14
Lexicon
Connection
Audio/Video
Connections
Before making any connections, turn off ALL audio and video components,
including individual power amplifiers. (Unplug any preamps and power
amps that don’t have power switches.)
The CP-3
PLUS
is designed to function as the control center of the system,
selecting inputs and controlling the volume of all speakers in the system.
There are several ways to integrate the CP-3
PLUS
into the system, but they
basically fall into two categories: those where the CP-3
PLUS
is connected
directly to all of the amplifiers in the room, and those where the CP-3
PLUS
is
connected into a tape or signal processor loop of a preamp or receiver.
As most systems which use the CP-3
PLUS
are likely to be fairly complex, one
of the design goals should be to make the entire system intuitive to use. If
there are no more than four line level (not a turntable) sources, it is easiest
to hook them directly to the inputs of the CP-3
PLUS
, and to connect all of the
system amplifiers to the CP-3
PLUS
outputs. If a mono source is used (such as
an older VCR), a Y-connector should be used to connect to both left and right
audio inputs on the CP-3
PLUS
.
Many installations will have more than four sources in the system. A
preamp, or A/V switcher, can handle the additional components — and
possibly add some additional dubbing capabilities. A preamp has the
advantage of a built-in phono amp, and many include decent tone controls
as well. The disadvantages include: a redundant gain stage, another volume
control that can be set incorrectly, forfeit of remote switching and loss of the
CP-3
PLUS
programmable input functions for the sources connected through
the preamp. An A/V Switcher may yield more dubbing flexibility, and
should be considered if there is no turntable in the system.
You may choose to connect the CP-3
PLUS
in the tape monitor, or external
processor loop of a preamp, allowing you to completey bypass the CP-3
PLUS
.
This, however, will make the system somewhat more complicated to
operate, and adds a gain stage (the preamp) that is not needed.
NOTE: The CP-3
PLUS
Tape Out output is not a tape monitor circuit.
The audio input selected is always fed directly to Tape Out. If a tape
deck is connected to this output and one of the inputs, and that
input is selected, a feedback loop will result. This can damage the
amplifiers, and the speakers.
