Audio Note M2 Phono Balanced Technical manual

M2 Phono

Balanced

PRE AMPLIFIER

OWNER’S INFORMATION

1) IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

2) CE DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

DISPOSAL

POWER REQUIREMENTS

3) INTRODUCTION

4) OVERVIEW

5) UNPACKING AND INSTALLATION

6) CONNECTION

9) OPERATION

11) TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

12) WARRANTY INFORMATION

13) CONTACT INFORMATION

CONTENTS

OTHER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS: -

Never touch the power cord with wet hands.

Always remove the power cord by grasping the plug, not the cable.

Never expose the unit to excessive heat or magnetism.

Never let an inexperienced person repair or reassemble the unit.

Never put anything, especially metal objects, inside the unit.

Never place excessive weight on the unit.

Do not store or operate this unit in areas of high humidity or in close

proximity to water / moisture.

Do not expose or immerse the unit in liquid of any kind.

This product generates high levels of heat. Adequate ventilation must

be provided. Do not restrict airflow through any ventilation slots or

place the unit on any surface that may restrict airflow.

Valve equipment operates at extremely high temperatures;

KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN AND ANIMALS.!

RISK OF SHOCK OR ELECTROCUTION! INTERNAL OPERATING

VOLTAGES ARE LETHAL!

Do not remove top cover, unless specifically instructed to do so in the user

manual.

This unit contains fuses and other safety components in accordance with

BS60065 requirements.

In the event of failure, replacement fuse or safety component must be of

the same part type and value.

This product must be earthed –ensure that the mains supply cable earth /

ground is correctly connected.

SUCH REPLACEMENT MUST ONLY BE CARRIED OUT BY A

QUALIFIED SERVICE TECHNICIAN.

Do not attempt to replace any fuses without first disconnecting the unit

from the mains electricity supply.

! IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION !

POWER REQUIREMENTS

Power requirements for electrical equipment vary depending on your geographical

location. Please ensure that your unit meets the power requirements in your area.

The power requirement for your unit is marked on the serial number plate, located on

the rear panel.

If you are in doubt, please contact your dealer before plugging the unit into the mains

supply.

CE DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

DISPOSAL

This product must not be disposed of as normal household waste. To

prevent possible harm to the environment please separate the product

from other waste to ensure that it can be recycled in an environmentally

safe manner. Please contact your retailer or the appropriate local

government office for collection facilities.

We declare under our sole responsibility that this product is in conformity

with the following standards or standardized documents:

BS EN 60065 in accordance with the regulations 73/23/EEC, 89/336/EEC

(from 1 January 1997)

CE 94

Peter Qvortrup,

Director

Audio Note (UK) Limited

25 Montefiore Road

Hove

East Sussex

BN3 1RD

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1273 220 511

Fax: +44 (0)1273 731 498

Thank you for purchasing this Audio Note (UK) product. With the correct care it

should give you many years of pleasure and enjoyment.

Please take the time to read all of the information in this manual before connecting

your new component to an electrical supply or your system, to ensure both your

safety and satisfaction.

Please note that due to our desire to continually improve products, specifications are

subject to change without notice. Therefore it is important to refer to the manual that

is supplied with your product for the most accurate information; manuals downloaded

from our website or obtained from other sources may no longer fully apply to your

product.

If you have any questions regarding the information contained within this document

or your new component, please feel free to contact us: -

Audio Note (UK) Limited

25 Montefiore Road

Hove

East Sussex

BN3 1RD

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1273 220 511

Fax: +44 (0)1273 731 498

e-mail: [email protected]o.uk

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of the Audio Note (UK) M2 Phono Balanced Pre

Amplifier.

It has been specifically engineered for sonic performance rather than technical

specification, and fulfills all Audio Note (UK) Level 2 criteria: -

Pure Class A operation

Zero negative feedback

Single Ended circuit topology

Valve rectification

Materials and component quality

It is well known that the accurate reproduction of music, not just sound, requires the

purity of the incoming signal to be preserved. It is therefore not difficult to conclude

that, in order to achieve this goal and to retain the musicality of the original

performance,the complexity of the circuitry itself must be kept to a minimum.

In response to this, the M2 Phono Balanced Pre Amplifier uses a single-ended, zero

feedback circuit topology. This is simply the most linear design possible, demanding

pure Class A valve operation and removing the need for a phase splitter, which

introduces unnecessary crossover distortion.

In contrast to the majority of the audio industry, we design our circuits with the aim of

minimizing non-harmonic and time base anomalies, rather than producing

vanishingly small harmonic or low intermodulation distortion measurements. These

non-harmonic amplitude and time base distortions have a highly perceptible and

adverse affect on the signal waveform, and it is far more important to address these

factors than participate in the increasingly irrelevant numbers game that chases

‘perfect measured response’.

As a result, the M2 Phono Balanced was designed for maximum linearity and

minimum transient distortion, and avoids the need for detrimental ‘corrective’

measures, such as inherently error-prone feedback loops.

The M2 Phono Balanced Pre Amplifier features a pair of 5814a valves for the line

stage, an ECC83 and 6DJ8 Moving Magnet phono stage, and a valve rectified power

supply incorporating a 6X5 and an ECL82. It also has a correctly designed and

implemented balanced output circuit.

M2 PHONO BALANCED PRE AMPLIFIER

Please take care when unpacking your M2 Phono Balanced Pre Amplifier. Choose a

clean, clear location to unpack your unit. Be aware that the Pre Amplifier is quite

heavy; before attempting to unpack or lift the unit, check the weight and if necessary

use more than one person so that it can be moved safely and easily.

We recommend that you retain and carefully store all of the original packing

materials, in case transportation / shipping is required at a later date.

Select a suitable location for the unit. This should be a dry, dust free and level area,

preferably shielded from direct sunlight and free from vibration. Also ensure that the

location is stable and capable of carrying the weight of the unit.

A suitable mains power outlet must be close to the location; power cords must not be

pulled or stretched tightly in an attempt to reach a wall socket. If the power cord will

not easily reach the socket, choose a closer location!

Please ensure that adequate ventilation for the unit is provided, and that airflow

through any ventilation slots in the unit is not restricted. We recommend a distance of

at least 20cm free space is maintained above the unit. Please also remember that

valve equipment operates at extremely high temperatures, so a position that is

inaccessible to children or animals is essential.

UNPACKING AND INSTALLATION

Phono input The M2 Phono Balanced is equipped with a high quality, valve,

Moving Magnet (MM) phonostage. Connect the cables from your

tonearm to the ‘Phono’ socket inputs. If your turntable is equipped with

a separate earth wire, connect this to the dedicated grounding / earth

post, located on the rear panel.

If you wish to use a low output Moving Coil (MC) cartridge, Audio Note

manufactures a series of Step Up Transformers for this purpose. For

further information, please contact your Audio Note (UK) Dealer, or

alternatively please contact us direct.

Line inputs Three line inputs are available labeled CD, Tuner and Aux. Any

standard ‘line level’ source can be connected to these inputs.

Connect the ‘Rec-Out’ or ‘Line Out’ sockets on your recording device

to the ‘Tape In’sockets of the M2 Phono, Balanced and the ‘Tape Out’

sockets to the ‘Rec-In’ or ‘Line In’ sockets of your recording device.

Ground Post A ground post is provided for connection to those source components

that also use a separate ground terminal.

Mains The M2 Phono Balanced Pre Amplifier utilizes an IEC 320 mains inlet

socket. Use the supplied mains cable to connect the unit to the local

mains supply. The mains fuses are located in separate fuse holders,

situated on the rear panel.

Special Note –Make sure that all connectionsare tight and clean. For

best results use good quality audio interconnects. Although it is

perfectly acceptable to use cables manufactured by other companies,

for best results and performance, we recommend our own Audio Note

(UK) range of interconnects and loudspeaker cables. For further

information, please consult your nearest Audio Note (UK) dealer, or

alternatively please feel free to contact us directly.

Outputs The M2 Phono Balanced provides two unbalanced outputs, consisting

of two pairs of colour coded RCA / Single Ended sockets. RED is for

RIGHT channel connection, WHITE is for LEFT channel connection.

There is also a balanced output, consisting of a pair of ‘male’ XLR

sockets (see ‘Balanced’ section, below).

RCA The two pairs of RCA / Single Ended outputs are for connection to a

power amplifier and are identical, making them suitable for bi-amping.

CONNECTION

RCA SOCKET,

CENTRE = POSITIVE / SEND.

RCA SOCKET,

SHELL = NEGATIVE / RETURN.

Balanced The M2 Phono Balanced is equipped with custom designed and

manufactured output transformers, which utilize an improved output

and grounding scheme to provide the best possible connection to the

power amplifier.

Below is a description of the various cable and connection options: -

The pin configuration for all Audio Note (UK)

XLR / BALANCED connections is as follows: -

PIN 1 Ground / Shield

PIN 2 Positive / Send

PIN 3 Negative / Return

CONNECTION continued…

XLR MALE

OUTPUT

RCA

OUTPUT

SOCKET

BALANCED /

SINGLE ENDED

SWITCH

CONNECTION continued…

CABLE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

CONVENTIONAL: SCREEN CONNECTED AT BOTH ENDS

XLR FEMALE

XLR MALE

SCREEN

PREAMP OUTPUT

POWER AMP INPUT

SCREEN CONNECTED AT PREAMP END ONLY, TO

ELIMINATE GROUND LOOPS

SCREEN

XLR FEMALE

XLR MALE

PREAMP OUTPUT

POWER AMP INPUT

CABLE CONFIGURATION FOR XLR BALANCED PREAMP

OUTPUT TO RCA UNBALANCED AMPLIFIER INPUT

SCREEN

XLR FEMALE

RCA MALE

PREAMP OUTPUT

POWER AMP INPUT

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