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Nagra PL-P Preamplifier 

Owner’s Instruction Manual 

 

 

NAGRAVISION SA KUDELSKI GROUP 

Route de Genève 22 

CH-1033 Cheseaux 

Switzerland 

 

Phone +41 (0) 21 732-0101 

Fax +41 (0) 21 732-0100 
E-mail [email protected] 

 
 

All rights reserved – © May 2003 

(P/N: 2055001151) 

Summary of Contents for PL-P

Page 1: ...ifier Owner s Instruction Manual NAGRAVISION SA KUDELSKI GROUP Route de Genève 22 CH 1033 Cheseaux Switzerland Phone 41 0 21 732 0101 Fax 41 0 21 732 0100 E mail info nagra com All rights reserved May 2003 P N 2055001151 ...

Page 2: ...Location 10 Tube Jumpers and Timer Positions 12 Burn in Period 13 Left Panel Input Layout 13 Front Panel Control Layout 14 Right Panel Output Layout 16 Advanced Operations 17 Input Customization 17 Using the Modulometer 19 Modulometer Calibration and its Use 20 Block Diagram 21 Output Customization Tape Loop Input Adjustment 21 Hum 22 Connection of your PL P 26 Specifications 29 Electrical 29 Phys...

Page 3: ...sional audio national security and military businesses Since its inception in 1951 Nagra products continue to earn a reputation for delivering the best possible sonic and mechanical performance under many very difficult operating conditions Numerous awards have been bestowed upon Nagra for its technical innovation excellence in design and flawless construction In building the PL P preamplifier sig...

Page 4: ...ll freight costs as well as customs duty and other possible charges are at the customer s expense Our warranty remains valid in the event of emergency repairs or modification being made by the user However we reserve the right to invoice the customer for any damage caused by an unqualified person or a false manœuvre by the operator We decline any responsibility for any and all damages resulting di...

Page 5: ...s compact disk players and video tape recorders as well as a fully integrated tape signal processor loop A traditional Nagra high precision modulometer provides a facility to accurately monitor match and balance input and output levels as well as to optimize individual component performance The outputs of the PL P are directly coupled to the output vacuum tubes for the highest audio performance Th...

Page 6: ...mpartment which provides an extremely dynamic and noise free power source for powering the heater filaments and anodes of the vacuum tubes and other active electronic components This DC to DC converter contains very high operating voltages and is sealed at the factory for the protection of owners users and untrained personnel Unauthorized tempering with this module is extremely dangerous and could...

Page 7: ... A battery compartment at the rear of the PL P is designed to hold 8 D size power cells The PL P is delivered from the factory with 2 batons of rechargeable Nickel Cadmium cells In an emergency other forms of rechargeable D size power cells or alkaline power cells can also be used Access to the PL P battery compartment is by removing the 4 hex screws securing the top plate using the supplied ISO A...

Page 8: ...e factory must be fully charged in the PL P before use See next section for full instructions Connecting the PLP CCC3 AC Power Supply Once the batteries are properly installed in the PL P the male Lemo connector of the PLP CCC3 AC power supply unit can be connected to the female input socket marked Power Pack on the right side panel of the PL P The Lemo connector has a red dot that should be orien...

Page 9: ...n be used to bring a new set of re chargeable batteries to full charge 2 If the rechargeable power cells in the PL P have not been correctly installed or are not being correctly managed when the PLP CCC3 is switched on the U LED will light This indicates that a faulty condition exists with the following possibilities The male Lemo connector of the PLP CCC3 is not properly connected and or seated i...

Page 10: ...efore final selection at the Nagra factory to ensure the highest level of performance Two types of vacuum tubes used They are 12AT7 or ECC81 12AX7 or ECC83 Many variants of these vacuum tube types are available and may function in the PL P However proper selection and use of vacuum tubes other than those supplied by Nagra is an owner responsibility If the PL P is damaged due to the use of non fact...

Page 11: ...required at each socket position and place them in the manner described above The PL P is also furnished with two vacuum tube usage timers They are mounted internally on the printed circuit board as per the following diagram The one on the left corresponds with the two vacuum tubes used in the phono stage and the one on the right is for the vacuum tubes used in the line stage When the power is tur...

Page 12: ...mer Phono stage tube timer 12AX7 ECC83 Phono input stage Jumpers 12AX7 ECC83 Line output stage 12AT7 ECC81 Line output stage Phono transformers 12AX7 ECC83 Line input stage Headphone transformers 12AT7 ECC81 Phono output stage 12AT7 ECC81 Line input stage ...

Page 13: ... for phono connection is configurable to accept either moving coil or moving magnet input Three sets of input connectors for line level connections are configurable to accept source inputs such as tuners compact disk players or video tape recorders In addition a technical ground post is provided for the connection of a ground source to eliminate possible ground loops which can lead to hum This pos...

Page 14: ...bels clockwise from top to bottom OFF No power is supplied to any audio stages However the rechargeable power cell management system is always in operation and will draw less than 3 mA A red stripe is printed on the backing plate in the space occupied by the switch handle to alert the user of having switched the unit from the OFF position PHONO Power is supplied to all active electronic stages A 1...

Page 15: ...osition input is sourced from the input connectorsthrough the main rotary switch When the switch is in the TAPE position input is sourced from the FROM EXT connectors on the right side panel 5 Modulometer A highly precise Nagra made modulometer provides a multitude of indications through 2 coaxial internal pointers representing the left and right channels The black indicator pointer represents the...

Page 16: ...tput connectors Two sets of output connectors are available to feed power amplifiers for bi amping applications One set of input connectors and one set of output connectors are provided for connection to an analog tape recorder or an external analog signal processor The level of the output connectors can be individually adjusted to match the level of other input sources such as phono tuners compac...

Page 17: ... positions for the various different options within the PL P To install a jumper place it over BOTH of the pins of the corresponding selection so as to join them together The different jumpers within the PL P can be used to set various different customization settings according to the installation and the user s preferences 1 Moving coil Moving magnet cartridge selection Principally there are thre...

Page 18: ...no cartridge additional resistive loading options The PL P offers the following resistive and capacitive loading options to optimize the performance of most available moving coil phono cartridges A specific value can be selected by installing the jumpers in the appropriate position as per the internal jumper diagram The resistive loading options available are 33 Ohms 100 Ohms 330 Ohms 47 kOhms wit...

Page 19: ... clockwise turn of the white adjustment screw in the center of the trim pot the input level is increased with a counterclockwise the level is decreased This adjustment technique is used to balance the levels to avoid variations across Phono Line A Line B and Line C Used in conjunction with the modulometer as described below the user can also maximize system performance by selecting the optimum ope...

Page 20: ... 1 legend printed on the face of the instrument Logarithmic scale markings in relative dB from 20 dB to 3 dB indicating the output level present at the tape loop output connectors Linear scale markings in absolute voltage from 0 to 1 4 V corresponding to the 20 dB to 3 dB scale referenced to 1 0 V at the tape loop output connectors Linear scale markings in absolute voltage indicating battery reser...

Page 21: ...nd outputs of tape recorders or other external signal processing equipment To select operations using the tape loop select the TAPE position on the Source Tape switch on the front panel On the inside right of the PL P case is a printed circuit board which is connected to the input and output connectors of the tape loop Above and next to the connectors marked FROM EXT on the right side panel is a p...

Page 22: ...ered The latter two wires are not floating the phase wire which should not be touched for risk of electric shocks carries a high alternating potential 110 V or 220 V whereas the neutral wire is very close to the ground earth and can normally be touched in principle without any risk Normally these two wires carry an identical current one being the return of the other The third wire the ground earth...

Page 23: ...o follow may seem somewhat evident For those who have not followed to this point simply pay careful attention to the following elementary rules ElectricRadiator with ground fault Phase Neutral earth PL P POWERAMP Wall sockets MainsNetwork Phase Neutral Ground Turntable INCORRECT presence of a faulty radiator with the turntable and audio installation connected on two different plugs ...

Page 24: ...ower source i e spot lights etc 2 From your single power socket try as much as possible to use single point connection rather than multi point see below Humidifier PL P Amplifier Spot LP Power In this example both the humidifier and the spot light should not be connected to the same power plug CD Player PL P LP Power Amplifier Incorrect multipoint ...

Page 25: ...the highest power consumers and finishing with the lowest power consumer and equally the units using high level audio signals together and those with lower levels together as indicated in the diagram below CD Player PL P LP Power Amplifier Correct multipoint CD Player PL P LP Power Amplifier Correct connection diagram ...

Page 26: ...P 2xInternal jumpers allowing one or other of the phono connectors to the chassis 2xInput transformers which act not only as impedance matching in the MC position but also render the two inputs floating 2xInternal jumpers allowing the input transformers to be bypassed if desired The location of the jumpers used to change the resistive and capacitive loadings of the cartridge or the activation of t...

Page 27: ...e PL P and the turntable are connected to the mains supply as close as possible to each other as suggested above in the connection explanation Floating the earth lead from the turntable may also be tried as long as the earth connection X above is correctly installed B1 The tone arm is mounted separately from the turntable but the two shieldings are connected together In this case be sure that only...

Page 28: ...ciple the connection X between the two chassis has no effect in this case However this will create a sensitive loop which could induce hum on the channel which is connected to ground C1 The tone arm is mounted separately and the outputs are floating In this third case both the jumpers are installed and the link between the two chassis X is obligatory For those who have a high output MM cartridge f...

Page 29: ...0 Ω S N ratio 88 dB A weighted Bandwith 22 60kHz 0 1 dB Distorsion 0 02 1 V out no load at 1 kHz 0 1 1 V out 600Ω load 0 1 1 V out 3kΩ load Measurement conditions All potentiometers at 0 dB position Physical Tubes Phono stage 1 12 AT 7 ECC 81 1 12 AX 7 ECC 83 1 5 000 hour usage timer Line stage 2 12 AT 7 ECC 81 4 12 AX 7 ECC 83 1 compteur 5 000 heures Source d alimentation D size Nickel Cadmium re...

Page 30: ...ercial et l industrie légère We hereby declare that the equipment conforms to the requirements of the European guidelines 89 336 CEE referring to the electromagnetic compatibility for commerce and light industry Avertissement Cet appareil appartient à la classe A de la norme EN 50081 1 92 Dans un environnement résidentiel il peut provoquer des brouillages radioélectriques Dans ce cas il peut être ...

Page 31: ...SWITZERLAND All specifications contained in this publication are subject to change at any time without prior notice following improvvements and or modifications of the equipment COPYRIGHT RESERVED FOR ALL COUNTRIES PRINTED IN SWITZERLAND MAY 2003 KSA P N 2055001151 ...

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