Goldmund GOLDCUBE User manual

THEGOLDMUND
GOLDCUBE
Swiss
Made

ATTENTION
No
connectionor
manipulationmust
bedonebefore
reading
thoseinstructions.Damage
to
theamplifiermayresultifthe
followinginstructions
are
not
consciouslyunderstoodand
applied.
UNPACKING
YouwillfindintheGOLDMUNDGOLDCUBE
packing
:
-
A pair
oftheamplifiers,
-
Thismanual,
-Accessories andsparefuses.
Pleasekeep
the packaging
in caseyou need
to transportthe
amplifiersatalater dateorifyouhavetosendthemfor mainte-
nance.
CHOICE
OF
AMPLIFIERLOCATIONAND COOLING
The
GOLDMUNDGOLDCUBEhasbeendesignedto beused
in
combination
with the GoLDMUNDAPOLOGUEspeakersys-
tem,in thespeciallodgingof itsback
panel.
Inthiscase,the
amplifieris automatically reachingits proper
temperatureof
functionforoptimized
performances.
lf usedinadifferent
configuration,donotforget thattheGOLD
CUBE,asallthehigh
quality
amplifiers.
generates
alarge amount
of heat.
Itismandatory
toallowa
proper
coolingofthebodyoftheGOLD
CUBEwhich actsas heatsink. Avoid a locationwhich is not
properly
vented.

LINEVOLTAGEADJUSTMENT
The
GOLDMUNDGOLDCUBEamplifier
isinternallywiredfor
a
specif
icline
voltage.
ATTENTION
: A 234V adjustedamplifier
willfunctionproperly
f
orACline voltagebetween2OOVand245Y.For
a117Vversion, the
AClinemustdeliverbetween
105and 125V.lfyour AC lineisusually outof
these
tolerances,
please
consult
your
GOLDMUND
dealer.
Please
checkthe
value
ofthe
mainlinef
use.
Thisfuse
islocated
on
the bottomof the amolifier,
near
acorner.
The
golden
lid
canbe
removedwith
asmallscrewdriver
orbetter
with
acoin,andthenthe
f
use
holder.
Usea3Aslow-blow
fusefor 22OV
anda5Aslow-blow
fusefor
110V.
4. CONNECTIONS
Connectthe
power
cordoftheamplifier
in
the
nearestwall
plug.
Useonlya3lugs
grounded
plug,
for
safety
reasons.To
get
the
bestsound
oftheamplif
ier,
avoidany
multiple
plug
or
extension
cord.
Connecttheinterconnect betweenthe preamp andthe power
amp.
The
RCA
female
socket
is
thehighest
quality
WBTsocket
(ground
connectsfirstandthe
plug
maybelockedifyou usethe
GOLDMUND-MlTinterconnect).
lf
theGOLDCUBE
is
used
with
an
APOLOGUE,
usethe
provided
bi-male
iunctions
to plugit inside
the special
lodgingin the
speaker
back.
The
properposition
ofthecube
iswhenthe
power
cordandthe
power
switchare
visible
on
thebottomangleof the
cube
from
theoutside.
Otherwise,
connectthespeakercablestothetwo banana
recep-
taclelocated on the oppositefacefrom the input. The "+ " is
markedwitha red
dot.
The
amplifier
is
non-invertingin
phase.
-2-

5.1
AMPLIFIERS
CONTROLS
Onthe front plate of the GOLDMUNDGOLDCUBEareonly
accessible:
Thepower key,used
to power theampon.
Whenactivated.the speakeris connectedafter a very short
delayandthered LEDswitches
on.The amp
ispowered
off by
switching
offthe
power
key.
Theredledwillfadeveryslowly,
indicating
dischargeofthe
filtering
capacitorsandthespeaker
will
bedisconnectedafterfewseconds.
5 .2 The two railfusesockets.
Each
railfuseholderis
protected
bya
golden
lid.which
canbe
removed
usinga coin.A red
point
LED,locatednear
the
fuse
indicate
thatthe
fuseis
burned
whenit
glows.
SOUND
OUALITYOPTIM
IZATION
6 .1 Warm-up
soniceffect.
lfthepower
amplifierhasnotbeen
powered
offforafew days,
theoptimumsound
quality
is
only
reached
after3Ominutes.
This
delay
has
beenoptimized
to be
minimal
andthe sonic
quality
when
lust
powered
on
ismuchhigher
thanother
qualitypower
amplifiers.
6 .2 Speaker
polarity.
Evenif
youhave
a
phase
inverter
on
your
preamplif
ier
(as
onthe
GOLDMUNDMIMESIS
2orMIMESIS7).
andeven
ifyouhave
carefully
selectedthe
proper
line
phase
(see
innext
paragraph),
thereis
apossibility toagainincrease
thesonic
quality
ofyour
speakers
by reverting the polarity
of the speakercableamp
termination.But
sincetheline
phase
andthespeaker
polarity
interfere
to eachother,
you
have
toexperiment
carefullyallthe
combinations
before
picking
therightone.
lf
your
preamp
has
anabsolute
phase
inverter,
this
will
interfere
too.lfithasnot,
don'tforgettheresultwilldepend
ofthesource.
mostof therecord
and
CDbeing
recordedwithout carefor the
absolute
phase.
Be
patient..
-3-

6.3 Mainline ohase
inversion.
The
sonic
quality
of
your
GOLD
CUBE
may
be
slightly
improved
if
the
mainAClineis
properly
connected.
Try
toinvertthe
plug
of
your
amplifier,using
aspecialadapter.
Werecommend
that
youproceed
carefullytotry
this.
Youmust
do
itin
combination
withthespeaker
polarity
and/or
with
abso-
lute
phase
switchingtobesureofthe
result.
7.1
SAFETYFEATURES
The
GOLDMUNDGOLDCUBEamplifier
provides
verysophisti-
cated
features
to
protectthe
amplifierandthe
speaker
againstall
kindofmishandleorcomoonent
failure.
Protection
against
DC.
TheGOLDCUBEis a DC-coupledamplifier.
lf theassociated
preamplifier
isbadly designedordefective
(often
true
forthe
tube
preamps),
thespeakercouldbedamaged.
The
detection
circuitoftheGOLD
CUBE
is
totally
immune
toanysoniceffect
but
willimmediately
switchoffthe
speaker
if
sucha
malfunction
occurs.
Thespeakerwillbeimmediatelyandautomatically
reconnected
assoonasthe
perturbation
disappears.
Protection
against
HF
oscillations.
Inthe sameway, the speaker
willbedisconnected
if a large
amount
of highfrequencyoscillation
is present andshowsa
danger
forthe
tweeters,even
ifthese
frequenciesremain
unno-
ticed.
The
amplifier
returns
to
normalif
the
oscillationdisappears.
Protection
againstshort-circuits.
lf oneoutput is short-circuitedby accidentandthe current
becomestoo
high,
oneofthe
railfuse
may
blow.
In
thiscase,thesmall
LEDlocatedatthetopofthedefective
fuse
lidwill
glow.
To replace
thedefective
fuse,
switchthe amplifier
offfor 1O
minutesfirst.Then
openthetop
fusecover
with
acoinora
large
screwdriver.Thef
use
loaderisthenaccessibleunderthe
golden
coverand
must
beremovedbyturning
it
off
with
ascrewdriver.
7.2
t.5
-4-

Youmust
usea5
Ampsfastf
use
(or
6.3
Ampsif
you
useverylow
efficiency
speakers)or8Ampsultra-fast.
Then
putthecoverbackinposition
andswitchthe power onif
theshort-circuit
has
beendetectedandremoved.
To avoidthe fusesto blow, avoidto short-circuitthe outDut
terminalsaccidentally.
Thereis no riskto leavethe soeakerterminalsunconnected
when
theamoison,
8. MAINTENANCE
The
GOLDMUNDGOLDCUBE
is
goldplated
with
a 1Omicrons
18kt
gold
layer,
usingthe best
ieweler
technology.
lt should
never
alterexternally,exceptifmishandled.
Tocleantheamplifier,use
avery softclothto avoid scratching
the
gold
surface.
Otherwise
theGOLDMUNDGOLDCUBEamplifier
requiresno
maintenance.For
theaudio
purist
whowantsto keephis amp
sounding
as
new.we
only
recommend
thataftera
year
ortwo,
you
haveatechnician
oranofficialGOLDMUND
representative
readjustthe
DC
offset.
Thisvery
simpleoperationtakesonlytwo
minutes
andwill
give
you
thesafetyoflong
years
ofunmatched
sound
quality.
IMPORTANT
NOTICE:
The
Goldcubeshouldneverbeleft
powered
on,withoutinput
cable
connectionto apreamplifier. lfwarmedupwithout
con-
nection.
please
insert
short-circuit
plugs
delivered
with
thecube
toavoid
any
RF
oscillation.
-5-

TECHNICAL
DATA
POWER
- Nominalpower
: loowRMS(2-8Ohmsl.
60WRMS
l1
- 16
Ohmsl.
- Msximum
power
: l50WRMS13Ohms).
- Maximumvoltag6:
35Vpeak.
- Maximum
cu,,cnt: 20ADoak.
FREOUENCY
RESPONSE
Th6safiguros
are
valilfor
any
levet
between0and
nominal
power.
- +/-
O.ld8.O.IOOkHz.
- +/. I dB,0
-
40OkHz.
- +/.3d8,0
-
0.9
MHz.
INPUT
SENSITIVITY
- Nominallevel : 1.55V
(+6dBl.
- Inoutim9odanca
: 50kohms.
GROUPO€LAY
- Propagarion
delay
< lOOns
stablG
withtr6quencylrom
OCto20OkHz.
DISTORTION
Figlre3vElid
,or
8ll
lovelsf.om
0to25V/ Iohns.
- Dynamic
: TID<0.O1
%(.8OdBt.
. Sbtic I THD<0.O1
%G8OdBl.
SPEED
- Slew.ate: > 2oov/us
. Riso
tim€ : < soons.
NOISE
- w8ightedAsAA : > l0o dB.
OPERATINGTEMPERATURE
- Room
l€mpsraturo: -3O to +4O
dog,e6sCalsius
(-22
to +1O4 dsgr€ss
F8h'rnhoitl.
- In$m€ltsmpeGtu.e
: +45to +65dogreesColsius
{
+ 1l3 to + 149dcgr€caFah.6nheit}.
POWER
SUPPLY
- Nominsllinsvolt'gs I 10O,117,or23V.
- Inp{tvolt8geranga : +/- 10%.
- Maximum
powga
co{Eumption:250W.
SAFETY
F€ATURES
- DC
protsction
th.oshold: 5V.
- HF
protefiioo
thr€shold: 3VRMSat50kHz.
- Inprrrvoltag€
fuso | 3Adow{lowfo.22OVlSAstow.btowfo. llOV.
- Shon.ci,cuit
o.otrction : 2fu36 5
A fasr,
SIZEANOW€IGHT
- 12.7
cm
l5"l
wx l2.7cm
(5'lDx 12.7
cm
{5"}
H.
- Weighr
:7kGnet.
-6-