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Introduction
Congratulations on purchasing your Wisdom Audio loudspeakers. They incorporate many design features designed to give you
decades of pleasure and performance. Many of these design choices are uncommon among loudspeaker manufacturers and bear
some explanat
ion. See the following section entitled “Description” for more information. While we expect your local Wisdom Audio
dealer to take care of the setup and calibration of the system, we still recommend that you at least review this and your other
manuals in
order to better understand your system’s full capabilities.
You do not have to do anything to register your warranty for your Wisdom Audio products. (Isn’t that a pleasant surprise?)
In the
unlikely event that your loudspeakers ever require service, please contact the dealer from whom you purchased them. Between
their records and ours, you should be all set. However, please keep your sales receipt in a safe and easily found place. Should you
move or lose touch with your original dealer, it will serve as your proof of purchase for warranty purposes.
Overview
Your Sage Series ICS3 loudspeakers take advantage of several critical technologies to deliver a level of performance that has never
been available in a loudspeaker that intruded so modestly on your living space. In fact, this level of performance has rarely been
attained, reg
ardless of the space and budget at one’s disposal.
Since several of these technologies cannot readily be found elsewhere, we will take the time to describe them in more detail than
would be necessary for more conventional designs. Our planar magnetic drivers use an advanced, thin film membrane to move the
air. This film can respond instantly to the smallest detail in the signal. It has vastly less inertia than traditional “cone & dome”
drivers, so the signal is never blurred in any way.
One of the most remarkable things about the sound of well-designed planar magnetic speakers is their lack of thermal or dynamic
compression. There are several reasons for this:
•
The lightweight diaphragm responds quickly to even the smallest signals, yet is robust enough to handle a great deal of
power.
•
The voice coil is laid out at and is exposed to the air on both sides; the large resulting surface area dissipates heat extremely
quickly and efficiently.
•
Since heat does not build up in the voice coil (as it does in conventional dynamic drivers), the load seen by the amplifier
does not change at high power levels.
When you become accustomed to the sound of your new Sage Series ICS3 speakers, conventional speakers sound a bit bland and
lifeless. You may also discover yourself hearing details at even modest levels on the ICS3 that were previously inaudible even at loud
volumes on more conventional speakers.
The “voice coil” in the planar magnetic driver is spread out over a large, at area that is exposed to the open
air. As such, when a
huge transient comes along, any heat that is generated is immediately dissipated. This compares quite favorably to other designs in
which the voice coil is buried inside a massive piece of metal, where the heat has effectively no place to go. The excellent heat
dissipation of these drivers makes them remarkably reliable. Planar magnetic speakers can handle a great deal of power without
undue stress or audible strain. In fact, for a given size, they can handle
many times
the power of a traditional dynamic driver. The
ICS3 also has integrated the grille depth adjustment using our Magnetic Recoil Fastener (Pat. Pend).
