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table Of c Ontents / a b O ut t his D O cument
table O f c O ntents
About This Documen\at 1
Specia\f Design F eatures
\b
Setup Menu
4
Input Setup, Aux O\autput, Vo\fume Contro\f,
Power Management, Advanced
Using Aux Mode
11
S
SP Setup
1\b
T
roub\feshooting
14
Specific
ations
16
This User Guide primari\fy covers the system functions and
advanced options contained in your N 05\bs Setup menus. This
guide a\fso covers setup for SSP (Surround Sound Processor)
mode. These resources a\f\fow you to fine\fy tai\for the behavior
and performance of the N
05\b to fit your preferences and the
particu\fars of your equipment and \fi\astening room.
Before you read this User Guide, we recommend that you
thorough\fy read the
N05\b Quick-Start Guide, supp\fied with
your N 05\b in printed form. The Quick-Start Guide contains a\f\f
the information you wi\f\f need to unpack and p\face your N 05\b,
connect it to the rest of your audio system and have a first \fisten.
Note: Within this User Guide, the term Contro\f\fer is
used to refer to the N 05\b Contro\f\fer chassis and the term
Preamp\fifier is used to refer to the N 05\b Preamp\fifier
chassis. The term N 05\b is used to refer to the dua\f-
chassis combination. For the sake of brevity, instructions in this guide refer on\fy to the
use of front-pane\f contro\fs. Functions accomp\fished by using
the front-pane\f Se\fect knob, Setup button, and Enter button
may a\fso be accomp\fished using the remote-contro\f Se\fect +/-
buttons, Setup button, and Enter button.
a b O ut t his D O cument
n052 Refe Rence P Ream Plifie R / OWNER
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sPecial Design featuRes
Thank you for purchasing the N 05\b Reference Preamp\fifier,
featuring an innovative dua\f-chassis design that a\f\fows the
audio circuits to de\fiver unriva\fed musica\f reproduction. The
N
05\b Preamp\fifier chassis iso\fates the audio circuits so that
on\fy audio signa\fs and extreme\fy pure DC power are present.
The power supp\fy and contro\f circuits are combined in the other
chassis, protecting the sensiti\ave audio signa\fs.
Like most high-performance audio components, the N
05\b re\fies
on c\fean, noise-free power to de\fiver maximum performance.
Unfortunate\fy, most AC power does not meet these standards.
Common househo\fd app\fiances such as refrigerators, TVs and
computers often contaminate AC power \fines with \fine noise,
spikes and other irregu\farities that make it difficu\ft for audio
circuits to perform up to their fu\f\f potentia\f.
To protect audio circuits from contamination, the N
05\b
generates its own secondary AC power. An independent
power supp\fy is dedicated to each audio channe\f, generating AC
power for a specia\f power amp\fifier optimized to reproduce just
one frequency: \b00Hz. This \b00Hz frequency is rectified, fi\ftered
and regu\fated again to create extraordinari\fy c\fean DC power.
A third cab\fe supp\fies contro\f signa\fs between the Contro\f\fer
and Preamp\fifier chassis, preventing potentia\f\fy noisy contro\f
signa\fs from coup\fing into the power supp\fies.
An advanced dua\f-mono design a\f\fows the N
05\b to achieve
exceptiona\f channe\f separation. Both audio channe\fs use
independent power supp\fies, communication circuits, and audio
circuits. The Preamp\fifier chassis provides comp\fete iso\fation
between the \feft and right channe\fs, which are physica\f\fy and
e\fectrica\f\fy separated by a thick a\fuminum wa\f\f. This innovative
approach iso\fates each channe\f, a\f\fowing the N
05\b to produce
vivid\fy detai\fed, three-dimensiona\f soni\ac images.
For even greater iso\fation, the N
05\b effective\fy deactivates
unused inputs to prevent interference from other components.
Discrete T-switch input switching, specia\f shie\fding and
optima\f circuit board p\facement a\f\fow the N
05\b to unp\fug
inputs not in use -“ achieving more than 1\b0dB separation
between even adjacent input connectors. As a resu\ft, input
signa\fs pass through the N
05\b with remarkab\fe freedom from
interference.
The N
05\b offers seven configurab\fe inputs, each of which is
assigned to one of its three ba\fanced (XLR) or four unba\fanced
(RCA) stereo connectors. Unba\fanced input signa\fs are converted
to ba\fanced signa\fs upon entering the Preamp\fifier chassis, and
processed as ba\fanced signa\fs thereafter. During this rigorous
conversion process, meticu\fous\fy ba\fanced circuits preserve
a\f\f input signa\f information, passing it to the associated power
amp\fifier without the\a \fimitations of asymmetric\aa\f designs.
In addition to the above-mentioned inputs, the N 05\b a\fso offers
a dedicated phono input featuring a proprietary Mark Levinson-
designed RCA connector that provides the same common mode
noise rejection benefits as a ba\fanced XLR connector. The input
gain stage produces a symmetrica\f pair of opposite po\farity
signa\fs, based so\fe\fy on vo\ftage differences present at the input.
Each ba\fanced signa\f fo\f\fows the same signa\f path, inc\fuding
identica\f RIAA equa\fization. Gain is distributed over two stages,
a\f\fowing amp\fe bandwidth and open-\foop gain for superior
performance -“ even at the 60dB input gain required for moving-
coi\f phono cartridges. Origina\f\fy introduced with the N
038, the
instrumentation amp\fifier stage reso\fves tiny e\fectrica\f signa\fs
from potentia\f\fy noisy environments. This method offers
high common mode noise rejection without the \fimitations of
transformer-based designs. And to prevent the introduction of
radiated noise, the phono section is doub\fe iso\fated from the
rest of the preamp\fifier.
A ba\fanced pair of RIAA equa\fization circuits fo\f\fows the input
gain stages. These circuits inc\fude a fi\fter constructed with
0.1% non-inductive thin-fi\fm resistors and 5% stacked-fi\fm
capacitors for uncompromised RIAA curve accuracy.
The Setup menu for the Phono input provides mu\ftip\fe \foading
and input gain options that a\f\fow compatibi\fity with most phono
cartridges, inc\fuding moving-coi\f, moving-magnet, high-output
and \fow-output designs. The menu a\fso provides a switchab\fe
\b0Hz high-pass fi\fter and a\f\fows compensation for \feft/right
phono p\fayback device imba\fances of up to 3.0dB in 0.1dB
increments.
A Mark Levinson-designed discrete vo\fume attenuator contro\fs
the master vo\fume \feve\f with unprecedented accuracy and sonic
neutra\fity. Constructed from Ne\fco
® 4000-13SI circuit boards
with \foca\f power supp\fy regu\fation and bypass capacitors,
this vo\fume attenuator generates optima\f power and iso\fation
for even the most sensitive adjustments. Sixty-eight surface-
mounted, precision resistors per channe\f provide more than
65,000 possib\fe settings between 0dB (maximum attenuation)
and 80dB, accommodating adjustments in 1.0dB increments up
to \b3.0dB and in 0.1\adB increments above \b3.0dB.
The N
05\b is designed to integrate with mu\ftichanne\f surround-
sound processors without the comp\fications associated with
competing stereo and mu\ftichanne\f vo\fume contro\fs. A unique
surround-sound processor (SSP) mode deactivates N
05\b vo\fume
contro\fs and sends \fine-\feve\f input signa\fs to the associated
processor. With no interference from the N
05\b, the processor
contro\fs the re\fative vo\fume \feve\f of a\f\f channe\fs, maintaining
its carefu\f\fy ca\fibrated output \feve\fs.
sPecial Design featuRes
n052 RefeRence PReamPlifieR / OWNER-S MANUAL
