Sonic Frontiers Power 3 Owners manual

Operating Manual for the Sonic Frontiers Power 3 Amplifiers

Operating Manual for the Sonic Frontiers Power 3 Amplifiers

We at Sonic Frontiers hope you will derive many years of listening pleasure with your
new Power 3 Amplifiers. This Operating Manual contains important information regard­ing the operation and care of these Amplifiers. Be sure to read this manual carefully and
follow these instructions in order to keep them performing and sounding their best.
Please contact Sonic Frontiers if you have any questions - a Customer Service Represen­tative will be pleased to assist you.

Contents

Unpacking................................................................................................................1

Quick Setup..............................................................................................................2

Reference Diagrams ..................................................................................................3

Installing the Tubes....................................................................................................5

Biasing of the Power Tubes.........................................................................................7

Controls, Functions and Connections...........................................................................8

Adjustment for Load Impedance...............................................................................10

Care and Maintenance............................................................................................12

Troubleshooting.......................................................................................................13

Warranty................................................................................................................14

Specifications..........................................................................................................15

This symbol is intended to alert the
user to the presence of uninsulated
“ d a n g e rous voltage” within the
p ro d u c t ’s enclosure that may be of
s u fficient magnitude to constitute
a risk of electric shock to persons.

This symbol is intended to alert the
user to the presence of important
operating and maintenance (serv i c i n g )
i n s t ructions in the literature accompa­nying the appliance.

Sonic Frontiers Inc. can be reached at:
2790 Brighton Road, Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6H 5T4
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [e-mail] WWW: http://www.sonicfrontiers.com

10/96 SKU#56800

Unpacking

At this point we can assume that you have successfully opened the box flaps and found
this manual. These boxes were designed to ensure the safe transport of the amplifiers,
Sonic Frontiers strongly recommends the storage of these boxes in a safe, dry place. In
the event that the amplifiers may have to be shipped in the future, the original boxes are
the best means for the protection and safety of the Power 3s during transportation.

You may want to enlist a friend’s help to remove the amplifiers from the boxes, the
weight can make this awkward (hint: the back of the chassis is the heavy end). Here is a
chart listing what you will find in the box:

Power 3 (per mono channel)

Tube Complement:

Slot Screwdriver
Phillips Screwdriver
Biasing Tool
Power Cord
Pearl Tube Coolers

(with O rings)
Cotton Gloves
Extra Fuse
Amplifier
Tube Cover
Warranty Card
Operating Manual

8-6550C or KT88
4-6922
2-5687

1
1
1
1
2

1 pair
2
1
1
1
1

When unpacking the Power 3 Mono Amplifiers be sure to keep tubes grouped with the
amplifier of the same box.

If after your inspection of the contents there is a discrepancy, contact your dealer or
Sonic Frontiers immediately.

Quick Setup

At this point we urge you to read and understand this manual in its entirety. But if you
desire immediate action and have skill and/or past experience with tube hardware, fol­low these steps.

1. Place the amp on a hard flat surface that will not impede airflow under the amplifier’s
chassis (carpeting or area rugs are NOT acceptable as hard surfaces).

2. Ensure the Power 3s are in Mute mode (this selector switch is on the rear of the
chassis). When disconnecting and connecting cable, placing the amplifier in Mute is an
excellent practice.

3. Tube bias was set at the factory prior to shipment. Tubes are also marked for their cor­responding socket location. Carefully inspect each and install appropriately. Check
Installing the Tubes and Biasing of the Power Tubes (a must read) for further
clarification.

4. Connect your preamplifier’s left and right balanced or single-ended outputs to the left
and right inputs of the mono amplifiers.

5. Connect the speakers to the positive (+) red and negative (-) black output binding
post. Note: It is not recommended to operate any tube amplifier without
its speaker load connected.

6. Select the input for use via the selector switch: XLR-Balanced, Single-Ended Non­Inverting, Single-Ended Inverting .

7. Power up your system turning the power amplifiers on last ensuring that both green
LEDs are on (no Standby or Mute activation). Allow 5 minutes of warm up and then play
some music.

Reference Diagrams

Tube locations V1 to V4 indicate placement for the four 6922 tubes.

Tube locations V5 and V6 indicate placement for the two 5687 tubes.

Locations V7 to V14 indicate placement for the 6550C/KT88 power tubes.

A Holes on the Tube Top labeled “A” are LED indicators for the bias of the power

tubes situated nearest.

This drawing is referred to
as the “Tube Top” within
the instructional text.

B Holes labeled “B” are the location of the bias controls. The bias controls adjust the

bias of the tube which they are joined to by the lines. Direction arrows around the
controls indicate the rotation of the control to INCREASE the bias of the power
tubes.

This drawing is referred to

as the “Front Panel” within

the instructional text.

This drawing is referred to

as the “Rear Panel” within

the instructional text.

C Power Switch

D Standby Switch

E Power LED (Green - Power; Red - Mute)

F Standby LED (Green - Operate; Red - Standby)

G Detachable Power Cord Socket

H Fuse Location

I Balanced XLR Input

J Single-Ended RCA Non-Inverting Input

K Single-Ended RCA Inverting Input

L Input Selector Switch

M Ground Post

N Loudspeaker Binding Posts