Classe Audio CA-5200 User Manual

Owner’s Manual

CA-5200

Power Ampliﬁer

Manuel d’utilisation

CA-5200

Ampliﬁcateur de Puissance

FRANÇAISENGLISH

WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.

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CAUTION

RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPEN

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.

The lightning ﬂash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the

user to the presence of uninsulated 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 alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.

Marking by the “CE” symbol (shown left) indicates compliance of this device with the EMC

(Electromagnetic Compatibility) and LVD (Low Voltage Directive) standards of the European Community.

Classe products are designed to comply with international directives on the Restriction of Hazardous

Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment and the disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The crossed wheelie bin symbol indicates compliance and that the products must be appropriately recycled or processed in accordance with these directives.

NOTICE

All of us at Classé take extreme care to ensure that your purchase will remain a prized investment. We are proud to inform you that all Classé components have been ofﬁcially approved for the European Community (CE) mark.

This means that your Classé product was subjected to the most rigorous manufacturing and safety tests in the world. The CE mark certiﬁes that your purchase meets or exceeds all European Community requirements for unit-to-unit consistency and consumer safety.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment gener ates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment on and off, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna;

• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver;

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected;

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

CAUTION: Changes or modiﬁcations to this equipment not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

The information contained in the manual is subject to change without notice. The most current version of this manual will be posted on our web site at http://www.classeaudio.com.

Important Safety Instructions

Caution: Please read and observe all warnings and instructions in this owner’s manual and all those marked on the unit. Retain this owner’s manual for future reference.

1. Do not attempt to service this product yourself. Do not open the cover for any reason. There are no

user-serviceable parts inside. An open unit, particularly if it is still connected to an AC source, presents a potentially lethal shock hazard. Refer all questions to authorized service personnel only.

2. To prevent ﬁre or shock hazard, do not expose the unit to water or moisture. If a liquid does enter

your component, immediately disconnect it from the AC mains and take it to your Classé dealer for a thorough check-up.

3. Do not place your component near any heat-producing device such as a radiator, stove, etc., Keep

it away from direct sunlight.

4. Connect your component only to an AC source of the proper voltage. The shipping container and

the rear panel serial number tag will indicate the proper voltage. Use of any other voltage may damage the unit and void the warranty.

5. AC cords should be routed so that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or against them. Do not stress the AC cord by stretching it to reach a plug. If damage

does occur to the AC cord, take it to your Classé dealer for a thorough check-up and proper repair or replacement.

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6. If your component will be out of use for an extended period of time (vacation, etc. ), you may wish to unplug the power cord from the AC source to prevent any chance of problems from a voltage surge or lightning strike.

7. NEVER wet the inside of this product with any liquid.

8. NEVER pour or spill liquids directly onto this unit.

9. NEVER block air ﬂow through ventilation slots or heatsinks.

10. NEVER bypass any fuse.

11. NEVER replace any fuse with a value or type other than that speciﬁed.

12. NEVER attempt to repair this product. If a problem occurs, contact your Classé dealer.

13. NEVER expose this product to extremely high or low temperatures.

14. NEVER operate this product in an explosive atmosphere.

15. ALWAYS unplug sensitive electronic equipment during lightning storms.

Please record the serial number of your new Classé component here for future reference.

Serial #: __________________

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Contents

Welcome to the Classé family ..........................................................................5

a word about installation .......................................................................... 5

Unpacking and Placement ...............................................................................6

unpacking your ampliﬁer ......................................................................... 6

placement ................................................................................................ 6

ventilation ................................................................................................ 6

custom installations .................................................................................. 7

serial number ........................................................................................... 7

operating voltage ...................................................................................... 7

warm up/break-in period .......................................................................... 8

please read this manual… ........................................................................ 8

Special Design Features ...................................................................................9

highly reﬁned circuit design ..................................................................... 9

extensive listening tests ............................................................................ 9

extraordinary longevity .......................................................................... 10

robust protection .................................................................................... 10

Front Panel .....................................................................................................11

Rear Panel .....................................................................................................13

Initial Setup ...................................................................................................18

conﬁguring balanced/single-ended operation .................................. 18

conﬁguring ampliﬁer turn-on delay/amp no. .................................... 19

Care and Maintenance ...................................................................................20

Troubleshooting .............................................................................................21

Speciﬁcations ................................................................................................23

Dimensions ...................................................................................................46

Welcome to the Classé family

Congratulations on your purchase of a Classé product. It is the result of many years of continuous reﬁnement, and we are sure that you will enjoy it for many years to come.

We value our relationship with our customers. Please allow us to stay in touch with you by returning your warranty card now, before you pack up the shipping carton of your new product and forget all about it. Doing so will enable us to let you know about any possible future upgrades or updates that might become available for your Classé component.

Sending in your warranty card also registers your product with us so that warranty service can be obtained easily and quickly, even if you have mislaid your original sales slip.

Please, take a few minutes to ﬁll out the warranty registration

card, and drop it in the mail.

You will ﬁnd the warranty registration card at the end of the separate warranty policy booklet, enclosed.

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a word about installation Every effort has been made to make the Classé CA-5200 simple and

straightforward to install and use.

Still, we have no way to evaluate many other variables such as the size and shape of your room, its acoustics, and the associated equipment you have chosen to use with your ampliﬁer. All of these factors inﬂuence the ultimate performance of your system.

For this reason, we strongly encourage you to have your system

installed and calibrated by your dealer, whose experience,

training, and specialized equipment can make a profound

difference in the ﬁnal performance of the system.

Unpacking and Placement

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unpacking your ampliﬁer Carefully unpack your power ampliﬁer according to the supplied instructions,

and remove all accessories from the carton. Please take care when lifting the ampliﬁer, as it is quite heavy.

Important! Keep all packing materials for future transport of your Classé

product. Shipping your new component in anything other than its purpose-designed packing material may result in damage that is not covered by the warranty.

placement There are two options when placing your power ampliﬁer: you may place it close

to the speakers, requiring longer interconnecting cables from the preampliﬁer; or place it close to the preampliﬁer, requiring longer speaker cables.

Although either approach will yield excellent performance, you might consider the ﬁrst option for two reasons. First, signal quality degrades more easily when transmitted as a combination of both high voltage and high current, suggesting that speaker cables should be kept as short as practical. Second, high quality ampliﬁers use massive power supplies which inevitably radiate some degree of magnetic ﬁelds. Ideally, one would separate these ﬁelds from sensitive source components by a reasonable distance.

If it is more convenient for you to place the ampliﬁer in an equipment rack, along with your other components, we suggest placing it at the bottom of the rack, well away from your source components and preampliﬁer. This location will also be more stable than placing such a heavy component near the top of a rack, which might make it top-heavy.

Note that adequate clearance for the AC cord and connecting cables must be left behind the CA-5200. We suggest leaving eight inches (20 cm) of free space behind your power ampliﬁer to allow all cables sufﬁcient room to bend without crimping or undue strain.

ventilation Your Classé power ampliﬁer generates a certain amount of heat in the course

of normal operation. Be sure to allow six inches of clearance above it and three inches to each side to allow heat dissipation through air circulation. The vents on both the bottom and the top of the CA-5200 must be kept free from any obstruction which would reduce the ﬂow of air through the unit. Avoid placement on soft surfaces that would restrict airﬂow (such as plush carpeting).

custom installations Drawings are included in this manual to facilitate special installations and

custom cabinetry (see the section rack mount kit is available for this product. Contact your Classé dealer for more information.

serial number The serial number for your power ampliﬁer is found on the rear of the unit.

Please note and record this number on the page entitled Important Safety Instructions for your future reference.

registration card. Please register 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 now, before you forget.

operating voltage The CA-5200 power ampliﬁer 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 Union countries, in compliance with CE

regulations). The voltage setting may not be changed by the user or dealer.

Dimensions). An optional, purpose-designed

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Make sure that the label on the rear panel of your power ampliﬁer indicates the correct AC operating voltage for your location. Attempting to operate your power ampliﬁer at an incorrect voltage may damage the unit.

Warning: The voltage setting of your power ampliﬁer may not be changed

by the user. There are no user-serviceable parts within the

unit. Please refer any problems to an authorized Classé service

center.

If the AC mains voltage indicated on your power ampliﬁer is incorrect, please contact your local, authorized Classé dealer or distributor.

The CA-5200 can easily be powered by a normal 15-ampere AC mains line. If other devices are also powered from the same AC line, their additional power consumption should be taken into account.

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warm up/break-in period Your new Classé power ampliﬁer will deliver outstanding performance

The CA-5200 includes protection circuitry that will prevent the ampliﬁer from operating at dangerously high or low voltages.

• At startup: the AC mains voltage must be within a range of

approximately -15% to +10% of its nominal value at startup, or the ampliﬁer will not turn on. For example, a 120V unit requires the AC mains to be between approximately 95V–135V in order to turn on.

• Over-voltage during operation: if the AC mains voltage surges

by roughly 10% or more during operation, the ampliﬁer will enter protection mode and shut down. The Standby LED will ﬂash to indicate the protection mode has been engaged.

• Under-voltage during operation: if the AC mains voltage sags by

15% or more, the ampliﬁer will continue to play (since this does not present a particular danger to the ampliﬁer), but note that it may not be able to achieve its usual standard of performance under these compromised conditions. The Standby LED ﬂash to indicate the condition.

immediately. However, you should expect to hear it improve somewhat as it reaches its normal operating temperatures and its various components “break-in.” It has been our experience that the greatest changes occur within the ﬁrst 300 hours, as the ampliﬁer reaches thermal equilibrium and the capacitors fully form. After this initial break-in period, the performance of your new product should remain quite consistent for years to come.

will

The only exception to this rule is if the unit is placed in standby for an extended period of time, allowing it to cool down. Depending on the degree of cooling involved, you should expect a brief warm-up period before the power ampliﬁer’s sound quality is at its best. Unless your ampliﬁer was allowed to become quite chilled, subsequent thermal re-stabilization should not take long. Fortunately, you should never have to repeat the initial 300 hour break-in period.

please read this manual… Please take a few minutes to review this manual, and to familiarize yourself with

your new ampliﬁer. We understand that you are anxious to plug everything in and get started. However, reading this manual and following the advice it gives will ensure that you get all the beneﬁts you deserve from having purchased such a ﬁne piece of equipment.

or unplugged

Special Design Features

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highly reﬁned

circuit design

extensive listening tests Excellent measured performance is to be expected in world-class products, and

All Classé analog ampliﬁcation stages are based on circuits that have been extensively optimized over many years of continuous development.

By starting with excellent circuit designs and working with them over the years, we are able to discover the many small reﬁnements that add up to superlative performance, in a variety of applications. Altering a voltage here, or using a slightly different part there, may make all the difference between solid and absolutely outstanding performance.

This level of reﬁnement only comes with a great deal of experience, and is not available to those who ﬂit from one trendy notion to the next. It accounts in no small measure for both the consistency of sonic performance among Classé products (as they are all based on similar analog gain stages), and for the consistently excellent reviews those products receive by owners and reviewers alike.

Classé products deliver that performance. However, experience has shown that technical excellence alone is insufﬁcient to guarantee subjectively musical results.

For this reason, all Classé products are laboriously ﬁne-tuned during the development process by carefully controlled listening tests. Our ears are still some of the ﬁnest laboratory test instruments available, and nicely complement more traditional engineering test equipment. In the course of optimizing the circuitry for a product, hundreds of decisions are made based on the subjective impression given by substituting one high quality part for another.

As an example, we may listen to half a dozen 0.1% ﬁlm resistors of the same value, from several different companies. Standard tests may show them all to provide identical results in terms of noise, distortion, and so forth. Yet, almost invariably, one selection yields some small improvement in the subjective reaction to the performance of the product under development. Less often, even a single such change can result in a surprisingly large improvement.

Multiply those various improvements by the dozens or even hundreds of such decisions that must be made before the product can be ﬁnalized for production, and you have a remarkable improvement, indeed—all based on careful listening tests, which we view as a necessary complement to the solid engineering you might rightly expect from Classé.

extraordinary longevity Another beneﬁt of having worked with highly reﬁned circuit designs so

extensively over many years is that we have vast experience in what works well over the long term.

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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 and actual longterm experience, we are able to design and manufacture products which we are conﬁdent will stand the test of time.

We are conﬁdent that your new Classé product will give you many years of trouble-free reliability and musical enjoyment, just as previous Classé products have given their owners.

robust protection Finally, your new Classé ampliﬁer incorporates a variety of protection circuits, all

designed to protect both the ampliﬁer and your loudspeakers against dangerous fault conditions. Signiﬁcantly, these protection circuits do not intrude upon or limit the normal performance of the ampliﬁer; rather, they simply put the ampliﬁer into protection mode when confronted with abnormal conditions. These conditions include:

• output overload

• DC offset

• AC mains voltage (outside of normal tolerances)

• excessive operating temperatures

If any of the ﬁrst three conditions occurs on either channel might harm either your ampliﬁer or possibly your loudspeakers), the ampliﬁer will immediately go into protection mode. In such a case, a will blink red, indicating the channel with the fault, and the sound will be muted until the fault can be righted.

(any of which

Channel LED indicator

If the fault is not channel-related, e.g. AC mains voltage out of range, the Standby LED will blink. In all cases, the unit will need to be re-started once the cause of the fault condition has been rectiﬁed.

Front Panel

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1 Standby button & LED indicator

The front panel Standby button will toggle the ampliﬁer between operate,

its fully operational state, and a standby mode that leaves the ampliﬁer off,

yet ready to respond to system commands via any of the supported control

options (e.g. IR input, DC trigger, CAN Bus, or RS-232).

The current state of the ampliﬁer is indicated by the

the center of the Standby button. The state of this LED indicates the

following:

• on = standby

• ﬂashing (on power-up) =

• off + Channel LED on = operate

• ﬂashing (after power-up) = AC mains voltage out of range

When in standby, the ampliﬁer’s gain stages are powered down. Only a

small power supply and control circuit remain on, consuming relatively

little power. Fortunately, since the output stages by their nature conduct a

great deal of current, they warm up and sound their best very quickly.

If you are not going to use the ampliﬁer for an extended period of time,

perhaps while traveling for a vacation, we suggest you disconnect it from

the AC mains. Please be certain that the ampliﬁer is in standby

disconnecting it from the AC mains.

initialization

LED indicator in

prior to

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Also, it is a good practice to physically disconnect any and all valuable electronics from the AC mains during electrical storms, as a lightning strike anywhere near your home can put a tremendous surge on the AC

mains that can easily damage any piece of electronics, no matter how well designed and protected. The best protection in the case of severe electrical storms is to simply remove the electronics from any connection with the power grid.

2 Select button

The Select button is used (along with the Mode button) when conﬁguring the ampliﬁer for either balanced or single-ended operation. It is also used when conﬁguring the turn-on delay or ampliﬁer number for an ampliﬁer connected to a Classé preampliﬁer by the DC Trigger or CAN Bus control systems.

3 Channel status LED indicators

Each ampliﬁer channel has two

Channel LED indicators. They are used to

indicate the use of either balanced (XLR) or single-ended (RCA) inputs for that channel.

These indicators are also used to indicate fault conditions in your ampliﬁer, should any ever arise. If a channel’s LED indicators blink red, there is a problem in that particular channel. If all the

Channel LEDs are blinking

red, there may be a systemic problem that is not speciﬁc to a particular channel.

Caution! If you see any Channel LED Indicator blinking red, please

disconnect the ampliﬁer from the AC mains immediately and check that all external connections are cleanly made and secure. If the AC mains are not easily accessible, you can press and hold the Standby button for three seconds to reset the ampliﬁer. If no fault is immediately obvious, please call your authorized Classé dealer for assistance.

4 Mode button

The Mode button is used (along with the Select button) when conﬁguring the ampliﬁer for either balanced or single-ended operation. It is also used when conﬁguring the turn-on delay and ampliﬁer number of the ampliﬁer when it is connected to a Classé preampliﬁer by the CAN Bus communications or Trigger systems.

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Rear Panel

The following descriptions are intended as a quick reference, should you have any questions about your new product. Please see the next section (entitled Initial Setup) for speciﬁc advice on incorporating your new ampliﬁer into your system.

1 Balanced (XLR) Input

Balanced audio interconnections were originally developed in the

professional audio world, for preserving the delicate nuances of extremely

small microphone-level signals. For many years now, they have also been

used by performance-oriented consumer companies like Classé to preserve

every nuance of the ﬁnest audio performances in your collection.

Technically, balanced audio interconnections provide two distinct beneﬁts:

they double the signal’s strength as it travels from one component to the

next, increasing the potential signal to noise ratio by 6 dB; they also do an

excellent job of rejecting noise and interference that might otherwise be

picked up between the components, due to either EMI (electromagnetic

interference) or RFI (radio frequency interference). In the world of wireless

telecommunications, there is more potential interference around than ever

before—it makes sense to keep it out of music and movie soundtracks.

For this reason, we strongly recommend using the balanced analog interconnections between your Classé components wherever possible.

The pin assignments of these XLR input connectors are:

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Pin 1: Signal ground Pin 2: Signal + (non-inverting) Pin 3: Signal – (inverting) Connector ground lug: chassis ground

These pin assignments are consistent with the standard adopted by the Audio Engineering Society (AES14-1992).

If you are using your Classé power ampliﬁer with a Classé preampliﬁer, you’re all set – just take standard balanced interconnect cables and plug them in.Then engage that input on the power ampliﬁer by conﬁguring it as described in Initial Setup.

If you are using another brand of preampliﬁer, please refer to the operating manual of your balanced-output preampliﬁer to verify that the pin assignments of its output connectors correspond to your ampliﬁer. If not, have your dealer wire the cables so that the appropriate output pin connects to the equivalent input pin.

2 Single-Ended (RCA) Input

Single-ended cables using RCA connectors are the most common form of analog connection used in consumer electronics. When implemented carefully and with use of high quality interconnecting cables, this standard can provide excellent performance. Classé has gone to extraordinary effort to ensure that the single-ended (RCA) inputs of your power ampliﬁer are as good as possible. However, this connection standard cannot offer the immunity from interference that balanced interconnection does—hence our recommendation to use the balanced inputs when possible.

If you elect to use the single-ended inputs of your Classé power ampliﬁer, you need to engage them by conﬁguring the ampliﬁer as described in

Initial Setup

3 Speaker Outputs

A pair of high quality ﬁve-way binding posts is provided for each channel of the ampliﬁer.

Although the binding posts on your Classé ampliﬁer will accept bare wire connections, we strongly recommend the use of high quality spade or hook lugs, crimped and soldered onto the ends of your speaker wires. Using high quality connectors will ensure that your speaker connections do not gradually deteriorate from fraying and oxidizing bare wires. It also helps prevent accidental short-circuits from poorly-terminated connections.

4 Classé CAN Bus Control Ports

These RJ-45 connectors are reserved for future control and communication applications using Classé Audio’s implementation of the Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus speciﬁcation.

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5 IR Input and Output

1/8th

Your Classé ampliﬁer includes two

-inch mini mono-jacks in order to

support the IR remote controls that are ubiquitous today. IR commands exist for toggling the ampliﬁer between operate discrete command codes for either operate

and standby, as well as

or standby. These codes may be used in “macros” for sophisticated remote control systems, facilitating the control of the ampliﬁer in the larger context of a complete system.

Actually, this IR Input and Output

description is a bit of a misnomer: the input supplied to these plugs is electrical in nature, not IR. It is obtained by using standard IR receivers, distribution ampliﬁers, and emitters (available from your dealer) to translate the remote’s ﬂashes of infrared light into corresponding pulses of electricity. The big advantages here include being able to easily route the signals anywhere they might need to go, and the reliability of a solid electrical connection.

Since an IR distribution system such as your dealer may design for you usually must control many products, your ampliﬁer includes both an IR input (for the control of this product) and an IR output (so as to pass along the same signal to the next product). This allows you to “daisy chain” your control wires from one product to the next.

The ampliﬁer is designed to respond to IR commands of 5 Volts DC, with the tip of the mini mono-plugs deﬁned to be “positive” relative to the shank of the plug.

+ 33 hidden pages

Classe Audio CA-5200 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual