Classe Audio SSP-600 manual

Owner’ s Manual SSP-600 Surround Pr ocessor[...]

NO TICE All of us at Classé take extreme care to ensur e that your purchase will remain a prized investment. W e are proud to inform you that all Classé components have been officially appro ved for the European Community (CE) mark. This means that your Classé product was subjected to the most rigorous manufacturing and safety tests in the worl[...]

Important Safety Instructions 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. F ollow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water . 6. Clean only with dry cloth. 7. Do not block any ventilation openings. I nstall in accordance with the manufacturer ’ s instructions. 8. Do not install near any heat so[...]

4 Contents W elcome to the Classé family .......................................................................... 6 Unpacking and Placement ............................................................................... 7 unpacking y our surround processor .......................................................... 7 placement ...................[...]

5 T he Menu System .......................................................................................... 40 system setup ........................................................................................... 40 volume setup ......................................................................................... 41 rotary ................[...]

6 W elcome to the Classé family Congratulations on your purchase of a Classé product. I t is the result of many years of continuous refinement, and we ar e sure that you will enjo y it for many years to come. W e value our relationship with our customers. Please allow us to stay in touch with you by returning y our warranty card now , before you[...]

7 Unpac king and Placement unpacking y our surround pr ocessor Carefully unpack your surround pr ocessor according to the supplied instructions, and remov e all accessories from the carton. Important! Keep all pac king materials for future tr ansport of y our Classé product. Shipping y our new component in an ything other than its purpose-designed[...]

8 w arm up/break-in period Y our new Classé surround processor will deliver outstanding performance immediately . How ever , you should expect to hear it improv e somewhat as it reaches its normal operating temperatures and its v arious components “break-in.” I t has been our experience that the greatest changes occur within the first 300 hou[...]

9 Oper ating V oltage The SSP-600 surround processor is set at the factory (internally) for 100V , 120V , 230V , or 240V AC mains operation, as appropriate for the country in which it is to be sold. (230V only in Eur opean U nion countries, in compliance with CE regulations.) The voltage setting may not be changed by the user . Make sure that the l[...]

10 A W or d About Installation E very effort has been made to make the Classé SSP-600 simple and straightforward to install and use. S till, we have no way to evaluate other variables such as the size and shape of your room, its acoustics, and the associated equipment you hav e chosen to use with your surround processor . All of these factors in?[...]

11 Special Design F eatures high-bandwidth video cir cuitry M odern high definition video sources pro vide truly stunning picture quality . Ho wever , the technical requirements of passing these r emarkable signals along to the display are quite challenging. In recognition of the degradations that normally occur when passing these pristine signals[...]

12 Re-Equalization™ The tonal balance of a standard film soundtrack will be ex cessively bright and harsh when played back ov er high quality audio equipment in the home because film soundtracks were designed to be played back in large mo vie theatres using very different professional equipment. Re-Equalization r estores the correct tonal balan[...]

13 By contrast, most multichannel music is mix ed with a single pair of surround speakers aimed directly at the listener from behind. M any music mixers deliberately place particular instruments or musicians in these locations, and want you to feel as though you are “in the middle of the band.” Thus, a diffuse, non-localizable soundfield is no[...]

14 Boundary Gain Compensation M ost speakers are designed to sound their best when placed out well away from the walls. This placement usually offers the best imaging and overall performance. Ho wever , this placement is often not practical in multi-purpose rooms that are used for home entertainment. Speakers end up pushed back close to the walls s[...]

15 highly r efined cir cuit design All Classé analog amplification stages are based on circuits that have been extensively optimized o ver many years of continuous development. By starting with excellent cir cuit designs and working with them ov er the years, we are able to disco ver the many small refinements that add up to superlative perform[...]

16 Initial Setup W e understand that you may be anxious to begin enjoying your new surround processor . Our best advice: take advantage of the considerable experience your Classé dealer offers to make sure you get all the performance you deserve. Ho wever , if you want to set up your new system yourself , this section is designed to get the system[...]

17 5 Now y ou are r eady to po wer up y our new SSP-600 and its associated amplifiers. N ote that the initial power up takes appro ximately 90 seconds, during which time the blue LED on the standby button will flash. After approximately 45 seconds the L CD screen will display “initializing, please wait….” Once this period is complete the LE[...]

18 7 Please take a moment to read the r est of this manual. I t is important that you become familiar with the full capabilities of your new surround processor if you are to get maximum v alue from your purchase. (Alternatively , you may prefer to hav e your dealer perform a comprehensive installation of the system, leaving the technical details to[...]

19 F ront P anel 1 Standb y button & LED indicator The front panel S tandby button will toggle the surround processor between its fully operational status and a standby mode that leaves the surround processor off , yet ready to respond to system commands via any of the supported control options (e.g. IR input, DC trigger , CAN Bus, or RS-232). [...]

20 2 Menu button P ressing the front panel M enu button will call up the menu system, replacing the normal status display in the LCD touchscr een of the SSP-600. 3 LCD touchscr een M uch of your interaction with the SSP-600 will be with the LCD touchscreen (and the SSP-600’ s supplied remote control). I t will usually display the various input se[...]

21 6 V olume Knob The large knob on the right side of the front panel of the SSP-600 is used to control the volume of the system. The volume is raised or low ered in precise 1dB increments thr oughout the range of the control most likely to be used while listening to music. At extremely lo w volumes, the step size is increased somewhat to make it e[...]

22 Rear P anel The table below sho ws the three types of inputs of the SSP-600 and which outputs can be used. The ✔ symbol indicates a signal is available, the ✘ symbol indicates a signal is not available. F or example, with a Component Input an S-Video signal is available from the M ain output, but not from the Rec 1 or R ec 2 output. See the [...]

23 1 Composite V ideo Inputs The SSP-600 supports up to four composite video input signals. These connections are labeled COMPOSITE INPUT 1, 2, 3, and 4 . All these inputs are converted to both S-video and Component video as needed for viewing on the MAIN output. Connect the composite video output of your source component to the appropriate composi[...]

24 3 Composite V ideo Outputs The SSP-600 provides multiple composite video outputs to support different purposes. • The REC 1 and REC 2 outputs are used to send the selected video signal to a video recor der such as a V CR or a Digital Video Recor der (D VR) for recording. F or your convenience, all incoming S-video signals are converted to comp[...]

25 5 Balanced Main Analog A udio Outputs Balanced connections between components pr ovide the highest possible quality analog signal connection. This is due to both the effective doubling of the strength of the signal being transmitted and (even mor e importantly) to the significant improv ement in immunity from noise as compared to normal, “ si[...]

26 8 Coaxial Digital Inputs These four inputs accept digital audio signals conforming to the 75 Ω S / PDIF digital interface standard (via 75 Ω cables equipped with R CA-type connectors) from a digital satellite receiver , compact disc, DVD player or other digital source component. Connect the 75 Ω S / PDIF output of your source component to any[...]

27 12 RS-232 Control P ort This port has two purposes: • downloading new operating software into your surround processor (should new features ever be added). • external control of your surround processor by systems such as i-Command ™ , AMX ® and Crestron ™. F or more information, please contact your dealer and ask about home automation sy[...]

28 14 DC T rigger Outputs Many audio/video components can supply a DC control v oltage to associated equipment in order to induce desir ed behavior . T wo 1 / 8 th-inch mono mini-jacks pro vide individually controllable DC trigger outputs which can be used for any of a number of purposes, as described in The Menu S ystem . F or example, your dealer[...]

29 18 7.1 Channel Analog A udio Input A 7.1 channel analog input is provided for use with a multichannel SA CD and/or DVD-A udio player . For r easons of copy protection, most such players do not pro vide a high-resolution digital output. Instead, they use high quality analog outputs. In the SSP-600, these signals are passed thr ough to the speaker[...]

30 N ote that the three analog video standards offer v ar ying degrees of performance: • Component video offers the highest picture quality • S-Video is second-highest in picture quality • Composite video offers the lowest picture quality F or this reason, you ar e advised to use component video connections whenever possible, and S-video conn[...]

31 T he Remote Control Y our new surround processor comes with a versatile r emote control which can control both the SSP-300 itself and several aspects of the rest of a Classé-based system. The buttons are arranged in logical groups according to their functions. 1 Basic Functions This section along the top of the remote control gr oups four funct[...]

32 5 Navigation and Contr ol Menu Ke ys The five keys at the center of this group are the navigation keys. They are similar to what you may have seen on remote contr ols for DVD players, and ar e used to navigate of the menu systems of the SSP-300. The four keys around the navigation keys are used to directly access certain control menu scr een. ?[...]

33 Understanding Surr ound Sound T oday ’ s sophisticated surround sound systems seem to spawn a bewildering array of technologies and acronyms. In this section, w e will attempt to give you a basic understanding of what all that jargon means. As a result, you will be better equipped to take advantage of the best that home entertainment has to of[...]

34 By contrast, modern soundtracks use discr ete channels of information. That is, each speaker has a distinct signal that is completely independent of every other channel. This approach is clearly more desirable, since it gives the movie makers more creativ e control over the quality of y our experience. M usicians also prefer discrete formats, si[...]

35 This compensation is provided b y engaging the THX Ultra 2 CI nema mode. I t works in combination with any of the multichannel formats described in the previous section: Dolb y Surr ound, Dolby Digital, DT S, etc. Y ou should consider using it when watching any movie that was originally cr eated for theatrical release, whether on D VD, broadcast[...]

36 Using the SSP-600 Y our SSP-600 includes a versatile touchscreen L CD display which supports most of your day-to-day operations (as well as a flexible menu system for functions you use less often). While the use of this touchscr een is quite intuitive, it is also quite extensive. This section of the owner’ s manual outlines the use of this to[...]

37 T ouching the mode button brings up a scrolling list of the available surround modes. T ouching either of the arro ws will cause this list to scroll in the direction you indicated. When you see the surr ound mode you want, touch its name in the list. The SSP-600 will immediately change its processing to meet your request. Y ou may then either to[...]

38 system trims The System T rims menu controls several parameters of the SSP-600’ s operation that may occasionally need adjustment to suit a particular recording. • level trims are pr ovided for L/R balance, center , surround, rear speakers, and subwoofer . As an example, you might bump up the center channel speaker by 2-3 dB if the dialog in[...]

39 position select The SSP-600 supports four different families of settings for various listening positions you may use. The P osition Select menu allo ws you to easily choose among your various listening positions. F or example, you might use position 1 to optimize the sound for the seating arrangement you use when watching a movie, but hav e a di[...]

40 T he Menu System P ressing the front panel M enu button to the left of the LCD touchscr een brings up a comprehensive menu system, that is divided into a further six sections as shown belo w . When this button is pr essed you may toggle between the “M enu ” and the “Home ” screens. F or easy viewing during setup, the menu screens ar e al[...]

41 Her e, you can: • customize the behavior of your volume control • tailor your inputs to your particular source components • configure and calibrate the system to take best advantage of your loudspeakers • create shortcuts to your preferred or most frequently used functions • program the behavior of the SSP-600’ s DC triggers volume [...]

42 The most significant factor in the perceived responsiv eness of the volume control is the speed at which the knob is being turned. W e all naturally tend to move volume knobs more quickly when we need to make a bigger change, and w e tend to slow do wn as we approach our desired volume. Thus, if the SSP-600 sees the knob moving r elatively quic[...]

43 • high speed: determines the responsiveness of the control when the knob is being turned slowly . A setting of 0 will cause the volume to change as slowly as possible at high knob speeds; a setting of 100 will cause the volume to change as quickly as allow ed at high knob speeds. (The menu is the same as the one above ex cept for the indicatio[...]

44 mute setup Her e you can choose how you want the mute button to function. • classic - When the mute button is pressed no audio will be heard. The next two choices are useful in situations where y ou wish to still hear the audio source but temporarily reduce the volume to a lo wer level. F or example, let’ s say you are watching a football ga[...]

45 • The left button acts like the backspace key on a computer keyboard, moving the cursor to the left and eliminating any characters along the way . • The right button moves the cursor to the right, adding characters along the way . (Change each character to what you want as you go along, using the + and – buttons.) • The + and – buttons[...]

46 • the balanced button allows you to define how you want the balanced analog input on your SSP-600 to work. B y selecting DSP enabled , the SSP-600 will convert all the incoming balanced analog signals to digital for further processing. If you prefer to pass y our balanced signals through the SSP-600 unaltered, except for v olume control , cho[...]

47 speaker setup The Speaker S etup menu (found via the following path: system setup/speakers) allows you to tell the SSP-600 about the speakers with which it is wor king, so it can provide the best and most appr opriate signals to each speaker . • speaker config allows you to customize your speaker configuration and set up the bass management [...]

48 • THX setup sends you to a screen in which you can configure some THX- specific features. Specifically: • THX Ultra 2 sub should be engaged if you are using a subwoofer that is certified by the THX Ultra 2 standar d. Such sub woofers are essentially flat to 20 Hz under what might be considered worst-case acoustic conditions for bass, an[...]

49 • The name of each position can be specified in the same way that sources are. (See input setup earlier in this section.) • autocalibration uses the provided microphone to calibrate the system automatically for optimal performance in each of these four positions. Simply plug in the microphone to the mic input on the r ear panel, place the m[...]

50 triggers setup Each of the SSP-600’ s DC triggers may be programmed to either “logic” (12V) or “inverse logic ” (0V) settings. The ability to change the way the trigger operates can solve installation-specific problems that otherwise require external devices that add to both the cost and complexity of your system. F or more informatio[...]

51 displa y setup This button brings up the display setup menu. It allo ws you to configure the SSP-600’ s LCD screen brightness , the display timeout , and the language used in the touchscreen and menu system. I t also determines the format of your OSD (on-screen display), how long the temporary display lasts on your main television (e.g., the [...]

52 If you prefer the display of the SSP-600 to r emain on whenever not in standby , choose the never timeout setting. The lamp in the LCD display was designed for harsh automotive environments and will give y ou many years of reliable operation. If you plan to leav e the unit on continuously , however , we recommend that you keep the timeout delay [...]

53 The absolute system refers to the notion that most people thinking of the number 0 as meaning nothing, e.g., no sound at all. In this system, 0 means “ sound off ” and larger numbers indicate high volumes. While this is intuitive, the only way you have any idea ho w loud a particular setting is would be through experience. In the r elativ e [...]

54 Center Width determines ho w much of the center-channel information is allowed to r emain in the left and right speakers. A low setting places all the information that would create a phantom center image in a normal stereo system in the center channel speaker instead. (This is sometimes referr ed to as a “hard ” center channel.) A high setti[...]

55 cautionary note on Fkey use N ote that all Classé remote controls pro vide these same four Fkeys , so that you need not worry about which remote you happen to pick up. Thus F1 on the surround processor ’ s remote control sends the same infrared signal as F1 on the CD player ’ s remote control. While this is intended to minimize confusion am[...]

56 T roubleshooting In ge ner al, yo u s houl d r ef er any servi ce pro ble ms to y ou r C lass é d eal er . Be for e con tac tin g y our dea ler , c hec k to se e i f t he p ro blem is li sted he re . I f i t i s, t ry th e sug ges ted sol uti ons . I f n one of the se sol ves th e pr ob lem, co nta ct you r C lass é d eal er . 1 Ever ything ap[...]

57 3. Onl y one speaker seems to be pla ying. ✓ D oes the problem occur with all inputs? If so, check the interconnect cables between the preamp and the po wer amp . If no fault is found there, check the speaker wir es for secure connections. Important! Be certain that the pow er amplifier is off before c hecking any connections betw een the sur[...]

58 Car e & Maintenance T o remo ve dust from the cabinet of your surround pr ocessor , use a feather duster or a lint-free soft cloth. T o remove dirt and fingerprints, we r ecommend isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. Dampen the cloth with alcohol first and then lightly clean the surface of the surround processor with the cloth. Do not use e[...]

59 Specifications All specifications are accurate at the time of printing. Classé reserves the right to make improv ements without notice. ■ F requency r esponse DC – 200kHz ± 0.1dB ■ Distortion (THD + noise) 0.003% ■ Maximum input voltage (single-ended) 5V rms ■ Maximum input voltage (balanced) 10V rms ■ Maximum output voltage (sin[...]

60 Dimensions      [...]

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Copyright © 2007 Classé Audio, I nc. Printed in Canada. V 2.2 021507 Classé Audio 5070 F rançois Cusson Lachine, Quebec Canada H8T 1B3 +1 (514) 636-6384 +1 (514) 636-1428 (fax) http://www .classeaudio.com email: cservice@classeaudio.com N orth America: 1 800 370 3740 email: classe@bwgroupusa.com Eur ope: 44 (0) 1903 221 700 email: classe@bwgrou[...]