7/7/2015
Model zA2.1A Electrostatic Hybrid Loudspeaker Active Version
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WNER
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S
M
ANUAL
Page 1: ...7 7 2015 Model zA2 1A Electrostatic Hybrid Loudspeaker Active Version OWNER S MANUAL ...
Page 2: ...in PDF form in order to save trees and not burden people with even more paper than they are already barraged with If you d like a printed copy and do not have a color printer there are FedEx Office and Staples stores nearly everywhere that can do the printing job at low cost you can email them the file or bring it to them on a disk or thumb drive We hope this is alright with everyone ...
Page 3: ...baffles 8 Painted and metal surfaces 8 Grill cloth 8 Warnings 8 Quick Start 9 A good starting setup 12 Tips 13 Connecting and Powering 16 Binding Posts 16 Cables 16 Power Cords 16 Powering 17 Setup Details 20 Backward Tilt 20 Stereo Image 20 Room Compensation 21 Exaggerated Treble 21 Exaggerated Bass 21 Room Boom and Suck Out 22 Features and Specifications 24 Warranty 27 ...
Page 4: ...TE REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND THUS RENDER THE SPEAKERS UNSUITABLE FOR HOME USE THIS INCLUDES KEEPING THE GRILLS INTACT WARNING JANSZEN SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PHYSICAL DAMAGES OR INJURY THAT OCCURS AS A RESULT OF MISUSE DISASSEMBLY OR UNAUTHORIZED CHANGES OR MODIFICATIONS MADE TO THESE SPEAKERS WARNING CONTINUOUS EXPOSURE TO LOUD SOUND CAUSES HEARING DAMAGE WARNING AMPLIFIERS CAN DELIVER H...
Page 5: ...cular avoid spraying anything anywhere near the speakers 9 Power cords As with any power cords they should be routed so that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by heavy objects It is also important to prevent access from animals or children that may chew or otherwise damage the power cords 10 Liquids Care should be taken not to spill liquids onto the speakers 11 Foreign objects Care sh...
Page 6: ... each overexposure It adds up over time If you don t avoid exposure to loud sound then at a relatively young age music will sound dull or certain notes will be missing or you will hear constant noise in your ears and you will have trouble understanding what people are saying first in noisy places like restaurants and then everywhere If you think you may already have hearing loss it s never too lat...
Page 7: ...materials and techniques and are ready to bring you consistent unwavering performance for decades to come Please feel free to keep in touch with us letting us know anything you d like to tell about your listening experiences or about great amplifiers source gear or music that you have found suit you and the speakers particularly well We re also here to help with any setup challenges or other quest...
Page 8: ...thout mishap 1 Move the carton onto a carpeted area or lay a blanket bath towel or other soft material down onto the floor to use as an unpacking surface 2 Set the carton on its long side with the flaps up which matches the this side up markings on the sides of the carton and slice through the tape to free the flaps We ll call this side the top 3 Remove the power cord the bag of shim washers and i...
Page 9: ... to carpet spikes 1 Lay the speaker onto its face on a carpeted or other soft surface 2 Using a 3 Philips screwdriver remove the screws holding the feet in place 3 Locate the studs in the package of spikes 4 Screw the studs into the inserts in the speaker base The studs have a slot at one end to facilitate this 5 Screw the spikes onto the studs 6 If the spikes have been ordered for use on carpetin...
Page 10: ...pper foot on the base with your other hand 4 Lift using your knees Do not strain your back by lifting with your back 5 To get through doorways rotate the speaker onto your hip or up onto the hand that is grasping the foot Small movements When fitted with rubber feet the easiest way to move a speaker by small amounts is to tilt it onto two feet and walk it along by rocking it back and forth onto on...
Page 11: ...but do not spray anything directly onto the speakers Dampen a soft cloth with your solvent or solution of choice and wipe gently with that Grill cloth The grill cloth can be vacuumed directly with a brush attachment Warnings Do not spray anything near the grill cloth Any sort of cleaner or water mist can harm the speakers if it gets through the grill cloth The grills cannot be removed Any attempt ...
Page 12: ... two balanced XLR connectors are interchangeable although the intent is for the female one i e without pins showing to be used as an input and the male for daisy chaining to other amplifiers Balanced cables are inherently very transparent and immune to the effects of cable length noise pickup and the full range of magical qualities are often ascribed to single ended RCA cables which is why they re...
Page 13: ...al instrument or pro audio shop for under 10 each Gain control Ideally for the very best signal to noise ratio the gain controls should be set so that the speakers are going about as loud as they can when your source level is set at maximum Of course there s always some uncertainty about what is loud as they can so rules of thumb are probably the best way to go namely Gain at maximum 6 dB when dri...
Page 14: ...r field listening like one meter or one yard away 4 Quiet listening in the extreme near field If you have requested special preset programming these will be documented elsewhere Status lights The four status lights signify the following Limit lights up while the DSP voltage limiter is engaging or the amplifier is clipping Voltage limiting is not implemented because it is not required to protect th...
Page 15: ...the even serial number should be placed to the right and the odd to the left If they do have the option no need to check the serial numbers because the side tweeter should be aimed outward that is not toward the center Arrange into an equilateral triangle setup that is an equal distance between the speakers and each other and between each speaker and you Of course some will prefer or be practicall...
Page 16: ...h of your shoulders They ship set up for a listening distance of 2 5 to 4 meters 8 to 13 feet at a 1 meter 39 inch height AirLayer at 12 dB to 10 dB Preset1 Tips Too much bass Try moving the speakers away from walls and particularly out of corners Not enough bass Try moving them closer to walls or corners or setting the woofer switch to a higher position Lumpy bass Try making the side to side posi...
Page 17: ...of one speaker and making the beam strike the right height is another way When there is too much deep bass and the only solution is to deviate from an equilateral triangle to get the speakers away from side walls this will obviously narrow the soundstage but could be worth it For recordings made using a Blumlein microphone arrangement a 90 angle between the speakers is best although this is hard t...
Page 18: ...S E T U P D E T A I L S 15 Fig 1 Our apologies for this appallingly bad illustration ...
Page 19: ...r wire can be used of course Note that the resistance inductance and capacitance of zip cord of these gauges are at least ten times better than needed to avoid influence on the sound We offer well made cables at a reasonable price These are 12 gauge heavy jacketed cables terminated to high grade connectors made to last and available with a choice of several outer braid colors They are amazingly fl...
Page 20: ...ng the voltage Powering As implied in the previous section the speakers must be powered to obtain sound from the electrostatic elements You may note that there is an on off power switch The speakers may be left powered on at all times without harm but if they will be left idle for an extended time or if the air often contains smoke or other contaminants it is best to power them off The speakers ca...
Page 21: ...e source direct sound They are also set up to produce sound mainly from about 2 kHz to 6 kHz As a result their top end is more like what will be reflected from the side walls of a concert hall and the sonic reflections from the side wall do not smear the image noticeably as would the off axis sound from a dipole or the more usual wide dispersion cone dome speaker The benefit is the same sort of ai...
Page 22: ...ked in dB sometimes runs out of stock This means we sometimes ship airLayers with knobs that are not calibrated in dB but simply marked linearly from 1 to 10 or worse from 0 to 11 In the following image you can see the correspondence between two of the types of dial plate Fig 2 Dial plates Here s a translation table showing dB of attenuation with the linearly numbered dial plate Linear dB Linear d...
Page 23: ...le You can prop the front or rear of the speakers with books tableware whatever until the vertical centers of the speakers are fairly close to being aimed directly at your ears Shim washers are provided in a small zip lock style bag and you can make your new angle permanent by removing the feet at the front or rear of the speakers and inserting enough shims to match the amount you shimmed in your ...
Page 24: ...he listening position or by a generally lively room that is one with lots of hard surfaces and not many soft ones This can be counteracted by reducing the amount of toe in If the mid treble is exaggerated it will probably be best to increase the woofer setting to the 3 position if it is not already set that way or if it is then reduce the tweeter level Exaggerated Bass If you find that it is neces...
Page 25: ... You can make some headway against these effects with no additional hardware by decreasing the setup symmetry This is done by placing each speaker a different distance from each side wall and rotating your entire listening triangle 10 or 15 degrees relative to the walls Fore and aft adjustment of the listening triangle will also have an effect By changing one s seating height one can get one s ear...
Page 26: ...S E T U P D E T A I L S 23 Fuse replacement ...
Page 27: ...eration through crossover region Secondary partial crossover 1st order at 5 kHz limits upper treble from half width of ESL panel controls dispersion and flattens response without an electrical rolloff network airLayer rolls off 2nd order below 2 kHz 1st order above 6 kHz 2 5 way WTW Woofer Tweeter Woofer quasi line configuration o Woofers mounted above and below ESL array ESL panels employ half sp...
Page 28: ... dual short circuit paths and heavy cast aluminum basket o HP Two identical 17 cm 6 5 low mass paper cone low distortion low inductance high resolution high excursion drivers with neodymium motor o Operate far below their breakup frequencies and their Xmax for practically no cone coloration o Seamless acoustical integration with the ESL o Strong accurate bass not boomy dance club bass o Direct con...
Page 29: ...imensions o Speaker enclosure 91 cm tall x 26 cm wide x 22 6 cm deep 35 9 H x 10 2 W x 8 9 D o Plinth 30 cm wide x 35 cm deep x 6 cm high 12 W x 14 D x 2 5 H Heirloom quality materials and finishes used throughout for lifetime operation yet all are recyclable Designed engineered and made in the USA Warranty 5 years on all components against defects in materials and manufacturing Modular constructi...
Page 30: ...mage shall be reported to JansZen either verbally in text graphically or photographically as required to accurately convey the description iii At JansZen s sole discretion the damaged goods may be returned to JansZen for inspection or inspected on site if this is in accordance with the shipping freight company s policies iv At JansZen s sole discretion the damaged goods may be repaired or replaced...
Page 31: ...aced or repaired units will assume the remaining warranty period or 90 days whichever is longer IV Satisfaction warranty If the buyer wishes to return the speakers within 30 days of acceptance for any reason they may be shipped to JansZen at the buyer s cost in its original condition and packing materials If there is no damage traceable to the owner the refund will be in full If there is such dama...
