Ilumnia Vocalis User manual
V o c a l i s
USER MANUAL
Ilumnia Vocalis
1
User manual V1.0.1
Contents
page
01 CONTENTS
02 SAFETY
03 INFORMATION
03 UNPACKING
06 RECOMMENDED SPEAKER SETUP
08 SPEAKER CONDITIONING & BREAK IN
09 CLEANING
12 LAYOUT & FUNCTIONS : REAR PANEL
14 CONNECTING
15 PLAYING
16 LIMITED WARRANTY
17 SPECIFICATIONS
Ilumnia Vocalis
2
User manual V1.0.1
Congratulations on your new Ilumnia speakers.
These speakers incorporate the unique LEMS technology only found in Ilumnia loudspeakers.
However, this technology requires some extra attention from its owner.
To enjoy them to their fullest potential it’s imperative to invest a little bit of your time to read this
manual. It contains valuable information on how to get the most out of your speakers and how to
handle and maintain them properly. We’re sure you won’t regret.
Enjoy!
Safety
Instructions
Servicing is required when the product has been damaged. Do not attempt to service this product
yourself.
Opening or removing covers may expose you to dangerous voltages or other hazards.
Please contact your dealer or distributor in case of any damage or malfunction.
Please store this instruction manual for future reference or in case of transportation.
Do not use this product near liquids or moisture. Read our special paragraph concerning cleaning
carefully.
Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning. Avoid dust and dirt.
Place the units on a solid surface. Do not block any ventilation openings or cooling fins, including the
bass reflex port!
To prevent risk of fire or electric shock, avoid over loading wall outlets, extension cords or integral
convenience receptacles.
Do not let objects or liquids enter the product.
Do not install near any heat sources, such as radiators, heat registers, stoves or other appliances that
produce heat.
Use proper power sources. Plug the product into a proper power source, as described in the
operating instructions or as marked on the product.
Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs and the point where
they exit from the product.
CAUTION :
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT OPEN
Ilumnia Vocalis
3
User manual V1.0.1
Information
Unpacking
Due to the specific nature of these speaker’s geometry the necessary attention has to be given to
unpacking / repacking.
UNPACKING PROCEDURE
Follow these steps :
WARNING : Avoid touching the cone during these operations!
1. Place the carton box flat (horizontal) on one of its sides so that the bottom of the box is
accessible.
2. Open the bottom of the carton box by folding the carton flaps 270° up so that the content
can slip out (as described in step 4)
Ilumnia Vocalis
4
User manual V1.0.1
3. Place the carton back up so that the Ilumnia logo is in horizontal position and the “UP” arrow
is pointing upwards to the ceiling.
4. Now lift the carton box slowly upwards so that the speaker including the EPS packaging slips
out of the carton box from the bottom. Watch out not to tip over the speaker.
5. Now carefully lift up the top part of the EPS packaging.
Ilumnia Vocalis
5
User manual V1.0.1
6. Remove the other EPS packaging parts from the speaker.
7. Remove the protection bag from the speaker
8. Remove the fixing foam part between tweeter and LEMS driver by gently sliding it from the
phase plug.
Do not break or throw away this protective piece. Otherwise it will be impossible to further
handle or ship the speakers as the cone must stay at all times at its rest position while the
speaker is being handled or shipped!
For repacking : follow these instructions in reverse order.
RECOMMENDATION
We strongly recommend that you keep the original carton and EPS packing material for future use
and shipping. It has been 3D shaped to optimal protect the speakers against shipping damage.
It’s virtually impossible to ship the speakers safely in any other packaging material.
Ilumnia Vocalis
6
User manual V1.0.1
Recommended Speaker Setup
1. Positioning
Correct speaker placement has a huge impact on sound quality. Every room has its optimal layout for
positioning the speakers.
In this part of the manual we will give you some guidelines to position the speakers but the result of
these guidelines will strongly depend on your rooms acoustical properties and dimensions. We do
suggest you experiment with a few different locations and see which setup yields the best results.
Even half of an inch can make a huge difference in performance, especially when focusing and sound
staging capabilities are concerned.
For the best bass response we recommend that you keep a minimum distance of 10-45 cm (4” to
18”) between the speakers and the rear wall. For height, position the speakers with the tweeters at
eye level of your most common listening position. This is important for rendering the soundstage in
all 3 dimensions.
Ideally we recommend a distance of about 2,5 till 3 meters (8 - 10 feet) between the 2 speakers.
The distance from the speakers to the listening position should be between 1 and 1,5 times the
distance between the speakers to obtain the best sound staging and imaging. We personally prefer 1
time the distance (equilateral triangle) instead of 1,5. But depending on room acoustics, dimensions
and also personal taste it can be a good idea to experiment by adding 0,5 to 1 meter (1 - 5 feet)
additional distance.
2,5 - 3 meter (8 - 10 feet)
2,5 - 4,5 meter (8 - 15 feet)
10 - 45 cm (4 - 18 inch)
>50 cm (>2 feet)
>100 cm (>3 feet)
Ilumnia Vocalis
7
User manual V1.0.1
2. Bass Ports
The Ilumnia Vocalis has an (optional) adaptable bass reflex front loaded port. This port constitutes of
2 parts, the inner and outer tube. To change the tuning of its frequency you can shove the inner tube
backwards or remove it completely.
Frequencies of the bass reflex port at different settings of the inner tube
Inner tube shoved inwards 4cm (1,5 inch) : 46 Hz
Inner tube at the same height as the outer tube : 49 Hz
Inner tube removed : 51 Hz
WARNING : DO NOT BLOCK THE BASS REFLEX PORT OF THE VOCALIS AS THIS WILL BLOCK
VENTILATION TO THE INTEGRATED POWER SUPPLY
Ilumnia Vocalis
8
User manual V1.0.1
Speaker Conditioning and Break-in
Although a break-in period is not required, we recommend that you play between 100 to 150 hours
of music through the speakers before doing any critical listening or speaker placement.
The LEMS driver does not have a break-in period at all because it does not have any parts which are
prone to strain like spider and surround. But the tweeter and filter parts do have a break in period.
Ilumnia Vocalis
9
User manual V1.0.1
Speaker Cleaning
DISCLAIMER : Ilumnia BVBA cannot be held responsible for damage caused to the speakers
by any of the procedures described in this user manual. Physically touching the cone always
involves a certain risk of damaging it and the only way to avoid damage is by not touching it
at all. Damage caused by physical contact with the cone always voids warranty and is not
covered by the limited warranty.
Do not use any solvents or cleaners on cabinets, aluminum parts or speaker drivers.
Do not use any liquids or moisture on the speaker drivers.
The cabinet and the aluminium parts can be cleaned with a soft damp cloth.
As already mentioned in the disclaimer we do not encourage customers to touch the cone of the
LEMS driver. But if there’s excessive dust on the LEMS driver and cleaning is really necessary follow
these guidelines :
•Try to clean the cone just by gently blowing off the dust (do not use high pressure tools!!)
•If this doesn’t help : wipe down with a soft, dry cloth. Ideally use a clean and unused
SWIFFER DUSTER pad or soft micro fiber cloth. Never use moist or any form of liquids as the
cone is made of impregnated paper. Moist or liquids will damage the cone!
•When cleaning, don’t use pressure to the cone to avoid deforming the cone or the
aluminium closing ring.
•Avoid the cone being turned around its center as this movement can damage our proprietary
flatband litz wire which is mounted underneath the cone (not visible).
•Clean the cone from the inside to the outside, see picture.
•To clean the cone, make sure the speaker is set to “ON” and the cone is floating (otherwise
you will rub the dust in a gutter formed between cone and outer ring).
Ilumnia Vocalis
10
User manual V1.0.1
If there’s a hint of scraping / scrubbing sound coming from one of the LEMS drivers.
First thing to do : DON’T PANIC, it’s not broken
Most likely a tiny piece of dirt or excessive dust has nested between the outside of the aluminium
closing ring of the cone and the inside of the outer chassis ring of the driver.
The tolerance between these two parts is kept to a minimum in order to avoid acoustic short circuit.
But there is still a very narrow air gap and we cannot 100% exclude that dirt or dust can fall in
between. In practice, if dust or dirt fits in between it also falls through and doesn’t get stuck. The
pistonic movement of the cone will guide the dirt towards the decompression chamber.
In the exceptional case that dust or dirt gets stuck between outer ring and cone you can easily fix this
problem yourself.
Procedure :
Take an ordinary piece of paper (such as normal 80 grams print paper but don’t use any stiff paper
like thick photo quality print paper). Cut a corner of the paper and move it between the cone and the
outer chassis ring of the driver (see picture on the next page). Go all around the cone and at the
same time hold the cone in a steady position so it won’t turn around by the force applied with the
piece of paper ! The piece of paper will push the dirt to the surface or in some cases it will fall in the
decompression chamber located underneath the aluminum closing ring.
Dirt
Ilumnia Vocalis
12
User manual V1.0.1
Layout & functions : rear panel
1. On / Standby switch with integrated IEC Power supply entry (110-120V/60Hz or 220-
240V/50Hz depending on country, see power connection on speaker for the right voltage)
•This switch is used to switch the speakers to “standby” mode. After turning the
switch to “0” (i.e. “standby”) a “standby-mode-sequence”** will start. During
this standby-mode-sequence the cone will slowly drop. The standby-mode-
sequence will take about 25-40 minutes. The time may vary slightly between the
left and right speaker. This is normal. After the standby-mode-sequence has
finished the cone will be in its resting position.
WARNING : Before disconnecting the speakers from the mains supply ALWAYS turn the
“standby” switch to “0” (i.e. “standby”) and wait until the “standby-mode-sequence”
has finished (i.e. wait until the cone is sitting in its resting position). Not doing so may
damage your speakers.
2. Speaker binding posts
3. Mid-low frequency equalization rocker switch
** What’s the purpose of the “Standby-mode-sequence” ?
After having played music the suspension of the LEMS driver needs to settle before the cone is
dropped to its resting position. The purpose of the standby-mode-sequence is to settle the
suspension and drop the cone in a specific sequence and during a specific time. Not doing so could
damage the driver. So the “Standby-mode-sequence” is more like a safety precaution to protect the
LEMS driver.
Power consumption “ON” : 11 watt
Power consumption “STANDBY” : 2,5 watt
Ilumnia Vocalis
13
User manual V1.0.1
❶On / Standby switch with integrated IEC Power supply entry
❷Speaker binding posts
❸Low frequency equalization rocker switch
Connecting your speakers
STEP 1
Connect the RED(+) and BLACK(-) signal terminals (❷) of the left speaker to the amplifiers left
channel.
Connect the RED(+) and BLACK(-) signal terminals (❷) of the right speaker to the amplifiers right
channel. (also see amplifier user guide)
STEP 2
Connect the power cord into the IEC Power supply entry (❶) of the left speaker and the other end
into the mains wall outlet.
Connect the power cord into the IEC Power supply entry (❶) of the right speaker and the other end
into the mains wall outlet.
❶
❷
❸
Ilumnia Vocalis
14
User manual V1.0.1
❸3 position rocker switch. This switch controls the energy in mid-low frequencies as shown in the
graph below.
All indications below are when the user is behind the speaker and looking at the back of the speaker.
1> Rocker switch to the utmost left position
2> Rocker switch to the middle position
3> Rocker switch to the utmost right position
Ilumnia Vocalis
15
User manual V1.0.1
Playing music
Switch “on” (marked “1”) both speakers at the back of the speakers before playing any music.
Important remark : if the speakers are cut off the mains or in standby mode only the
tweeters of the speakers will work.
This is done to protect the LEMS driver from being fed with music signal while the cone is not floating
(i.e. in resting position). The tweeter is never cut off to keep a minimum load for the amplifier (this is
done to protect tube amplifiers from being played without load).
IMPORTANT NOTE : These speakers have an active electromagnetic field to float the cone. This field
also creates a limited amount of heat. The engine of the driver needs to be at a temperature of at
least 23°-24° Celsius (73-75° Fahrenheit) or higher to perform optimal. After being switched on, this
corresponds to a warm-up time of about 15-30 minutes from cold (depending on room
temperature). The pole piece and phase plug of the LEMS driver have been designed for an optimal
temperature control of the driver. After some time the phase plug can feel lukewarm, this is normal.
Ilumnia Vocalis
16
User manual V1.0.1
Limited Warranty
This product has been designed and manufactured to the highest quality standards. However if
something goes wrong with this product, the official distributor warrants free replacement of parts
or repair.
How to claim parts or repair under warranty:
To have your product serviced under warranty, you must contact the dealer from where you bought
the product.
This limited warranty is valid for the original owner for a period of two years from the date of
purchase and solely after registration of your product. You can register your product by sending the
product registration form provided with this User Manual together with a copy of the original
purchase invoice to [email protected] or send it by mail to : Ilumnia BVBA, Sint Jorisstraat 9, 2450
Meerhout, Belgium.
You may also ask your dealer to assist you.
Registering your product is mandatory to receive full warranty but also to provide you with the best
service on your product. By registering your product we can keep track of its life cycle which is very
useful to us when service or repair should be in order.
What is covered by the limited warranty:
The limited warranty covers all production and material defects of the product, except for the
damages stated below.
The supplier is liable only to repair or replace defective parts of products and the supplier is not
responsible for indirect losses or damages arising from the use of the product.
What is not covered by the limited warranty:
1. Damages caused by packing and transport.
2. Transportation costs for servicing are not covered by the warranty.
3. Defects caused by accidents, misuse, normal wear and tear, mis-maintenance, voltage variation
and overloading.
4. A service repair or replacement cannot exceed the value of the product under warranty, in no
event shall Ilumnia BVBA be responsible or liable for special, incidental, consequential or indirect
damages or losses.
5. Damages caused by incorrect installation, operation or maintenance.
6. Damages caused by modification or repair by a non-authorised service centre and or use of non-
original spare parts.
7. Minor cosmetic imperfections (they may occur as these products are handcrafted)
8. Damages due to conditions beyond the supplier's control such as fire, rain, strode of lightning,
war or other force majeure events.
Ilumnia Vocalis
17
User manual V1.0.1
Specifications
SPEAKERS
Tweeter: 1 inch soft-dome
Woofer: 8 inch LEMS impregnated paper cone
Nominal impedance: 8 Ohm
Minimum impedance : 6 Ohm
Sensitivity 2.83V(1W/1M): 88dB
Recommended amplifier power : 20 watt –250 watt
Frequency Response (RAR): 40Hz-25KHz
Crossover System: 2-way
Dimensions (L x W x H) : 40 x 28 x 48 cm / 15.75 x 11 x 18.90 inch
Net Weight: 17 Kg - 37 Lbs per pc.
Ilumnia Vocalis
18
User manual V1.0.1
This equipment complies with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC
Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a
residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and,
if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.
If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be
determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or more of the following measures:
•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
•Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
•Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver
is connected.
•Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Caution: Any changes or modifications to this device not explicitly approved by manufacturer
could void your authority to operate this equipment.
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must
accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
The device has been evaluated to meet general RF exposure requirement.
Table of contents
Other Ilumnia Speakers manuals
