Alcons Q series User manual

product manual

evolutionary audio solutions™

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 2

Table of contents

1Introduction

2Product Description

3Precautions

4Connection

5Installation

6Operation

7Accessories & options

8Specifications

9Simulation

10 Declaration of conformity

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 3

1. Introduction

Dear customer,

Congratulations on your purchase of an Alcons Audio QRP20 column array system, and thank you for your condence in Alcons products.

We are very honoured to welcome you to the growing family of Alcons ambassadors!

The Alcons systems are handmade with pride in The Netherlands, combining the latest production techniques and technologies with dedication and

traditional craftsmanship.

Ever since its founding in 2002, the Alcons Audio team has been striving for the best possible sound reproduction for any type of source

material and in any size of application.To get the best performance out of your Alcons system, please read the precautions section in this

manual before installing and operating.

We wish you many happy listening hours!

With best regards from the Alcons team,

Tom H. Back

Managing Director

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 4

2. Product Description

QRP20 - point source column

• Point source column with high-Q directivity for increased projection control

• RBN401 pro-ribbon HF driver with exceptional intelligibility and “throw”

• 1:1 non-compressed linear sound reproduction, with up to 90% less distortion

• All Neodymium drivers for excellent performance-to-weight ratio

• SIS™ pre-wired for very high damping and further reduced distortion

• Shallow form factor and ACO™ colour option for unobtrusive deployment

The QRP20 is a 2-way column loudspeaker to be used as vertical sound system, for both permanent and portable applications. Its slim design packs a perfectly

natural, dynamic sound reproduction with superb intelligibility, coverage and throw.

It is specically designed for applications where ultimate delity response needs to be projected with wide horizontal and narrow vertical coverage, ideal in

acoustically challenging environments, or applications where intelligibility-over-distance is required.

Loaded with the RBN401 4” pro-ribbon driver on a “Morpher” lens, the system offers an exceptional, SPL-independent throw-efciency and projection control, due

to the pro-ribbon’s all-natural cylindrical (isophasic) wavefront. The patented (90-degrees) horizontal dispersion offers a wide and consistent audience coverage up

to the highest frequencies.

Its fast impulse response, “compression-less” principle and unusual high peak power handling (800W @ 200ms) cater for a perfect intelligibility from the lowest to

the highest SPL with a 1:15 dynamic range, while offering a maximum “gain-before-feedback”.

The RBN401 driver is mounted in a D'Appolito speaker conguration with four woofers in a sealed cabinet. The custom-design 5” woofers feature Active Coil™

technology for extremely low-distortion LF reproduction, a perfect match with the MHF pro-ribbon technology.

The frequency response roll-off enables an excellent partnering with additional subwoofers.

The system brings the unsurpassed clear, dynamic and ultra-low distortion Alcons signature sound in a very slim and unobtrusive package; The M10 mounting

points on top and bottom and the M6 universal mounting bracket pattern on the back, together with the optional ACO™ color scheme provides for an

inconspicuous, low-prole presence in any application.

The QRP20 is powered and controlled by the ALC amplied loudspeaker controller; Through the integrated VHIR™ processing, audiophile amplier stages and

Signal Integrity Sensing™ feedback circuit, the ALC offers QRP20-specic drive processing, delivering absolute maximum sound quality with increased headroom

and utmost operation reliability and exibility.

The QRP20 is available in two versions with 90-degree (QRP20/90) and 120-degree (QRP20/120) horizontal dispersion.

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 5

3. Precautions

Read this manual carefully before installing and operating your system. Retain this documentation for future reference.

1. Due to the extremely low distortion performance of the Alcons sound systems, the experienced sound pressure level is higher than it appears. Prolonged

exposure to high sound pressure levels can lead to hearing damage; Protective gear should always be available.

2. Work with qualied personnel for installing the system; Installation should only be carried out by qualied personnel who are familiar with the techniques,

procedures and safety recommendations stated in this manual.

3. Ensure health and safety during installation and operation; All persons must wear protective headgear and footwear at all times.

4. Check conformity of any conguration and respect the maximum allowed values and the safety level recommended by Alcons Audio outlined in this manual.

5. Verify that the Working Load Limit (WLL) of all mounting hardware and accessories is respected. Alcons Audio is not responsible for any equipment and

accessories provided by third party manufacturers.

6. Ensure that the surface is suitable for mounting a loudspeaker; Do not mount the loudspeaker assembly on unstable ground or surface. As a general rule,

Alcons Audio recommends the use of safety straps at all times.

7. Do not make connections with the loudspeaker to the amplier while it is switched on. Always shut off the amplier when making connections to it, and mute the

inputs when making connections to preceding equipment in the chain.

8. Do not operate the system in wet environments and protect it from excessive water or sun / UV exposure. The system has an IP43 rating and should be treated

accordingly.

9. Regularly check the loudspeaker for damage to the transducers, cabinet and mounting points, as this can severely compromise the system’s performance. Refer

servicing to qualied service personnel. When in doubt, contact the factory on [email protected].

10. Save the packing material. Should you ever need to ship the loudspeaker, use only the original packing.

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 6

4. Connection

The QRP20 is a passive-ltered loudspeaker and features a high quality crossover network. As such, the QRP20 requires one processing/amplier channel for

amplication. To activate the Signal Integrity Sensing™ circuit in the amplied loudspeaker controller (ALC), the use of a 4-core loudspeaker cable with NL4

Speakon® connectors is required;

The two extra wires are used for voltage sensing at the loudspeaker terminals. The output+ and sense+ wires are connected together at the loudspeaker+

terminal, and the output- and sense- wires are connected together at the loudspeaker- terminal.

The Speakon®connector is wired as follows:

Speakon®male plug viewed from the wiring side

1+ Output+

1 - Ouput –

2+ Sense +

2 - Sense -

4. Connection

If you do not want to use the SIS feature at all, the sense wires should be connected to the output wires at the amplier output in the Speakon® connector.

Warning!

Never connect the sense+ to the output- terminal or vice versa, or short circuit both sense wires! Since you are disabling the amplier’s feedback network, the

amplier can produce a large amount of DC at its output. Through its protection circuitry, the Sentinel will shut-off and will not pass any audio.

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 7

Loudspeaker connection without SIS™ Normal loudspeaker operation

Use bridge mode when you want to combine the power of amplier channel

1+2 or 3+4 into one loudspeaker load.

In bridge mode connect your loudspeaker with or without SIS to the channel 1

and channel 2 outputs (or channel 3 and 4) as shown above. Sentinel 3 only!

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 8

4. Connection

For a given loudspeaker impedance, the proportional power loss as a function of cable length and cable gauge is given in the next table:

To calculate the SPL losses from these percentages in dB’s, the following equation may be used:

dB loss = 20 * log(1 – (%loss/100))

In the next table a few percentages are converted to dBs:

The QRP20 has a 4 ohms impedance which makes parallel connection possible of multiple cabinets.

It is technically possible to connect up to 2 QRP20 cabinets on one amp channel, with a resulting impedance of 2 ohms;Typically, we recommend not going any

lower in impedance than 2.7 ohms, which means one QRP20; However, in non-high-power applications, the parallel connection down to 2 ohms impedance would

not be too much of a compromise.

8Ω4Ω

1.5 mm² 2.5 m² 4 mm² 6 mm² 1.5 mm² 2.5 m² 4 mm² 6 mm²

5 meters 1.4 % 0.8 % 0.5 % 0.4 % 2.8 % 1.7 % 1.1 % 0.7 %

10 meters 2.8 % 1.7 % 1.1 % 0.7 % 5.4 % 3.3 % 2.1 % 1.4 %

15 meters 4.1 % 2.5 % 1.6 % 1.1 % 7.8 % 4.9 % 3.1 % 2.1 %

20 meters 5.4 % 3.3 % 2.1 % 1.4 % 10.2 % 6.4 % 4.1 % 2.8 %

25 meters 6.6 % 4.1 % 2.6 % 1.7 % 12.4 % 7.8 % 5.0 % 3.4 %

30 meters 7.8 % 4.9 % 3.1 % 2.1 % 14.5 % 9.3 % 6.0 % 4.1 %

40 meters 10.2 % 6.4 % 4.1 % 2.8 % 18.5 % 12.0 % 7.8 % 5.4 %

50 meters 12.4 % 7.8 % 5.0 % 3.4 % 22.1 % 14.5 % 9.6 % 6.6 %

% loss dB loss

1 % 0.1 dB

2 % 0.2 dB

5 % 0.4 dB

10 % 0.9 dB

15 % 1.4 dB

20 % 1.9 dB

25 % 2.5 dB

30 % 3.1 dB

35 % 3.7 dB

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 9

5. Installation

The QRP20 is to be driven by the ALC controller-amplier for full system performance, delivering maximum sound quality with increased headroom and utmost

operation reliability and exibility.

The operation reliability is guaranteed by the advanced limiting algorithms in the DSP; The values of the dedicated preset are based on the QRP20 system

surviving a 1000 hours durability test in the R&D test bunker at Alcons Audio HQ.

On the ALC, the correct QRP20 preset needs to be selected. Go to the “Preset” tab; tap the button on the channel you wish to operate the QRP20 with;

A selection box will appear with the different series groups.

(See g 1)

With the encoder select the “Q-series”; then select “QRP20”;

(See g 2)

A conrm box will appear. Then select the version you will be using, 90-degree or 120-degree.

(See g 3)

. Repeat these steps for your 2nd loudspeaker

(See g 4)

Fig 1. Select loudspeaker 1 > Select Q-series

Fig 3. Select loudspeaker 1 > Conrm QRP20, be aware

of possible audio interruptions

Fig 2. Select loudspeaker 1 > Select QRP20

Fig 4. Select loudspeaker 2 >

Repeat the previous three steps for your 2nd loudspeaker

QRP20 Product Manual. Rev. 1.0 10

5. Installation

Now the QRP20 is dedicated to this channel; Next you can make a choice of lter settings within the preset: 80Hz high-pass, 100Hz high-pass or full-range

operation.

The Alcons VHIR™ processing ensures a at phase response down to 200Hz with minimal latency; This enables the user to select any Alcons subwoofer to

seamlessly work with the QRP20, with optimized phase response.

Optional settings in combination with a subwoofer (QB242 in example): The QRP20 preset can be set on high-pass ltering at 100Hz, depending on the

requirement (typically, the 100Hz setting is preferred in higher SPL applications).

To match the QRP20 and obtain a at system response, the QB242 preset needs to be set on the same frequency preset, 100Hz.

(See g 5)

In applications where the QRP20 is (less ideally) positioned further away from the subwoofer, the QRP20 preset may be set on full-range, with the accompanying

sub set on 80Hz.

(See g 6)

Fig 5. Range selection