Janszen Carmelita Active User manual
10/6/2017
Carmelita (Model zA1.1A) Active Electrostatic Hybrid
Loudspeaker
OWNER’S MANUAL
Table of Contents
Safety Information....................................................................1
Welcome..................................................................................4
Unpacking................................................................................5
Carton contents...............................................................................5
Unpacking.......................................................................................5
Stands.............................................................................................6
Grills................................................................................................6
Cleaning...................................................................................7
Wooden surfaces............................................................................7
Painted and metal surfaces.............................................................7
Grill cloth.........................................................................................7
Warnings.........................................................................................7
Quick Start...............................................................................8
A good starting setup for audiophiles in a typical listening room:..12
Tips:..............................................................................................13
Connecting and Powering ......................................................15
Cables...........................................................................................15
Power Cords.................................................................................15
Powering.......................................................................................15
airLayer Option.......................................................................16
Setup Details.......................................................................... 17
Height............................................................................................17
Stereo Image ................................................................................17
Compensation for Room Troubles ................................................18
Exaggerated Treble ................................................................................18
Exaggerated Bass...................................................................................18
Room Boom and Suck Out.....................................................................18
Features and Specifications................................................... 20
Warranty ................................................................................23
S A F E T Y I N F O R M A T I O N
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Safety Information
WARNING: DO NOT EXPOSE THESE SPEAKERS TO RAIN OR
WETNESS, WHICH MAY CREATE A DANGEROUS SHOCK HAZARD,
AND MAY DEGRADE OR RUIN THE SPEAKERS.
WARNING: DANGEROUS HIGH VOLTAGES MAY BE PRESENT
INSIDE THE SPEAKERS. TO AVOID THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK,
DO NOT REMOVE THE AMPLIFIERS OR GRILLS OR OTHERWISE
DISASSEMBLE THE SPEAKERS. THERE ARE NO USER SERVICEABLE
PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
WARNING: CHANGES OR MODIFICATIONS TO THESE SPEAKERS
NOT AUTHORIZED BY JANSZEN LOUDSPEAKER, LTD. MAY
INVALIDATE REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND THUS RENDER THE
SPEAKERS UNSUITABLE FOR HOME USE. THIS INCLUDES KEEPING
THE GRILLS INTACT.
WARNING: JANSZEN SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY
PHYSICAL DAMAGES OR INJURY THAT OCCURS AS A RESULT OF
MISUSE, DISASSEMBLY, OR UNAUTHORIZED CHANGES OR
MODIFICATIONS MADE TO THESE SPEAKERS.
WARNING: CONTINUOUS EXPOSURE TO LOUD SOUND CAUSES
HEARING DAMAGE.
Caution:
1. Read these instructions –All safety and operating instructions should be
read before the speakers are operated.
2. Save these instructions –keep the safety and operating instructions for
future reference.
3. Heed the warnings –All warnings about these speakers should be followed.
4. Follow the instructions –All operating and use instructions about these
speakers should be followed.
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S A F E T Y I N F O R M A T I O N
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5. Condensation –When moving the speakers from a cold to warm location,
such as during delivery on a cold winter day, moisture may condense on
components within. If this should occur, the speakers might not operate
properly. Consequently, after bringing the speakers in from the cold, we
advise leaving them idle for a day before connecting or powering them.
6. Water and moisture –The speakers should not be used near water –for
example, they should not be placed near a bathtub, pool, sink, lawn sprinkler,
etc., and generally should not be placed outdoors.
7. Heat and flames –The speakers should be located well away from strong
sources of heat or flames, such as fireplaces, propane heaters, stoves, etc..
8. Particulates –Smoke from tobacco or cooking, aerosol or splattered grease
from cooking, and air pollution over a long period of time can have a
deleterious effect on any speakers, including these. In particular, avoid
spraying anything anywhere near the speakers, such as furniture polish or
cleaner.
9. Power cords –As with any power cords, they should be routed so that they
are not likely to be walked on or pinched by heavy objects. It is also important
to prevent access from animals or children that may chew or otherwise
damage the power cords.
10. Liquids –Care should be taken not to spill liquids onto the speakers.
11. Foreign objects –Care should be taken not to press, poke or otherwise push
foreign objects into the cloth grills, such as pencils, fingers, toy airplanes, cat
claws, etc..
12. Cleaning –Do not use abrasive cleaners. Do not spray or let anyone else
spray any sort of cleaner, polish, conditioner, or anything else on or near the
grills. Cleaning staff should be specifically so instructed.
Paint: For removing dirt and finger marks, the paint can withstand glass
cleaner, lighter fluid, alcohol, kerosene, or naptha. Avoid getting any of these
substances on the wood or grills. Apply any of these to a soft cloth. Wipe gently,
because wiping hard can polish away the matte finish and leave a shiny area.
Wood: The wooden surfaces should be wiped with nothing more than a soft
cloth dampened with plain water. Do not use cleaners, polishes, conditioners,
or any other chemical preparation. The final coat of wax finish on the wood
will be removed by most of these.
Grill cloth: The grill cloth can be vacuumed.
13. Overload –The speakers are meant to be driven by a preamplifier, DAC,
portable player, or other low-level source. When so driven, they cannot be
overloaded. Do not connect them to an amplifier.
S A F E T Y I N F O R M A T I O N
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14. Gain. There is a gain control on the amplifier panel that can used to set the
maximum loudness. When connected to a preamplifier, a setting of zero is
recommended, and when connected directly to a source, such as a DAC or
portable player, the extra gain had by setting it to +6 is generally beneficial.
15. YOUR EARS –Distortion and compression are what make ordinary
speakers seem loud when the volume goes up, but electrostatic speakers do
not do this.
Because your Carmelitas are capable of producing high sound pressure levels
(SPL) without distortion or compression, it is easy to exceed safe loudness
without noticing. As a general rule, if you can feel the bass in your belly, or if
you have to shout to be heard by a person sitting next to you, it might be too
loud.
A pair of Carmelitas can produce a peak SPL of over 105 dB, even in a fairly
large room, 111dB in a small room, and with some kinds of music, a steady
level over 100 dB is possible. This can damage your ears permanently,
and fairly quickly.
If you hear ringing in your ears soon after or within a day or so of listening to
loud music, you have damaged your ears, perhaps slightly, but permanently. It
is also possible to damage your ears even without hearing ringing.
It is important to know --
No one notices the usual bits of hearing loss right away after each
overexposure. It adds up over time. If you don't avoid exposure to loud
sound, then at a relatively young age, music will sound dull, or certain notes
will be missing, or you will hear constant noise in your ears, and you will have
trouble understanding what people are saying, first in noisy places like
restaurants, and then everywhere. If you think you may already have hearing
loss, it’s never too late to stop making it worse.
15 minutes is the NIOSH and CDC 2002 recommended maximum
exposure time to a steady SPL of 100 dB, although OSHA allows 2 hours
in a work setting for some reason. The time limit is 4 hours at 85 dB. This 4
hour time limit is cut in half for each additional 3 dB in loudness: 2 hours at
88 dB, 1 hour at 91 dB, and so on.
SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL and you will not hurt your ears and thus
your future enjoyment of music.
You can measure loudness with a simple sound level meter. If you wish to
check your exposure, JansZen can supply a good quality sound level meter
such as we use ourselves at modest cost. Radio Shack also offers one. There
are also apps for smart phones that work as sound level meters and even as
spectrum analyzers; they will probably miss the high frequency extremes due
to microphone quality, but these are generally relatively low in level anyway in
music. Follow the instructions for the device or app to make sure your
readings are valid.
W E L C O M E
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2
Welcome
ou have chosen JansZen loudspeakers!
The Carmelita Active will bring you the utmost in music listening enjoyment
through its exceptional purity and naturalness in sound reproduction. While
these speakers include esoteric technology, you can rest assured that they are designed
and built with the best of advanced materials and techniques, and are ready to bring
you consistent, unwavering performance for decades to come.
Please feel free to keep in touch with us, letting us know anything you’d like to tell
about your listening experiences, or about great amplifiers, source gear, or music that
you have found suit you and the speakers particularly well. We’re also here to help with
any setup challenges or other questions.
Happy listening.
JansZen Loudspeaker, Ltd.
480 Trade Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43204
+1 (614) 448-1811
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U N P A C K I N G
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Unpacking
o not allow the delivery person to leave until you are satisfied that there
has been no shipping damage.
If there is damage, please refuse the shipment, and it will automatically come
back to us for repair/replacement. The situation will be harder to handle if you notice
damage after the delivery person has left.
Carton contents
The carton should contain two speakers and two power cords. If you’ve ordered
interconnects from us, they should be included as well.
Unpacking
The following steps will get your new speakers out of the cartons and onto your floor
without mishap:
1) Move the carton onto a carpeted area, or lay a blanket, bath towel, or other
soft material down onto the floor to use as an unpacking surface.
2) Set the carton on its long side with the flaps up, which matches the “this
side up” markings on the sides of the carton, and slice through the tape to
free the flaps. We’ll call this side the top.
3) Remove the power cords.
4) Bend the flaps back as far as possible. If you are working alone, the next
steps will be easier if you tape the flaps down against the sides of the
carton.
5) Roll the carton completely over so that the top has now become the
bottom.
6) Lift the carton away and set it aside.
7) Lift the blue foam insert away from the speakers.
8) Lift each speaker, being careful not to let the bag slip from your grip.
9) Clip the tie that holds each bag shut, and remove each speaker.
10) Unwrap the protective film from the enclosure.
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U N P A C K I N G
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11) We advise that you retain all packing materials in case you want to sell or
return the speakers. The cartons can be folded flat, and the inserts can be
interleaved to occupy less space.
Stands
If you have ordered stands from JansZen, they will be packed separately and
include their own instructions.
Grills
The speakers are designed to offer optimal sound reproduction with the grills in
place, and they also help protect the electrostatic elements, both from mechanical
damage and from collecting particulates from the air.
The grills are permanently installed. Any attempt to remove them will cause
irreparable damage.
C L E A N I N G
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4
Cleaning
Wooden surfaces
The final wood finish coat is wax, which will be removed by most cleaners. Wipe
only with a soft, damp cloth.
Painted and metal surfaces
These surfaces can withstand strong cleaners as well as alcohol, but do not spray
anything directly onto the speakers. Dampen a soft cloth with your solvent or
solution of choice, and wipe gently with that.
Grill cloth
The grill cloth can be vacuumed directly with a brush attachment.
Warnings
•Do not spray anything near the grill cloth. Any sort of cleaner or
water mist can harm the speakers if it gets through the grill
cloth.
•The grills cannot be removed. Any attempt to remove them will
cause irreparable harm.
Q U I C K S T A R T
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5
Quick Start
elative to the passive version of the Valentina/zA2.1A, the interesting thing
about this model is obviously its built in biamplification and signal processing.
Connection. The two balanced XLR connectors are interchangeable, although
the intent is for the female one, i.e., the one without pins showing, to be used as an
input, and the male for daisy-chaining to other amplifiers. Balanced cables are
inherently very transparent, and immune to the effects of cable length, noise pickup,
and the full range of magical qualities are often ascribed to single ended (RCA) cables,
which is why they’re used in the studios that record and engineer the music. A brand
popular with studios is Mogami, which are very well made and moderately priced. We
are a reseller and can thus supply you with a pair if desired.
If your source has only RCA outputs, then you can get good results using your existing
RCA cables with an adapter. If you have told us you’ll be using RCA interconnects, we
have supplied adapters for you to use. Again, a pro-audio market product will do the
trick, and a good example is the Hosa Technology GXM133, available from Amazon
or pretty much any musical instrument or pro audio shop for under $10 each. Also,
Mogami makes cables with an RCA at one end and an XLR at the other.
R
Q U I C K S T A R T
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Gain control. Ideally, for the very best signal to noise ratio, the gain controls
should be set so that the speakers are going about as loud as they can when your
source level is set at maximum. Of course, there's always some uncertainty about
what is "loud as they can," so rules of thumb are probably the best way to go,
namely:
•Gain at maximum (+6 dB) when driven directly from a DAC, portable
player, or phone. (If you have music on your phone with at least a 224
kbps rate, you'll be impressed by how good it can sound on these
speakers.)
•Gain at halfway up (0 dB) when driven from a preamp or server.
There are mild detents in the control's operation that will help you set them
equally.
If you have a room situation that tends to skew the image to one side, and no
balance control, you can use the gain controls for balance adjustment.
Presets. The signal processor has four presets stored in it. To select from among
them, press the selector button. Each time the button is pressed, the next preset
will be loaded. After #4, it will step back to #1. Each preset takes a few seconds
to load, so be patient between presses if you want to skip any. The preset indicator
will flash quickly until loading is complete.
Q U I C K S T A R T
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The standard presets are compensations for four general setups. The depth of bass
extension is reduced for higher degrees of bass reinforcement to prevent risk of
excessive woofer excursion at high SPL. Note that the preset indicators on the
amplifier panel are positioned with #4 at the top and #1 at the bottom, which is
why they are tabulated this way below:
Preset
Name
Effect
Ideal Placement
Preset 4
Near Field /
Console
Bass boost, time
alignment, various
compensations
On console or desk, less than 48”
[122 cm] from ears, walls at least
48” [122 cm] away
Preset 3
Far
Moderate bass
boost
20” – 30” [50 – 75 cm] from front
wall in large room or far out into
small to medium sized room
Preset 2
Normal
Flat bass response
with moderate
subsonic extension
20” – 30” [50 – 75 cm] from front
wall in small to medium sized
room
Preset 1
Wall hugger
Bass cut and
various
compensations
Very near front wall or in corner
If you have requested special preset programming, this will be documented
elsewhere.
Status lights. The four status lights signify the following:
•Limit lights up while the DSP voltage limiter is engaging or the amplifier
is clipping. Voltage limiting is not implemented because it is not required
to protect the drivers.
•Temp shows when the amplifier is overheated. I've never seen this
happen, but if an amplifier ever does shut down and go silent while it
cools down, this light will confirm that the shutdown is not caused by a
catastrophic malfunction, and will start working again shortly.
•Signal registers briefly when a cable is first plugged in, and when a signal
is present on the input. (It is also an indicator for when the DSP is being
programmed at the factory.) It can indicate excessive levels of hum or
noise on the signal line, or a signal line that’s disconnected at the far end.
•Ready indicates when the clock is running, the DSP is loaded up, and the
amplifier can start producing an output signal.
Q U I C K S T A R T
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AirLayer. The airLayer level setting is considered set-and-forget. It’s adjusted to
suit your taste and room situation by way of a slotted shaft that’s located at the
bottom of a white bushing below the side tweeter on each speaker.
Q U I C K S T A R T
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A small screwdriver is supplied for adjusting this control.
There will be recordings that benefit, and those that do not, so you may find
yourself only occasionally using the airLayer, or conversely, occasionally not using
it. Once the desired airLayer level has been found, it may be switched entirely on
or off using the button located below the amplifier panel.
There’s a section dedicated to the airLayer farther along in this guide.
t mid and high frequencies, the Carmelitas’ directivity keeps the stereo image
from being affected much by room placement in all but the most reflective
rooms. As with any non-dipole speakers, though, the bass is practically
omnidirectional, so nearby walls will reinforce it.
A good starting setup for audiophiles in a typical listening room:
•The speakers should be mounted on stands that position the center of the
rectangular grill at ear height. A few inches upward or downward won’t matter,
though. The center is about 12” [30 cm] from the bottom of the speaker, so
the stand should be about 12” [30 cm] shorter than your ear height. It’s alright
to use a stand with a tilted platen to get the same effect, but in that case, make
sure to account for your distance from the speakers when selecting the height.
A
Q U I C K S T A R T
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•The speaker with the even serial number should be placed to the right, and the
odd to the left. The speakers are acoustical mirror images of each other, and
optimal sound occurs inboard when so arranged. If your pair does not have
the airLayer option to indicate handedness, the speaker with the even serial
number should be placed to the right, and the odd to the left. If they do have
the option, no need to check the serial numbers, because the side tweeter
should be aimed outward (toward its near side wall, not toward the center).
•An equilateral triangle is a popular arrangement, that is, an equal distance
between the speakers, and also between each speaker and you. Of course,
some will prefer or be practically limited to a smaller angle between the
speakers, which is perfectly fine. It can be argued that an equilateral triangle
setup is merely an artifice cooked up in the early days of hi-fi in an attempt to
standardize things. In reality, in most cases, it makes little difference, other than
the obvious, namely stage width.
•Aim directly at your listening position, or if they seem bright or sparkly to your
ears, slightly less toed in than directly at your listening position, so that their
axes cross a foot or two behind you.
•Distance from the front wall should be according to the Preset table above.
•Positioned a different distance from the side walls as from the front wall, to
prevent overlap of the Allison effect reinforcement spectra. For smoothest
bass, the side wall distances should be asymmetrical, with the pair shifted a foot
or so to one side, or for absolute best imaging, they should be symmetrical.
Tips:
•Not enough bass for a given Preset? Try moving them closer to walls, or even
into corners.
•Lumpy bass? Try making the side to side position asymmetrical or move your
listening position farther or closer.
•Imaging problems?
oIf your back wall is closer than about 10 feet [3 meters] behind you, try
adding some absorption (if your room is lively) or diffusion (if you
room is already well damped) to that wall.
oIf your listening seat has a high back, change to a seat with a back that
does not come higher than your shoulders.
oTry moving the speakers farther from the front wall, while realizing
that the trade-off will be less bass or the need for a higher numbered
Preset.
oAdd absorption or diffusion at the side wall first reflection points.
oMake the side to side position symmetrical
•Upper treble response can be rolled off to taste by reducing toe-in.
Q U I C K S T A R T
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•Changing the height, although less conveniently done, will also tailor the treble
response, and also vary the degree to which floor-ceiling bass modes are
excited.
•For recordings made using a Blumlein microphone arrangement, a 90° angle
between the speakers is best, although this is hard to arrange in most rooms
without sitting very close to the speakers, which not everyone will want to do,
and where the drivers do not converge as well in time. In many cases, a very
wide arrangement is just more enjoyable for the extra soundstage width, and
the image is crisp enough to support this without degrading focus.
•For the most holographic effect, try two-microphone recordings, especially
binaural!
C O N N E C T I N G A N D P O W E R I N G
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6
Connecting and Powering
Cables
We recommend Mogami “Gold” model cables. These are popular among music
studios, very well made, and not very expensive. They’re available with an XLR at
both ends, as well as XLR at one end and RCA at the other. The amplifiers work
equally well with single-ended or balanced connections in most home audio
situations. Balanced cables are better, however, for long runs, such as through
walls from another room, because they’re better at rejecting noise pickup.
Power Cords
The cord delivers power for the amplifier and the bias supply that charges the
electrostatic panel membrane. The amplifiers are well isolated from power line
problems, and the supply circuit is unrelated to the signal path. The speakers have
no susceptibility to airborne or power line borne electrical interference.
We thus doubt that is any benefit to using special power cords, and those supplied
with your speakers are those that we’re satisfied provide optimal performance.
The bias supply and amplifier will work correctly with any mains voltage, and if
the speakers are moved internationally, suitable power cords for any wall socket
arrangement can be obtained worldwide and used without concern for
converting/adapting the voltage.
Powering
As implied in the previous section, the speakers must be powered to obtain. You
may note that there is an on/off power switch. The speakers may be left powered
on at all times without harm, but if they will be left idle for an extended time, or if
the air often contains smoke or other contaminants, it is best to power them off.
You may notice that the amplifier is quite warm at all times. This is normal and
related to the operation of the power supply.
The speakers can be powered on at any time relative to the other equipment.
A I R L A Y E R
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airLayer Option
The Carmelita speakers are very directive in the vertical, and rather directive in the
horizontal. This serves to minimize the involvement of the room, thereby making setup
easier, and maximally conserving the recorded ambiance and the precision of the image.
The speakers’ extremely high phase fidelity can produce a holographic image that extends
beyond the speakers and can even in some cases wrap around you.
With recordings that do not have realistically recorded ambiance with well conserved
phase information, a potential drawback is the perception of a closed-in soundstage,
extending only from one speaker to the other.
The airLayer option comprises a high-grade dome tweeter mounted on one side of each
speaker, firing sideways, e.g., outboard toward its near side wall. The purpose of bouncing
some sound off the side walls is to widen the soundstage, more or less simulating the side
walls in a performance venue, and provide a sense of spaciousness that can be missing
from directive speakers such as these when the recording does not contain accurately
recorded ambience.
Each airLayer tweeter is fully adjustable. You can thus adjust their output to taste and to
account for the distance to side walls and how reflective the slide walls are. If you have a
scattering surface (a diffuser) at each side’s first reflection point, you might find that
turning them up all the way provides a positive effect. In most cases, however, they
should be set so they don’t call attention to themselves, but just give a greater sense of
spaciousness.
You can accommodate an asymmetrical room by adjusting them differently from one
another, such as if you have an open area to one side and a wall at the other.
When recordings do have realistically recorded ambiance with well conserved phase
information, such as good two-mic or binaural recordings, you can switch each airLayer
tweeter off by pressing the button below the amplifier.
S E T U P D E T A I L S
17
8
Setup Details
Height
The Carmelita speakers are very directive in the vertical. There is thus about a 22 cm [9”]
range of ear height that will experience full spectrum sound. It is thus important to
ensure that your speakers are placed so that the center of the rectangular electrostatic
element within an inch or two of your ear height when you are seated.
The center is about 12” [30 cm] from the bottom of the speaker, so the stand should be
about 12” [30 cm] shorter than your ear height. It’s alright to use a stand with a tilted
platen to get the same effect, but in that case, make sure to account for your distance
from the speakers when selecting their heights.
Stereo Image
The stereo image will be good when an equilateral triangle is created by the speakers and
the listening position. On the other hand, there is a strong argument that this angle was
simply made up for no good reason other than memorability, and everyone should use
whatever they want.
It is very important to avoid the use of a high-backed chair that will reflect unwanted
sound into your ears with practically no delay, even when the headrest appears to be
made of soft, sound-absorbent material. This has a disastrous effect on realism as well as
the stereo image.
For maximal seating width, you can try reversing the positions of the speakers, placing the
even serial numbered unit on the left, and aim them so their axes cross a couple or a few feet
ahead of your listening position, rather than behind it.
Lastly, if the back wall is less than a few meters [ten feet] behind the listening position,
and your room acoustics are relatively lively, it is helpful to add absorbent material there,
such as heavy curtains, a decorative carpet, or purpose built absorbers. If your room is
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