Manley SNAPPER User Manual

MANLEY

LABORATORIES, INC.

THE SNAPPERTHE SNAPPER

THE SNAPPER

THE SNAPPERTHE SNAPPER

OWNER'S MANUALOWNER'S MANUAL

OWNER'S MANUAL

OWNER'S MANUALOWNER'S MANUAL

TUBESTUBES

TUBES

TUBESTUBES

brought to you by the clever folks at:

MANLEY LABORATORIES, INC.

13880 MAGNOLIA AVE.

CHINO, CA. 91710 USA

TEL: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

email: [e-mail]

website: www.manleylabs.com

RULERULE

RULE

RULERULE

CONTENTS

SECTION PAGE

INTRODUCTION 3

MAINS CONNECTIONS 4

GETTING STARTED 5

MOVING RIGHT ALONG 6

LEARNING ABOUT TUBES 7

BIASING YOUR AMPLIFIERS 8

SIMPLE TROUBLESHOOTING 9

REPLACING A TUBE OR FUSE 10

TUBE FAQ 11

MORE SILLY VACUUM TUBE QUESTIONS 12

OPTIMIZING YOUR SOUND SYSTEM 13 & 14

CREDITS 15

SPECIFICATIONS 16

2

INTRODUCTION

THANK YOU!...

for choosing the Manley SNAPPER 100 watt monoblock amplifiers for your loudspeaker driving requirements. You
have possibly chosen this product because you auditioned it in a store or heard it at a hi-fi show and were impressed
with the sound. It may have been the right combination of price, power, features and styling for you. It may have
been because you know the Manley Labs reputation for quality, reliability, and integrity. If any or all of these were
the reasons, you made a good choice and for that, we thank you.

The MANLEY SNAPPER is designed to bring either unbalanced RCA-type line inputs or balanced XLR-3-type line
inputs up to speaker-driving levels in the simplest and most direct way possible. This is accomplished in only three
active stages through the judicious use of vacuum tubes, whose purpose-designed applications in audio amplification
are pressed to full advantage here.

The SNAPPER’s circuitry contains many subtle and overt refinements that promote uncolored and revealing musical
reproduction of the input signal. Of foremost significance is the all-balanced and self-balancing conveyance of the
musical signal as it travels through the amplifier, from input jacks up to and including the speaker terminals. This
approach aids in cancelling the undesirable interaction between the audio signals flowing through a given amplifier
stage and the power supply energy biasing that stage. One result of this approach is the rock-steady stabilization of
the input and driver stages, whose performance remains undisturbed regardless of signal dynamics or power supply
voltage fluctuations. Indeed, the two quantities here termed ‘power supply’ and ‘signal’ are locked into a nearly
perfect orthogonal isolation from one another, in spite of the fact that the signal is utterly dependent on the presence
of energy from the power supply, on which the signal rides. Put another way, the audio signal is restricted to
travelling in a west-to-east direction, while each stage’s power supply energy flow confined to a north-to-south
direction. This kind of isolation is very much the exception in other tube-based audio amplifier designs.

The SNAPPER’s 19-section output transformer is a brand new design from the Manley Magnetics department and is
really quite an amazing work of art. Ample 180 Joule energy storage in the high-tension power supply yields robust
musical body and athletic stamina. The Ultra-Linear output stage topology lowers output impedance presented to the
loudspeaker while boosting the amplifier’s tolerance of varying load impedance. Low levels of noise, distortion, and
negative feedback are partnered with the naturally high dynamic range of tube electronics which makes the Snapper
really jump to life.

Please read over this entertaining and enjoyable owner's manual carefully as it contains information essential to the
proper operation and maximum enjoyment of this instrument. Many of the remarks contained herein are especially
pertinent if the SNAPPER is to be your first long-term encounter with a vacuum tube power amplifier.
Thank you again, and please enjoy your new Snappers! (and the clever Owner's Manual.)

UNPACKING: Unpack the amplifiers carefully by removing all the custom foam packing material and make sure
that all supplied accessories are present. Carefully examine all items for any possibility of shipping damage. All of
the tubes are already installed and should have survived the journey protected by their very own foam insert. They
should be standing at attention in their sockets, and should show no signs of distress such as chipped glass, loose
internal components or obvious breakage. If the amplifier is damaged or fails to operate, notify the shipper or your
dealer or us or your local authorities immediately. Or if you suspect The Shipping People threw it off the airplane and
onto your front porch whilst flying overhead at 30,000 feet, notify the shipping company without delay and complain
to them as we only guarantee this unit to be able to survive a drop of 23,487 feet or less.

Your SNAPPERS were packed by Manny Q. with extreme love and each box includes the following components and
accessories:
a) 1 each, 6 foot IEC 3-conductor power cable (that you will probably replace with an expensive audiophile cord anyway.)
b) 1 each, Digital Multimeter (all the better to bias your amps with, my pretty!)
c) 1 each, Owner’s Manual per pair (that we hope you will keep reading...)

It is prudent to retain the shipping materials for future use, as they are custom-formed for the amplifier and
will greatly minimize the chance of shipping-related damage should you ever need to put your precious
Snappers in the careless hands of The Shipping People again.

3

MAINS CONNECTIONS

Your SNAPPERs have been factory set to the correct mains voltage for your country. (Well, that is what we
intended to do when we knew where they would be initially shipped.) The mains voltage that we built these
Snappers to operate with is marked on the serial badge, located on the rear of the chassis. Check that this complies
with what comes out of your wall.

There is no voltage changeover switch! The power transformer's primaries must be either wired in parallel for 120v
operation or in series for 230v or 240v countries so be sure to check the sticker and the serial number voltage
indication for proper mains voltage. Failure to properly comply with mains voltage requirements can cause
extensive damage to the system, which of course would not be covered by the warranty. If you relocate from, say,
a 120v country to a 240v country, you will need us to rewire the Snapper's power transformer for you or get
instructions from us to perform this operation if you happen to be as good at soldering as we are, or know someone
who is.

The mains fuse may be checked by first disconnecting the IEC mains cord from the power supply’s power inlet
plug. Then gently push the light grey fuseholder retainer clip located next to the IEC power socket. The fuse and
cap should spring outward toward your fingers. Inspect the mains fuse for the proper rating; change if necessary.
Refer to the fuse rating chart in the specifications section of this manual. If you do not know what a blown fuse
looks like, you may measure for continuity across the fuse ends. If your meter reads “OL” when you measure
across the fuse, that means “Open Leads” and that would mean the fuse is blown. A blown fuse usually indicates A
Very Bad Thing occurred. If this has happened to you, try to figure out why it may have happened. (Using a Fast
Blow fuse when we have specified a SLO-BLO fuse is one reason, output tubes running away into never-never
land are another reason.) If you have no idea why a fuse might have just blown on its own, you might want to
consult with Manley Labs or your dealer for further advice as Something Very Bad might have occured, like the
power transformer might have decided to retire early.

One way this could happen is by running the wrong mains voltage into the unit. Be sure not to do that.

If you live in a strange place...

Export units for certain markets have a moulded mains plug fitted to comply with local requirements. If your unit
does not have a plug fitted the coloured wires should be connected to the appropriate plug terminals in accordance
with the following code.

GREEN/YELLOW EARTH terminal
BLUE NEUTRAL terminal
BROWN LIVE terminal

As the colours of the wires in the mains lead may not correspond with the coloured marking identifying the
terminals in your plug proceed as follows;

The wire which is coloured GREEN/YELLOW must be connected to the terminal in the plug which is marked by
the letter E or by the safety earth symbol or coloured GREEN or GREEN and YELLOW.

The wire which is coloured BLUE must be connected to the terminal in the plug which is marked by the letter N or
coloured BLACK.

The wire which is coloured BROWN must be connected to the terminal in the plug which is marked by the letter L
or coloured RED.

DO NOT CONNECT OR SWITCH ON THE MAINS SUPPLY UNTIL ALL OTHER
CONNECTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. (...or else...)

4

GETTING STARTED

PREPARATION FOR INSTALLATION

Budget a suitable space in which to place the amplifiers and associated interconnect and mains power cables. This
space should be free of strong external magnetic and RF fields, and reasonably removed from strong loudspeaker­generated acoustical fields. This space should also be free of excessive heat or dust and large enough to permit easy
flow of cool air to the top, bottom and sides of the amps. Do not connect the SNAPPERS to the AC mains until the
other interconnections and items outlined below have been completed.

Keep other associated equipment some distance away from the amplifiers. This will help keep airflow unrestricted,
and cut down interference from radiated magnetic hum fields that can eminate from certain power supplies. Notice
that the output tube’s glass envelopes are capable of reaching high temperatures, depending on operating
circumstances. As with other equipment of this sort, it is best to keep the SNAPPER out of reach of pets or
children, or be careful to keep children and pets away from the amplifier when in use.

Before plugging in your interconnects, take a quick visual inspection of the tubes. Sometimes either through
shipping or unpacking things get jostled. Make sure all tubes are firmly in their sockets. You might also verify that
none have turned white inside. That indicates that air has leaked inside the tube (or the vacuum leaked out!).
Though it is rare, a tube is sometimes cracked or broken in shipping. It would need to be replaced before powering
up the unit. Give us a holler if this happens to you.

RCA AND XLR INPUTS

Choice of unbalanced [single-ended] RCA or balanced XLR input signal formats are made convenient by the use of
two discrete jacks at the rear of the amplifier. The amplifier does not invert the unbalanced input signal, and is
wired for the now more popular pin-2-high XLR convention. Pin 1 = Ground, Pin 2 = High(+), Pin 3 = Low(-)

An adjacent toggle switch facilitates choice of input signal format, permitting instantaneous selection of either the
RCA or XLR input. **NOTE** The following feature was removed in July of 2008. However, it is present on

units numbered up to and including MSN524: The balanced XLR input of these units also features an input
termination switch. When engaged, the termination switch lowers the balanced input impedance of the amplifier
from approximately 15Kohms to 600 ohms. Use of this resistive 600 ohm termination is only suggested when using
the SNAPPER with balanced signal sources whose output signals are transformer-coupled to the balanced line.
Proper line termination often helps in wheedling the best behavior from such sources.

Unbalanced input drive voltages of 750 millivolts RMS into the RCA jacks or 1.5V RMS into the XLR balanced
inputs will produce full output power.

SPEAKER CONNECTIONS
Never operate the amplifier without a speaker load, or suddenly disconnect the speaker
load while the amplifier is producing a signal. This risks punch-through of the enamel
insulation covering the transformer’s internal magnet wire. Permanent damage to the
output transformer may result and for that, you will be made to pay dearly, dear.

Never allow either speaker terminal signal to touch chassis or system ground. Treat each
speaker lead as a “hot” lead. Do not tie either speaker lead to a common switching or
loading point in your system. The negative speaker binding post is NOT ground!

So there you have it. The beautiful WBT binding posts fitted to the Snapper are for hooking up your speakers
cables. RED is positive and WHITE is negative. Get these to your speakers by way of nice speaker cabling
terminated with bare wire, bananas, or spades and do not ground out either lead. The WBT's feature a nice
slipping clutch action which will clamp down on your terminals without spinning them. No need to tighten them
like a gorilla or you might break something. Consider yourself well warned.

5