more than 2 channels, the

decoder will automatically implement a ste-

reo downmix. Otherwise, analog or digital

two channel signals are passed as conven-

tional stereo.

11: MONO & MONO DOwNMIX MODE

If this button is selected and the supplied
bitstream is more than 1 channel, the SP2
software will create a Mono mix of all sig­nals. If the centre channel is present, the
Mono signal will appear in the centre chan-

nel. If no centre channel is present, the
mono signal will appear simultaneously on the
Left/Right speakers.

NOTE: Downmix [stereo or mono] is a software
based automatic mixing function available within
the SP2. This process exists because whenever the
number of active decoder outputs or loudspeakers
selected in setup is less than the number of chan­nels in the Dolby Digital program, some channel
combining will be necessary to present the pro­gram on the available number of channels/loud­speakers.

As a part of any program’s production, its produc­ers can set and adjust the type and ratios allowed
for downmixing somewhat to ensure optimum
results without compromising the full Multichannel
balance. This is accomplished by including specific
data within the Dolby Digital bitstream which rep-

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