Alta Audio Alyssa User manual

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Alyssa
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Owner's Manual

Congratulations
Congratulations on your purchase of the Alta Audio Alyssa speaker. The Alyssa will enhance your appreciation of the
music you love. The Alyssa is designed to most closely match the sound of live music. Everything about this speaker was
designed with only the highest level of performance in mind.
Before Beginning
Carefully inspect the speaker as soon as it is removed from the packaging. If you notice any damage, immediately inform
the dealer. If the loudspeaker was shipped to you, you must notify the carrier. Please save all packing materials. Should
it become necessary to ship this loudspeaker, proper packing will be necessary to prevent damage. If the carton has
strapping, slide the straps off so they may be re-used if repacking is necessary.
Warranty
The speaker comes with a 3-year limited warranty extendible to a 5-year warranty when registered within 60 days of
purchase. The warranty is limited to defects in manufacturing and assembly. It is important to operate the speaker
within the recommended power handling range. Damage that results from overdriving the speaker, or the amplifier
powering it, is not covered Alta Audio.
Full warranty information is located on the last page of this manual
Speaker Spikes
The speaker comes with ½ inch adjustable cone-shaped spikes. They screw into the bottom just inside of the four
corners. Four small metal pucks are also included for the spikes to sit on. Be careful -- the spikes are sharp! We suggest
that you experiment with speaker placement before attaching the spikes to the speakers. Fully installed spikes support
the speaker’s overall sonic output, especially its resolution, detail, and control.
Connection
The Alyssa uses one pair of high amperage shielded 5-way binding posts that allow for several types of connections
including spade lugs and banana plugs.
To connect the Alyssa to an amplifier, simply connect cables to the appropriate positive (+) and negative (–)
connections. (Positive to positive, negative to negative.)
Alta Audio advises against using cables that include filter networks. The cleanest conducting cable will sound best.
After break-in, it is much easier to determine what cables best suit your taste. It is highly recommended that you wait
until the speakers are broken in (200 hours) before experimenting with cable choice.
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Breaking in the Speakers
Although we start the break-in process before the speaker leaves our facility, it takes approximately 200 hours of play
before the speakers start to display the full extent of their capabilities, with intimate detail and extended bass. The
Alyssa will continue to break in until it reaches approximately 500 hours of play. If they are unused for an extended
period of time, several hours of break-in may be needed.
Room Acoustics
The acoustics of the room are nearly as important as any component of your system. A good room is neither too live
(reflective) nor too dead (absorptive). Imaging is best achieved in a symmetrical setting with the walls behind and to the
sides of the speakers, while the walls behind and to the sides of the listeners are reflective. This is called the Live End
Dead End room (LEDE).
Positioning
We recommend that you experiment with loudspeaker placement in order to obtain the best spectral balance,
openness, and perception of depth. For good results, a speaker should be no closer than 18 inches from the rear wall
with at least 2 feet between it and the side wall. The space between the loudspeakers should be free.
Moving the system closer to a wall will increase bottom end but may reduce imaging clarity and openness. Placing
speakers too far into a room may result in a thin overall presentation with loss of bass.
The speakers will sound best when slightly angled toward the listener for accurate sound staging. While the openness of
the Alyssa allows for excellent sonics from most room positions, the sweetest spot is between and in front of the
speakers from a distance equal to 1 1/2 times the distance between the speakers.
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Specifications
Height: 14.5 inches, 15 inches with spikes
Width: 8 inches at top, 9.6 inches at bottom
Depth: 13.25 inches at top, 14.25 inches at bottom
Weight: 28 lbs
Driver complement:
One 2 inch ribbon tweeter
One 6 inch midrange woofer with Titanium Former
Sensitivity: 87.5 dB / 2.83 Volts @
Frequency response: 32Hz to 47kHz +/- 3 dB
Impedance: 4 Ohms
Requirements: 50 to 150 Watts per channel
Alta XTL Bass with DampHard faceplate
Black Onyx, Rosewood, Beech, All High Gloss
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Design Features
1. Ribbon Tweeter:
Elegant Ribbon Tweeter
A 3rd generation ribbon tweeter with excellent clarity and dynamics powers the exceptional upper
register of Alyssa.
3rd generation ribbon driver technology
2 1/2 inch ribbon
12mm width reinforced sandwich ribbon diaphragm
High power handling, low distortion, very fast transient response
Strong neodymium magnet
Extremely clear, fast, and flat high-end response
Extends over an octave above the scope of human hearing
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2. Exceptional Midrange/woofer with Titanium Former
Six-inch woofer with a 3.1-inch diameter throw voice coil uses a high powered motor allowing for
smooth air flow melds seamlessly into the ribbon tweeter thanks to its low mass and high speed,
while performing incredible feats in bass response thanks to the Alta XTL bass tuning system.
Uniflow™ Aluminum diecast chassis
Hybrid™ Neodymium/Ferrite magnet system
Titanium coil bobbin
3-inch Large Hexatech™ Aluminum voice coil
Coppersleeve Neolin Motor
3. DampHard construction:
What is DampHard?
As designers, our goal is to create a cabinet that doesn’t produces resonances that cloud and distort
the music. Poorly designed cabinets result in listeners being more aware of the speaker and its
location rather than the music itself.
Standard design strategies involve putting heavy padding material inside the cabinet to dampen
unwanted resonances. Excessive internal dampening causes the lower frequencies to become muddy
and distorted, giving a booming, humming quality to the sound that removes the clarity of the bass.
With excessive dampening material, listeners hear the padding instead of the music.
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Alta’s solution to this is our proprietary material DampHard: a multi-layered, multi-density material
that we use on the front face driver board of the Alyssa. Standard MDF (microdensity fiberboard) and
other materials allow high and low frequencies to resonate, but DampHard remains dead to virtually
all vibration. With DampHard, we drastically cut down on a cabinet’s internal padding, maintaining
the clarity of the bass
4. XTL Bass:
XTL stands for Extended Transmission Line, a proprietary Alta Audio technology used in all of our
speakers. We developed XTL using specialized sonic geometry to tune cabinets like musical
instruments, allowing speakers to deliver unprecedented clear, fast, and powerful bass.
Standard transmission lines often lead to bass that is slow and distorted. The difference between XTL
and a standard transmission line is that we tune the cabinet at multiple frequencies, not just one.
Think of it like a cello amplifying and extending the notes played offthe strings. Our cabinets are
tuned to extend the bass of a driver, resulting in a clean, fast bass response that is in a different class
than standard transmission line designs.
Coupled with our DampHard technology, Alta XTL shines to create a clear and musically extended
resonance-free cabinet.
Coupled with our DampHard technology, Alta XTL shines to create a clear and musically extended
resonance-free cabinet.
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3-year Warranty*
3-year Warranty*
Alta Audio LLC. (here after referred to as Alta Audio) warrants to the original purchaser that this loudspeaker is free from de- fects in material and
workmanship under normal use and authorizes free service and/or parts replacement by an Alta Audio authorized service facility for a period
of 3 years from date of purchase (by the original purchaser only) in the United States.
All parts except cosmetics are guaranteed for 3 years from date of purchase and will be replaced if in the sole judgement of Alta Audio they are
deemed defective over and above that considered to be normal wear. This warranty does not apply to equipment showing abuse or damage
or to parts that in the company’s judgement are not defective; nor does it extend to any equipment that may have been tampered with,
altered, or repaired outside an Alta Audio authorized service facility.
Proof of purchase (sales receipt) must be presented to the Alta Audio authorized service facility whenever warranty service is required.
Loudspeakers sent to Alta Audio for service must be sent in original packaging with freight and insurance charges prepaid by the owner.
Loudspeakers will be returned via prepaid freight.
In all cases of in-transit damage aclaim must be filed against the carrier by the purchaser.
This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties expressed or implied and there are no other valid warranties. No one is author- ized to assume any
liability on behalf of Alta Audio or impose any obligation on it in connection with the sale of equipment other than as stated in this warranty. Alta
Audio is not in any way responsible for consequential or indirect damages or liabilities resulting from the use and operation of the product covered
herein or resulting from any breach of this warranty or any implied warranty relating to said product.
*This warranty represents a limited warranty as per definition of the Federal Trade Commission (Magnuson - Moss Warranty Act).
Extended 5-year Warranty
To extend the warranty to a full 5 years, the owner must register the warranty on the Alta Audio site within 60 days of the date of purchase.
(www.alta-audio.com) The warranty does not cover abuse, e.g. burned voice coils or ruptured cones, due to excessive power or malfunctioning
amplification equipment. This extended warranty contains identical provisions as the 3-year warranty, but for 5 years after the date of purchase ot
the original owner. This warranty must be registered to be valid.
For full 5-year warranty coverage, please register the warranty within 60 days of purchase at:
alta-audio.com/support/warranty-information
Mailing Address:
Alta Audio
139 Southdown Road
Huntington, NY 11743
Tel: [phone]
Shipping Address:
Alta Audio
540 Barnum Avenue
First Floor, Loading Bay 2
Bridgeport, CT 06608
Tel: [phone]
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