VTL TL5.5 Owner's Manual

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HANDtrRAFTED IN THE UAA

VTL

TL5.5 Line

Stage

Preamplifier

IxrnoDI]CTION

I

Electrical

Safety

l{otice

1

Water and

Moisture

.

1

Location and

Ventilation

Servicing

Gr,ruNG SranrE,D

3

TL

5.5

Front Panel

Controls

.'

Inverted phase and

The Preamplffier's Back Panel

j

The Remote

Control

Hand-held

Unit

6

Fitting

the

Batteries

to the

Remote

Control

7

Connecting

Your Preamplifier to

your

system

8

Powering

your

system on

.. .

.... e

Using the

Preampltfier with

the

Remote

Control

e

Powering

the system ,ff

io

CI{APTER3

........ 1l

OpT,naTING

THE PREAMPLIFIE,R

II

Connecting and Selecting Source Components

t t

Power

On Stages

tl

Connecfing

the TL5.5 to a Home

Theater

5ystem.........

.......... I l

Using the Tape

Loop

to monitol recordtngs..

..... 12

Connectrnga second

pair

of

amp1ifers................

.................. 1-l

TL5.5

Prcamplifier

Owney's

tanual

VTL

Cang AND

Man.TTENANCE

OF

YOUR VTL

PREAMPLIFIER

17

Bngar IN PpruoD ,7

Changing

Tubes t8

Changing

the Main Fuse 20

Troubleshooting

2l

SpEcIFICATIONS 23

WannaNTY 24

WarranQ Registration

26

Serttic

TL5.5

Preamplifier

(lwneds

tanual

VTL

ii

CHAPTER

1

Itrtrot[rction

Congratulations nn-yzurpurchase

of a

VTLPure

tube

preamplfin

his hand

crafted equrpment is

designed

to deliver superb performance

for

your

listening

pleasure

for

marry

years

to

come.

Please

take a

moment

to

read

through

this ownels

manual. You

wdl

get an

idea

of the

installatron

procedures

needed

to

connect

this preamplifier

to the

rest

oi

vour

audio

system,

as

well

as

the various

functions

this preamplifier

can

perform. Please

take enough trme to

get

familiar

with the

features

of this

product.

After

you

have finished

reading

this

manual

please

keep it in

a sat-e

place

for

future

reference.

The

VTL

tearn

is

proud

that you

have

selected our pure tube preamplifier as a new

member

of

your

home

audio system. This

preamplifier

is

designed

to

gve

you the

convenience and

flexibility

to manage

all

your

audio

and

r,rdeo

sources, while at

the

sarne

nme givrrg you

the

musical

experience

that

is

the

most

alive and the truest to your source.

We

hope

you'll get

many hours

of enioyment from it,

Elec{rhal

SaffiV

Ndbe

Electncal

voltage from

power

cables

is hazardous.

We recoffrnend

that the power cord

connected

to this

unit be used with

a propedy grounded

oudet.

To

prevent

electncal

shock, do

not remove

the cover

of this

preamplifier while

the unit

is

powered

on.

Prior

to

connecting

this preamplifier to

ar-ry audio

or

video

equipment

in

your

system,

make

sure

this unit's

power

(and

the rest

of the equipment

connected to

its input

and

ouput

channels)

is

tumed off Adding

or

removing

input

or ouput

cables to the

preamplifierwhile

the system

is

powered

on

can cause

d*up

to the system.

Waterand

lllbisnure

The

preamplifier should

be used

N^y

from

water

or

moisture. If liqurd

enters the

preamplifier it must

be

immediately

returmed

to

your dealer

for

servrcing.

In

this

case

you

should under no

circumstances

try to power

the unit on

-

there zre

hazardous

voltages

present in

this unit that can

cause serious

iri,rry

if

they come

in

contact

with

you.

Location

and

\tentiHion

Install

this preamplifier in a location

that

is

stable urd well ventilated. If

the preamplifier is

placed

h

a built-in

installation,

ensure

that there

is

adequate

room for

a supply

of air to

flow

throug!

the ventilation

openin5.

Allow

at

least

3

-

5

inches

clearance on the

top and

TL5,5 Prcamplifier

OwncCs

Hanual

I

VTL

aroLuld the sides of the preamplifier.

Be

sure the

preamplifier

is

at

least

10

inches

away

from

your amplifier

to prevent possible

noise rntroduction rnto

your system.

Tiptoes

or

other

isolation

accessories

may

prove useful in

reducing mechanical

vibratrons.

Do not

place the preamplifier

next

to

heat

soLrrces such as

radiators, stoves

or other appliarrces.

Do

not

place the preamplifier

on

the

floor where small

children can tamper

wrth

the

equipment.

If it is not

possible

to place the preamplifier out of the

reach

of small children

it is recommended

that

you

remove

power cables when the eqtupment

is not in

use.

Servbittg

Do not

attempt

to service

the

preamplifier

beyond the

procedures

described

in

ttus

marrual. For

all other service and questions, please contact

your

authorized \TL dealer or

the

factory.

TL5.5 Prempllfier

Owney'c

Hanual

VTL

2

CHAPTER 2

Gettingffi

After

you open the carton you should

find

the

following

items inside:

.

The

preamplifier,

with a power cord

.

The remote

control

hand-held unit with trvo

AAA

batteries

o

This

Owner's

Manual, VTL

Qualitv

Assurance test document,

VTL

product warrans.

regstration

card

Remove

each

item from its

pack4ging

material and check to

make

sure

that

no

phvsicai

dam4ge

has

occurred during shipping of the unit.

There

should

be

no

rattles inside

either

oi the

preamplifier

or

remote control uruts.

took

througfr the

vent slots and check to see

that the tr"rbes

^pper properly seated

firmly

n their sockets. Contact

your

VTL dealer

immedrately if

physical damage

is detected.

TLSS

front

Panel

Gonhls

E

VOLUME
CONTROT

E

INPUT

SELECTOR

qE

TAPE

SURRC'UND

INN|TOR

PROCESSOR

swlTcH

swlTcH

u

EAI.ANCE
@NTROL

EEEII

MUTE

STd PhS€STATTJSREIiOTE IRO1IYER ON/OFF

SWITCH

LED

RECEIVER SWITCH

frdhlr,trLlb

ANFE

T5.5 Front Panel

TL5.5 Prempllftcr Owncy's

tanual

VTL

3

You

can operate

the

various

controls and

switches

from

the

front

panel

to

access the full

functronaliw of the urut.

The

status

indrcation

I.trD

shorvs the various operating

modes

of

the urut.

l. The Pouvr

On/Of xvitch can be

used

to turn the preamplifier

on

and off.

Press

the

svzitch up to tum the preamplifier ON and press the switch down to tum the

r-nit

OFF.

Tlne

Status

LED

should be on

and off

respectively,

accordrng to

the

setting of

the

Poaer

Oa switch.

Galk

about

flashing LED)

2.

The

Renote

Rereiw window

allorvs the transmission of srgnal

from

the

remote hand-

heid

unit

to be

received

by the preamplifier.

Keep

tkus

window

clear

from

any

obstruction to allow

maximum

srgnal

transmission.

3.

The

Status

LED indicates

the

operating mode

of the

preamplifier. The modes

are:

Pwerqr ildoft

o

\X{ren

the

unit

is

powered

on, the

LED

light

will be

lit.

W}ren

the unit

is

powered off the

LED lght is

ott.

tub

ild openatirlg:

.

When

the unit

is in mute

the

LtrD hgfrt

is

blinkrng. When the r-urit

is

in

normal

operaung

mode,

the LED hght will

stay

lit

constandy.

Inrertcd

plmcand

nqr.fowerted

phGe

.

When

the unit

is

operatrng

out of phase, the

LED

vill

change to amber color.

If

the phase

is

normal,

then the

LEI)'s

color

is

green.

4.

The

Phase/Mutc

switch

is

a

momentary

togle

swrtch to allow

you to

switch the svstem

into

the mute

state or the phase reversed

state.

.

If

the preamplifier

is

currently in

the operabng state

-

press the switch down.

The

preamplifier

will

go

into

rnute

state as

indrcated

by the

flashing

Status

LtrD. If

the preamplifier is

currently

in

mute

state, clicking this switch

down

^g

tnwill

change the system

back

mto

the operating

state. Clicking the switch

in

the downward position

togles the system between

the

mute

and operating

state.

.

Clicking the switch

upward toggles the system

between the phase

reversed

and

phase normal

state.

Tl;.e

Status

LED

will

tum amber when the

system

is

in

pha^se reversed

state.

5.

The

Volume

Control

knob

changes

the

loudness

level of

the output

from

your

speaker

system. Tumrng

the knob

clockwise will

urcrease

the

volume level. Alternatively,

tuming the

knob

counter-clockwise will

decrease the

volume level.

6.

The

Sunuund

Pmnssor This

switch can be used

to change the

control of your

audro/video

system to the surround processor when

the swrtch

is

tumed to the

Prccessor Ia

position.

In

this

mode,

the surround system will

only control

all

of the

Tt5.5

Preampllfier Owney's Hanual

4

VTL

channels

oi your

systerrq

and

the preamplifier

is rn the unity

gain

mode.

In

thrs

mode

the

volume control

and the

amplificauon

stages

of

the

TL5.5

are blpassed

completely,

and

the signal

is

passed

to the

front

left

and

nght

amplifien

at precisely

the same

volume as

the surround

processor

is

putting

out.

In

the

default operaflng

mode

oi the preamp,

the Pranssor

switch

stays

n

the

down posinon.

Tkus means

that

the

preamplifierwill

not

be

receir,'ing

the

srgnal

from

the

surround processor.

The Tqe Morutor can be

used to

select v'hether the

input

source

is

coming

from

tape

monitor or

not.

If

you

wish to use the preamplifier

to

monitor an ongomg

recording

session

from

the tape

decb you can

select this

switch to

Tape

Monitor

mode. In

this

state the

plavback

from the preamplifier

will come directly

from the tape deck.

The

unit

is shipped

in

the

default-operatmg

mode

of the

preamp

with the swrtch

in

the

dorvn positron.

This means that the

input source

will

not

come

from

the

tape

deck,

but will be dependent

on the

nput

selection

made

on the

preamplifier.

The Balann Conhvl

knob

can be used

to set the

left

and

riglrt

channel

level. \X4een the

line

on the

knob is rn

the

12

o'clock

position

this

indrcates that the

left

and

nght

channels are equally

balanced.

\'ou

wrll

feel

a center

dent

in

the control

to

indicate

tlrrs

exact positron.

The Input

Sehctor

can be used to select

the source

component

for

the

preamplifier.

You

can

choose any one of

the six

inputs

bv tuming

the selector

knob

to

the

location

as

marked

above the

knob.

The Prcamifieils

Bact( Panel

From the

Preamplifier's

back panel, you can

access the

input,

output,

ground and power

connectors,

the

main

fuse

holder,

and

the serial

number

of

the unit.

8.

9.

M

Ptcs

Tapa

ln OJi

In

Intrns

Vd€o

Tuns Tape CD Arx

1 Arx 2 / Phso

CND

Right

TL5.5 Preamplifier Owneds

tanual

vTt

5