Alta Audio Rhea User manual


Rhea
Owner's Manual

Congratulations
Congratulations on your purchase of the Alta Audio Rhea speakers. Your purchase indicates you are a listener at the
highest levels in the audio world. The Rheas will enhance your appreciation for all of the music you listen to. They are
designed to most closely match the sound of live music. Everything about this speaker has been designed with only the
highest level of performance in mind.
Before Beginning
Please make sure to inspect the speaker carefully. If you notice any damage please inform the dealer immediately. If the
loudspeaker was shipped to you, you must notify the carrier. Please save all packing materials. Should it become
necessary to transport this loudspeaker, proper packing will help to prevent damage. If the carton has strapping, slide
the straps off. Do not cut them so that they could be used for repacking if necessary.
Warranty
The speaker comes with a 90 day limited warranty extendible to a 5 year warranty when registered within 14 days of
purchase. The warranty is limited to defects in manufacturing and workmanship. Please be sure to operate the speaker
within its power handling parameters. Damage can result from overdriving the speaker, or the amplifier powering it, and
is not covered.
Full warranty information is located on the last page of this manual
Speaker Spikes
The speaker comes with 1 ½ inch adjustable spikes that are cone shaped. 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! You may
want to experiment with speaker placement before putting the spikes on the speakers. When the spikes are installed
you should hear increased resolution, detail and control.
Connection
The Rhea uses two pairs of high amperage shielded 5 way binding posts allowing for several connections including spade
plugs and banana plugs. The top pair of connectors are for the tweeter, while the bottom pair of connectors are for the
woofer/midrange. Removable jumpers are pre installed between these connectors. To connect the Rheas to your
amplifier simply plug your + and – cables into either of the + or – connections with the jumpers inserted. The jumpers
are removable for bi-wiring or bi-amping. It is recommended that you wait until the speakers are broken in before
experimenting with choice of speaker cables. Use of cable incorporating filter networks is not recommended. The
cleanest conducting cable will sound best. The speakers will clearly show you how open and musical a particular cable is.
2

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 the speakers should be no closer than 18 inches from the rear wall
with at least 2 feet to the side walls. The space between the loudspeakers should be free. Moving the system toward a
wall will increase bass level but may reduce imaging clarity and openness. Moving speakers too far into a room can
result in a thin overall presentation with loss of bass foundation. The speakers will normally work well slightly angled
toward the listener for accurate sound staging. While the openness of the Rhea allows for excellent listening from most
positions in a room, 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.
3
Breaking in the speakers
Although we start the break in process on all speakers, it takes about 200 hours of play before the speakers start to
display their full resolution with intimate detail and extended bass. The Rheas will continue to break in until about 500
hours of play. If they are left off for a significant period of time, they will need a few hours of break in again.
Room Acoustics
The acoustics of the room can be as important as any other component of your system. A good room is neither too live
(reflective) nor too dead (absorptive). Imaging is usually best achieved in a symmetrical setting with the walls behind and
to the sides of the speakers absorptive while the walls behind and to the sides of the listeners are relatively reflective.
This is called the live end dead end room (LEDE).

Specifications
Height: 35 inches, 36.5 inches with spikes
Width: 8 inches at top, 12 inches at bottom
Depth: 11 inches
Weight: 52 lbs
Driver complement:
– One 5 3/4 inch ribbon tweeter
– One 7 inch midrange woofer
Sensitivity: 87.5 dB / 2.83 Volts @
Frequency response: 32Hz to 47kHz
Impedance: 4 Ohms
Requirements: 50 to 150 Watts per channel
Alta XTL Bass with DampHard faceplate
Rosewood finish
4

Design Features
1. Ribbon Tweeter:
Elegant Ribbon Tweeter
A 3rd generation ribbon tweeter with excellent clarity and dynamics powers the exceptional upper
register of the Rheas.
●3-rd generation ribbon driver technology
●5 3/4 inch long ribbon
●12mm width reinforced sandwich ribbon diaphragm
●High power handling, low distortion, very fast transient response
●Strong Neodymium magnet
●Extremely clear, fast, flat high-end response
●Extends over an octave above the scope of human hearing
2. Wide-band Midrange/Woofer
5

Reference Quality Midrange/Woofer
The Rheas’ midrange/woofer sets a new standard of value in high-performance loudspeaker drivers; it features a black
anodized cone, heavy-duty 6-hole cast frame, low-loss rubber surround, solid aluminum phase plug, and rubber magnet
boot.
●Excellent mid-range mid-bass
●Heavy-duty 6-hole cast frame
●Black anodized cone
●Solid aluminum phase plug
●Low-loss rubber surround
●Accurate, smooth frequency response
●Ultra low-mass metal cone
●High-end low-distortion motor with two shorting paths to reduce inductance
3. DampHard construction:
What is DampHard?
As a designer, you try to design a cabinet that doesn’t resonate. Resonances cloud and distort the music, and locate your
speaker in space, causing you to hear the speaker and its location in the room 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. When you have excessive dampening material, you’re hearing the
padding instead of the music.
6

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 Rheas. Where standard MDF or other materials would allow certain frequencies to
resonate, DampHard remains dead to virtually all vibration. This allows us to heavily cut down on a cabinet’s internal
padding, maintaining the clarity of the bass.
Coupled with our Alta XTL technology, DampHard allows us to create a truly superior cabinet that acts like a musical
instrument, extending the range and clarity of the bass, while keeping the cabinet resonance-free. This combination
creates an unparalleled bass response complete with all the clarity and dimensionality of the music.
4. XTL Bass:
What is Alta XTL?
XTL stands for Extended Transmission Line, an Alta Audio proprietary technology used in our speakers. We developed
XTL using specialized sonic geometry to tune our cabinets like musical instruments, allowing all our speakers to deliver
unprecedented clear, fast, and powerful bass.
Standard transmission lines can make the bass slow and distorted. The difference between Alta 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 off the strings. Our cabinets are tuned to extend the bass of a driver, giving 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 musical extended resonance free cabinet.
7

90 Day Warranty*
1. Alta Audio LLC. (hereafter referred to as Alta Audio) warrants to the original purchaser that this loudspeaker is free from defects in
material and workmanship under normal use and authorizes free service and/or parts replacement at an States of Alta Audio
authorized service facility for a period of 90 days from date of purchase (by the original purchaser only) in the United America.
2. All Parts except the cosmetics are warranted for 90 days from date of purchase and will be replaced if in the sole judgement of
Alta Audio they shall be 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 our 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.
3. Proof of purchase (sales receipt) must be presented to the Alta Audio authorized service facility whenever any warranty service is
required.
4. 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 freight prepaid.
5. In all cases of in-transit damage a claim must be filed against the carrier by the purchaser.
6. This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties expressed or implied and there are no other warranties valid. No one is authorized
to assume any liability on behalf of Alta Audio or impose any obligation on it in connection with the sale of any equipment other
than as stated in this warranty. Alta Audio shall not be responsible in any way 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 the 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 your warranty for a full five years you must register your warranty on the Alta Audio site within 14 days of the
date of purchase. Your warranty does not cover abuse - such as burned voice coils or ruptured cones - due to excessive
power or malfunctioning amplification equipment. This extended warranty contains identical provisions as the 90 day
warranty - but for a period of five years after the date of purchase to the original owner. This warranty must be
registered to be valid.
For full 5 year warranty coverage please register your warranty within 14 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]
8