Manley Labs AMPLIFIERS User Manual

MANLEY

LABORATORIES, INC.

Neo-Classic

250 & 500 WATT

AMPLIFIERS

OWNER'S MANUAL

TUBES

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

RULE

Revision 9-28-2007 by CD

CONTENTS

SECTION PAGE

INTRODUCTION 3

MAINS CONNECTIONS 4

CONNECTING YOUR AMPLIFIER 5

TOP VIEW & TUBE LOCATION 6

FRONT & REAR VIEW 7

OPERATIONAL NOTES 8

BIAS PROCEDURE 9

REPLACING TUBES 10

TROUBLESHOOTING 11

SPECIFICATIONS 12,13

WARRANTY 14

WARRANTY REGISTRATION 15

PACKAGING 16

INTRODUCTION

Tried and true: The Manley Neo-Classic 250 and 500 Watt Monoblocks have been refined over years and years
of development. Reliability that you can depend on combined with musical accuracy and emotional authority is what
these amplifiers promise and deliver. They are able to switch operation modes allowing the listener to choose between
the sonically seductive qualities of triode and the more powerful tetrode configuration. We use big, beefy reservoir
capacitors in the high voltage supplies giving plenty of instant energy for dynamic performance of transient peaks
and bass impact and weight which often exceeds that of rival solid-state amplifiers. We run high voltages on the plates
of the output tubes but operate them at lower current which will result in their longer life. Although each output tube
has its own bias-adjust, we carefully fit each amplifier with computer-batched tubes for best performance. The bias
adjustment pots and measuring points are conveniently located behind the oval front panel insert on the faceplate.

To avoid a heavy power drain when the cold amplifier is first switched on, we conceived a “Soft-Start” mode which
also functions as an “Ever-Warm” position allowing the amplifiers to be always warmed up for pleasurable listening.
Each amplifier only consumes 30 watts of power in Ever-Warm mode. A blinking green LED reminds the user that
the amplifier is in warm-up mode because as all the power supplies are at half-voltage, the amplifier will still play
tunes (albeit not-so-great-sounding-tunes) when the Ever-Warm mode is engaged.

We added a front-panel mute switch and created a new angled-back chassis to make it easier to hook up the
interconnects, speaker cables, and IEC power cord. In our own in-house magnetics department, our R&D team
completely redesigned all of our output transformers in 1998 with the goal to reclaim that luscious rich mid-range
of our vintage designs. In 2000 the amplifiers were completely overhauled once again. We also specifically set out
to achieve a deeper bottom register at higher power with lower distortion. Hours and hours of listening tests,
measurements, and fine-tuning brought an exciting and stunning result to our ears. We hope you will agree.

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 precision audio instrument.

Thank you again, and please enjoy your new amplifiers! (and the clever Owner's Manual.)

UNPACKING: Unpack the units carefully and make sure that all supplied accessories are present. Carefully
examine all items for any possibility of shipping damage. All the output tubes are proteced by a grey foam
surround and this must be removed before you turn on these amplifiers! Remove the tube cage/covers, then
extract the grey protective shipping foam. Replace the cages or you can leave them off. Whatever you like. After doing
this, the tubes 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 these amps to be able to survive a drop of 23,487 feet or less.

Your amplifiers were packed by Manny Q. with extreme love. The sturdy box includes an assortment of protective
foam pieces, several superfluous plastic baggies, the amplifier chassis, and the following components and
accessories:
a) 1 each, 6 foot IEC 3-conductor power cable appropriate for the voltage system in your country (that you will probably

replace with an expensive audiophile cord anyway.)

b) 1 each, Owner’s Manual (that we hope you will keep reading.)
c) 1 each, little cheapo Multi-Meter.

as well throw in a little multimeter for ya...)

d) "a couple" each, spare B+ fuses...just in case absolute power corrupts absolutely.

(So you can set your bias. We saved you a trip to Radio Shack. We figured you spent all this money on the amps, we might

It is prudent to retain the shipping materials for future use, as they are custom-formed for the amp and will
greatly minimize the chance of shipping-related damage should you ever need to put your precious 250's or
500's in the careless hands of The Shipping People again.

3

MAINS CONNECTIONS

Your 250's or 500's have been factory set to the correct mains voltage for your country (well, that is what we intended to
do when we knew where it would be initially shipped). There is NO voltage changeover switch inside! The serial number
sticker badge will proclaim the voltage we initially set when the unit first shipped from the factory. Additionally there might
be a yellow 120V sticker or a red 230V sticker placed near the IEC power inlet. Check the sticker and the serial number
voltage indication for proper mains voltage and confirm that agrees with what comes out of your wall. THIS IS
IMPORTANT. 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 to re-wire the power transformer primaries to agree with new new mains voltage and you will also need replace
the mains fuse value with the proper value for the new operating voltage. Or you can ignore all this and use a step-up (or

step-down) outboard converting transformer to power the unit from. But he had better be BIG for these huge amps...

ALWAYS DISCONNECT THE IEC MAINS CABLE BEFORE OPENING THE UNIT AND
ALWAYS ALLOW 30 MINUTES TO ALLOW THE CAPACITORS TO DISCHARGE FOR
SAFETY'S SAKE SO YOU DO NOT HAVE A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE. THOSE
EXPERIENCES ARE NOT EVEN A LITTLE FUN.

The mains fuse may be checked by first disconnecting the IEC mains cord from the power supply’s power inlet plug. Then
grab the knob cap and gently pull out the fuseholder retainer cover. The fuse and cap should spring outward toward your
fingers. Inspect the fuse for the proper rating; change if necessary. The B+ fuse cap cover is to be rotated counter clockwise
with a 1/4" flat screwdriver to release it from its housing.

Refer to the fuse rating charts 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 with a multimeter set to read resistance, ohms, or the omega
symbol. 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...) 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 to what Very Bad Thing might have occured, like the power transformer might have decided to retire early or
protest its oppressive conditions.

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

The BROWN coloured wire 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

CONNECTING YOUR AMPLIFIER

Setting up your amplifiers is rather easy.

1. Connect all source components (turntable, CD, Tuner, Tape DAT, etc.) to your
preamplifier.

2. Connect the interconnects from the output of the preamplifier or switching center to the
RCA input on the top rear of the amplifiers. IF your source has a truly BALANCED output,
connect TO the XLR input and select the balanced input on the switch. If using a standard
UNBALANCED source, select and use the unbalanced RCA connector. This amplifier will
not function properly if you are using the wrong input for your application. The XLR inputs
signals are transformer balanced and floating. Pinout is Pin 1: Ground; Pin 2: POSITIVE (+);
Pin 3: NEGATIVE (-). The XLR input can be driven by balanced or unbalanced outputs on
preamps and is particularly useful if ground loops and hum is a problem or long lines are being
driven. Pin 1 is ground which can be cut for a true isolated output which can sometimes cure
some ground loops. If using an unbalanced device to drive the transformer-coupled XLR
input, you may GROUND Pin 3, but do not float it. Both legs of the trannie must be connected
to something when you are using the XLR input.

3. Be sure to select XLR or RCA input depending on which one you are using. No tunes will
get into the amplifier if you have the wrong input selected.

4. Connect the hot or "+" speaker cable to the red binding post and the common or "-" speaker
cable to the white binding post (See diagram 2). Ensure that the other end of the cable is
connected correctly to the speaker. Tighten the binding posts by hand. If you use a nut-driver
or wrench, do not over-tighten the posts or you may break them.

5. Ensure that the "mains" switch on the front panel is DOWN in the "off" or "0" position and
the OPERATE / STANDBY switch is also down in the STANDBY mode.

6. Turn on Preamplifier and all the source components you plan to use.

7. Plug amplifier into wall outlet.

8. Switch the black right-most mains power switch UP to the ON position and allow the
amplifier a minute or so to 'warm up'. The blinking LED will indicate that the amplifier is in
STANDBY / SOFT-START mode.

9. Engage the soft-start switch UP to the OPERATE position. The blinking standby LED will
extinguish.

10. Turn up the volume on your preamp and enjoy the glorious tunes. If you don't hear tunes,
make sure you do not have the amplifiers MUTED... hit that MUTE switch.

11. After your listening session, if you wish to leave the amplifier in the energy-saving and
'EVER-WARM' STANDBY mode, engage the OPERATE/STANDBY switch to the
STANDBY position. The standby blinking LED will remind you that the amplifier is in
STANDBY mode.

5