Genesis Reference Amplifier 30
th
Anniversary Monoblock Owners Manual
5
Set-up and Operation
Speaker Connections
One pair of 5-way insulated binding posts is provided on the rear of your
amplifier. While they allow bare wire to be used, we recommend that firstly
spades, or secondly bananas be used instead of bare wire. Make sure that
your speaker cables are firmly connected before turning the amplifier on.
The binding posts are
WBT NextGen™ for improved signal transfer,
enhanced sonic performance, and a faster, more direct connection. The
positive terminal is identified by the red ring on the base and tip; and the
negative terminal is identified by the black ring on the base and tip.
If you are using spade lugs, unscrew the binding posts, insert the spades,
and hand tighten. Do not use pliers or other tools to tighten the binding posts
as you may strip the plastic threads on the posts. These WBT binding posts
are designed to fully tighten without the use of tools. If you are using banana
plugs, just insert into the hole at the end.
DO NOT SHORT THE TERMINALS TOGETHER AND DO
NOT GROUND EITHER LOUDSPEAKER TERMINALS
Unlike many other Class D amplifiers, the output terminals of the GR-Amp
do not “float” at a significant voltage above ground potential – which makes
the GR-Amp useable with all loudspeakers, including those with built-in
powered subwoofers and electrostatic designs. However, this does NOT
mean that you can ground the negative terminal of the speaker outputs. As a
fully balanced amp
lifier, both terminals are “live”.
Input Connections
Use a pair of high-quality interconnects to hook up the output of your
preamplifier to the input of the amplifier. The 30
th
Anniversary Monoblock is a
fully balanced, differential amplifier, and hence, a true-balanced source is
crucial for top performance.
The balanced input of the GR-Amp uses the standard configuration for the
XLR input of pin 2 “hot” or +ve. Pin 1 is signal ground, and pin 3 is the signal
-ve. The Genesis Reference Amplifier preserves phase, hence if the input
XLR pin 2 is positive, the speaker output red binding post will be positive.
Both single-ended and balanced inputs are provided. A switch above the
inputs selects RCA or XLR input. However, in the interest of not putting any
more circuitry than is absolute necessary, the balanced XLR input is always
“live” even when RCA is selected. Hence, do not connect both inputs at the
same time.
