Avsl Citronic clara series User manual

CLARA

Active Speaker Cabinets with DSP

Item ref: CLARA-12A (178.712UK)

Item ref: CLARA-15A (178.715UK)

User Manual

Version 1.0

Caution: Please read this manual carefully before operating

Damage caused by misuse is not covered by the warranty

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

Introduction

Thank you for choosing a CLARA active speaker cabinet as part of your sound system.

This product is designed to provide high power output for a wide range of sound reinforcement applications. Please read

this manual to achieve optimum performance from your speaker cabinet and avoid damage through misuse.

Package Contents

•CLARA-series active speaker cabinet

•Mains lead(s)

This product contains no user-serviceable parts, so make no attempt to try to fix or modify this item yourself as this will

invalidate the warranty. We recommend you keep the original package and proof of purchase for any possible

replacement or return issues.

Warning

To prevent the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose any of the components to rain or moisture.

Avoid impact to any of the components.

No user serviceable parts inside - refer servicing to qualified service personnel.

Safety

•Please observe the following warning conventions

CAUTION: RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPEN

This symbol indicates that dangerous voltage constituting a risk of electric shock is present within this

unit

This symbol indicates that there are important operating and maintenance instructions in the

literature accompanying this unit.

•Ensure that the correct mains lead is used with adequate current rating and mains voltage is as stated on the unit

•Avoid ingress of water or particles into any part of the housing. If liquids are spilled on the cabinet, stop using

immediately, allow the unit to dry out and have checked by qualified personnel before further use

Warning: this unit must be earthed

Placement

•Keep the electronic parts out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources.

•Position the cabinet on a stable surface or stand that is adequate to support the weight of the product.

•Allow adequate space for cooling and access to controls and connections at the rear of the cabinet.

•Keep the cabinet away from damp or dusty environments.

Cleaning

•Use a soft dry or slightly damp cloth to clean surfaces of the cabinet

•A soft brush can be used to clear debris from controls and connections without damaging them

•To avoid damage, do not use solvents to clean any parts of the cabinet.

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

Rear panel layout

Setting up

Position your CLARA active speaker cabinet(s) on a stable surface capable of supporting the load and

vibrations from the cabinet or ideally on a strong 35mmØ pole mount or speaker stand with an adequate safe

working load to support the cabinet. Also, each CLARA cabinet has M8 flying points for suspending from a

ceiling or truss if required. It is recommended to use 3 or more fixing points for suspension.

Aim the cabinet towards the audience or listeners and not in direct line of sight with any microphones that are

connected to the sound system to avoid feedback (howling or squealing caused by the mic “hearing”itself)

Each CLARA active speaker has an inbuilt Bluetooth receiver, which can be paired with a smart phone by

holding the Bluetooth on/off & pairing button (3) for 3 seconds. The blue status LED will flash to indicate

pairing mode. Search for “CLARA-12A”, or “CLARA-15A”in the Bluetooth menu of the smart phone and select

to pair. Once paired, the LED will be lit constantly and the audio output from the smart phone will be

streamed wirelessly to the CLARA speaker. This input is governed by the LINE A input & Bluetooth level

control (9). Pressing the Bluetooth on/off pairing button briefly will switch the Bluetooth receiver on or off. If a

previously paired device is within range, the Bluetooth receiver will auto connect.

If a mixing console is being used to control input sources, connect the output of the mixer to the CLARA

cabinet LINE input (4) or MIC/LINE (6) with “LINE”selected on the MIC/LINE switch (10) using XLR or 6.3mm

jack connectors. If the system is in stereo, then usually one CLARA cabinet will serve the right-side output and

another for the left-side output. Normally, the volume of the CLARA cabinet LINE input is turned up high and

the output will be controlled at the mixer.

A microphone may also be connected directly to input A if the MIC/LINE switch (10) is in the “MIC”position.

If a playback device (e.g. mp3 or CD player) is to be connected directly to the CLARA cabinet, this is usually

connected to the LINE A input using a stereo to mono lead.

If the inputs to the CLARA speaker cabinet are to be linked onto a further active cabinet or amplifier, the mix

of all MIC/LINE/Bluetooth inputs can be fed from the MIX OUT line output XLR to further equipment (5)

When all necessary connections are made, finally connect the supplied IEC power cable (or equivalent) from

the mains power supply to the IEC power inlet on the CUBA speaker cabinet, ensuring that the supply voltage

is as indicated on the CUBA speaker unit (14)

DSP display

DSP USB port

Bluetooth on/off/pairing button

INPUT A line input XLR/Jack socket

MIX OUT line output XLR

INPUT B mic/line input XLR/Jack socket

IEC power inlet and fuse holder

DSP control rotary selector

LINE A input & Bluetooth level control

10.

Input B MIC or LINE level switch

11.

MIC/LINE B input level control

12.

POWER on/off switch

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

Operation

With both input volume controls turned fully down, switch on the power

(12) to the CLARA speaker cabinet.

The LCD display (1) will light up and show the VOLUME level. Use the

rotary selector (8) to adjust the master output volume between 0dB and

60dB. Keep this setting at 60dB for testing and reduce, if necessary, later.

If a smart phone is paired with the CLARA cabinet, make sure that the Bluetooth receiver is switched on (3)

and play a track from the smart phone to test the speaker, turning up the level control (9) gradually.

If a mixer is connected to the CLARA speaker unit, ensure a signal is present, turn up the mixer output part

way and gradually increase the volume of the input that the mixer is connected to for checking the output

from the speaker. If the sound is present and OK, turn down the mixer and turn up the level on the speaker

to the maximum required output and then control the volume from the mixer.

If a microphone is connected directly to MIC/LINE B input (6), speak into the microphone whilst gradually

increasing the volume of the MIC/LINE B input (11) until the required sound level is reached.

For playback devices connected to the LINE A or B input, play an audio track with the playback device volume

turned up part way and gradually increase the volume of the relevant input so that the output can be checked

and increase to the required output level.

DSP Settings

Each CLARA active speaker has an inbuilt Digital Signal Processor (DSP) unit to control the tonal and dynamics

character of the speaker for optimal performance in any given application. This DSP can be programmed

directly from the rear panel or from a windows PC connected to the speaker by a USB lead.

As described above, on power-up, the backlit display will show the master

output VOLUME, and this can be adjusted using the rotary selector. It is

advised to reduce the input levels whilst making adjustments and turn

fully down if powering down the CLARA speaker unit to avoid loud noises.

To access the internal DSP functions directly, press the rotary selector and

the page opposite will be displayed. Turn the rotary selector to navigate

through the listed options and press the rotary selector to select the

highlighted option or setting.

Turning to “MODE”and pressing the selector offers 5 x DSP profile

settings: NORMAL, JAZZ, POP, CLASSIC and CUSTOM. Rotate the selector

to the required profile and press to select.

The CUSTOM profile is set aside for

user programming. NORMAL is a pre-

set generic setting and JAZZ, POP and

CLASSIC are pre-set as an optimal

profile for different music types.

Navigating to the “EQ …” section and pressing the selector gives access to

a programmable parametric EQ. There are 5 separate EQ bands, named

EQ1, EQ2, EQ3, EQ4 and EQ5.

Each of the 5 bands has fully editable frequency, resonance and gain values.

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

Scrolling down the settings using the rotary selector will highlight “Freq:”

for setting the centre frequency of the selected EQ band. Press the

selector to adjust the frequency in Hertz (Hz). Press the selector again to

save the setting.

Scrolling down to “Q:”and pressing the selector allows the resonance

setting to be adjusted, which shapes the steepness of the filter cutoff,

varying effect between a wide band and a narrow focus either side of the

centre frequency. Low values (1.0 is minimum) are less acute with a wider

bandwidth and higher values give a sharper and more focused effect.

Press the selector again to save the setting.

Scrolling down to “gain:”and pressing the selector will open the gain

setting, which is the amount of cut or boost applied to the given centre

frequency at the chosen amount of Q (resonance or focus). Positive values

will boost the selected band and negative values will cut this band.

Press the selector again to save the setting.

Scrolling down further will move onto the next EQ band and through its

individual settings. EQ1 →EQ2 →EQ3 →EQ4 →EQ5 →EQ1…etc.

When all EQ settings are adjusted, navigate back to “EQ1”with the left

arrow highlighted (top left corner of the display)

Press the selector to exit back to the main menu.

The DSP mode will now be set to CUSTOM.

Each CLARA active cabinet has a built in bi-amplifier section, which powers

the Low Frequency woofer and High Frequency tweeter independently.

This design offers the most efficient way to drive the woofer and tweeter.

The signal fed to the HF and LF components is controlled by the active

crossover function of the DSP controller. Scrolling down the display to

highlight “HF:”or “LF:”and pressing the selector will enter the settings for

the crossover.

In the menu for the HF or LF crossover settings, there is a field for 1, 2,

and gain. “1”is the lowest frequency, “2”is the highest frequency and

“gain”can be used to adjust the level of signal to that frequency range,

which can be used to boost or cut overall treble or bass response.

For HF, the setting for “1”relates to the lowest frequency that the tweeter

is asked to produce, which is usually around to the high (2) setting for the

woofer. The setting for “2”is the highest frequency that the tweeter is

asked to produce, which should be 20,000Hz or lower as needed. Often

better efficiency can be achieved if the “2”setting is slightly lower than

20,000 as these very high frequencies cannot be easily produced by the

tweeter or even heard by the listener. Press the left arrow to exit.

For LF, the 1 and 2 settings are again the lowest and highest frequencies

fed to the woofer. Here, the “2”setting should be around the low (1)

setting for the tweeter and the “1”setting should be 20Hz or above.

Settings above 20Hz may reduce very low frequency content but can

dramatically improve output efficiency. Press the left arrow to exit.

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

The visibility of the LCD display can be adjusted by scrolling down to

CONTRAST on the main menu and pressing the selector to set the contrast

value between 1 and 5. This can be useful to make the display more

legible with different light or viewing angles.

Scrolling down further switches to the second menu page.

The next section of the DSP menu controls the limiter for each of the high

and low frequency components. A limiter is a device that will reduce the

volume differences above a set signal level. This can help to protect the

amplifier and speaker components from overload when driven very hard.

Scroll down to highlight either “H LIMITER”or “L LIMITER”and press the

selector to adjust the limiter level for either high frequency or low

frequency amplifier sections. The maximum setting is 0.0dB, which has

minimum effect, and lower (negative) dB settings will cause the limiter to

take effect earlier (i.e. at lower peak levels)

Scrolling down from the limiter section

leaves 2 further options. The first

option is “INFO”which provides

information about the firmware of the

DSP.

Press the selector to show the current

version information and date.

The last menu option is “RESET”which takes the DSP back to the factory

settings. Press the selector and a pop-up window will ask to confirm if you

want to reset the DSP settings to the default values.

Programming via USB

For more targeted and in-depth programming, the CLARA active cabinets may be edited via a USB connection,

as described below. This offers more in-depth editing and the option to save DSP profiles as files on the

laptop, which may be useful for different venues and/or applications.

Before connecting the CLARA active speaker to a laptop, please download the “ADU”application from the

AVSL website…https://www.avsl.com/assets/downloads/178152UK-software.zip. Please ensure the laptop is

running Windows 10 or above.

Connect the USB port of the speaker to the laptop via a USB A to B lead and switch the power on to the

CLARA speaker cabinet.

Once connected, run the ADU software application on the laptop and the program will open in a window with

a graphic representation of an audio spectrum along with all editable settings.

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

The graphic user interface of the ADU software is as shown below, with the audio response shown as a

Spectrum Graph to show the frequency response.

There are 5 main drop-down options at the top left of the window.

•File allows a DSP file to be saved to or opened from laptop memory.

•Device has options to Connect, Disconnect, Download (settings to the speaker memory) or Upload

(settings from the speaker memory).

•Mode addresses the 5 DSP profiles in the speaker - Normal, Jazz, Pop, Classic, Custom

•Tool sets the display options for the toolbars (the Option and Oscillator functions are not used)

•Help has software version information only under the “About”option.

There is also a row of buttons above the Spectrum Graph.

Open and Save buttons can open a file from the laptop or save it to the laptop (same as the File menu).

Option is not used.

Mode 1-5 address the 5 DSP profiles in the speaker - Normal, Jazz, Pop, Classic, Custom.

DL downloads the settings from the software to the CLARA speaker.

Help is not used.

Conn green light bulb icon confirms that the CLARA cabinet is communicating with the laptop via USB.

If there is no connection, this will show red.

Beneath this row of buttons are 3 tabs. If the Input tab is selected, this will show the audio response with

five moveable EQ

nodes

, numbered 1-5. These nodes can be clicked and moved around the screen or

adjusted numerically by frequency, Boost and Q settings at the bottom left of the window. Either click on the

 buttons or enter the value directly. Clicking “Reset”returns all values to default settings.

When editing via the nodes on screen, dragging a node left or right will adjust its centre-frequency. Dragging

a node up or down will adjust the boost or cut to that frequency range.

In addition, there are two virtual sliders to adjust the overall Volume (master) and Delay (delay is used for

time-aligning cabinets for phase correction in large areas)

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

The ADU software also has 2 more tabs for High and Low frequency sections (Tweeter and Woofer control)

Each of these pages can be seen below, this time showing just the audio response of either the tweeter or

woofer, again with 5 editable EQ nodes. Additionally, there are 2 more nodes called Land H for setting the

highest and lowest frequencies that will be used for that specific driver (tweeter or woofer).

CLARA active speaker cabinets User Manual

The EQ nodes are editable in the EqParameter section in the same way as for the main Input tab.

These nodes can be clicked and moved around the screen or adjusted numerically by frequency, Boost and Q

settings at the bottom left of the window. Either click on the  buttons or enter the value directly.

Clicking “Reset”returns all values to default settings.

In the Crossover section, the L and H nodes can also be dragged on the screen or adjustable via 2 virtual

sliders, or  buttons, or by entering the values directly. Also in this section are drop-down options for the

filter-type (Bypass or Butterworth 12/24/36/48). The crossover uses an industry standard Butterworth filter

type and the number dictates the steepness of the filter slope. 12, 24, 36 or 48 deciBels per octave (dB/oct)

with higher numbers having a steeper (more focused) slope.

Overall Gain is handled by a vertical virtual slider, or  buttons, or by entering the values directly.

This section also has a “tick”button to invert the signal (reverse polarity) if required for phase alignment.

A Limiter section has a tick button for on/off and sliders for 4 parameters.

•Limiter(dB) sets the signal level (in dB) that the limiter becomes activated.

•Rmstc(dB/s) sets the reaction speed in deciBels per second.

•Hold(ms) sets how long the limiter remains active after the signal drops below the Limiter(dB) level.

•Decay(dB/s) adjusts the release curve of the limiter after any Hold time.

When all relevant settings are made, they can be saved to the speaker and/or stored on the laptop for future

use as required.

Specifications

Model

CLARA-12A

CLARA-15A

Power supply

90-254Vac, 50/60Hz (IEC)

Amplifier construction

Class-D bi-amplifier with DSP

Main driver

300mmØ (12“)

380mmØ (15“)

Voice coil

63mmØ (2.5“)

HF driver

34mm (1.35“) Ti CD

44mm (1.75“) Ti CD

Power: rms

350 + 50W

400 + 70W

Power: max.

800W

1000W

Max. SPL

125.0dB

126.0dB

Frequency response

50Hz –19kHz

45Hz –19kHz

Inputs

XLR/jack mic/line, XLR/jack line

Audio source

Bluetooth receiver

Line output

XLR

DSP settings

Normal, Jazz, Pop, Classic, Custom

Flying Points

3 x M8 for vertical suspension

Dimensions

610 x 380 x 350mm

710 x 435 x 385mm

Weight

16.5kg

20.5kg

Disposal: The “Crossed Wheelie Bin” symbol on the product means that the product is classed as Electrical or

Electronic equipment and should not be disposed with other household or commercial waste

at the end of its useful life. The goods must be disposed of according to your local council guidelines.

Hereby, AVSL Group Ltd. declares that the radio equipment type 178.152UK and 178.155UK is in compliance with Directive 2014/53/EU

The full text of the EU declaration of conformity for 178.152UK is available at the following internet address:http://www.avsl.com/assets/exportdoc/1/7/178152UK%20CE.pdf

The full text of the EU declaration of conformity for 178.155UK is available at the following internet address:http://www.avsl.com/assets/exportdoc/1/7/178155UK%20CE.pdf