53 Briarwood Road • Florham Park, New Jersey • 07932 • [email protected] • www.sonogyresearch.com
1
Sonogy
TM
"The delicacy of tubes.
The authority of transistors."
Sonogy Black Knight™ Power Amplifier
Owner's Manual
Operation, installation, and
safety
information
serial nos. A9596101 through A9596212
Thank you!
Thank you for purchasing your Sonogy Black Knight
power amplifier. This manual will help you enjoy
your amplifier for many years to come. If you have
any questions about operation or maintenance, please
contact your dealer. Sonogy dealers are true
professionals, and have a wealth of experience with
our products and in designing excellent audio
systems.
A Description of the Black Knight Amplifier
Sonogy amplifiers and preamplifiers offer the
harmonic richness that distinguishes live music from
reproduced music. Often associated with the best in
tube amplifiers, the Black Knight combines natural,
rich harmonics with the traditional virtues of solid-
state circuitry.
Like other truly fine amplifiers, your Black Knight is
designed with
real world
performance in mind rather
than incomplete and artificial specifications. As a
result, the Black Knight is very powerful, and drives
even difficult loudspeaker loads with ease. Output is
37 volts r.m.s. per channel, and the generous power
supplies provide sufficient drive current to handle
demanding speaker loads. More importantly, the
Black Knight/500 is unconditionally stable into
capacitive, inductive and other dynamic loads.
The Black Knight can be used either as a 175W stereo
amplifier or in pairs as 500W balanced monoblocks.
No modifications are necessary to use a Black Knight
as a balanced monoblock; you need only have two
amplifiers and a balanced preamp output to drive each.
If your preamplifier does not offer balanced outputs,
Sonogy offers the Duette™ balancing module, which
creates balanced outputs from unbalanced ones.
Set-Up and Electrical Connections
Your Black Knight should be located on a solid
platform, or on the floor, where it receives good
ventilation and is away from flammable items, such as
curtains or paper.
Connections are required for speakers, preamp input(s),
and for 117VAC or 230VAC power. These are clearly
marked on the rear panel of your Black Knight. All
signal connections should be made with the amplifier
off, to prevent possible speaker damage. If the
amplifier is left on while preamp connections are made,
it could amplify the resulting transient and damage
your speakers.
Two pairs of 5-way binding posts are provided for
speaker connections. These will accept bare wires,
standard banana plugs, or spade lugs. A good
clean
connection is important for consistently good sound.
Clean any connectors used, and insure that all
connections are tight. Do not allow the "hot" and
ground connections to short together. If spade lugs are
used, you may wish to
lightly
tighten the binding posts
with a socket or nut driver; be sure not to crack the
plastic binding post or strip the soft brass threads (we
use a high copper alloy for best sound). If you are
interested in maintaining absolute phase, your Black
Knight does not invert phase. Please note that
connections are made differently for stereo vs.
monoblock operation.
Balanced and unbalanced inputs are provided for both
left and right channels. In addition, a single XLR jack
is provided to drive your Sonogy amplifier as a fully-
balanced monoblock. Balanced monoblock operation
requires two amplifiers for stereo.
Finally, a single IEC modular power jack and line cord
is provided. The 15A power cord provided is suitable
for all applications.
