TRICKS & TIPS FROM THE GOLDEN DESIGN TEAM

Professor: Dr. Bill Avery explains the scientific reasons for recommendations in this web site.

Golden Ears: Daniel Kolbet gives ideas that will improve the quality of the sound in your set-up.

CONNECTIONS

Golden Ears:   Tighten all connections, as loose connections can cause arcing and corrosion.  Both can degrade the sound.  At least once a year, clean all audio connections on your system with isopropyl alcohol.

SPEAKERS

The SLC-A300 drives all speakers superbly including exotic speakers with difficult crossovers, such as ribbon and electrostats.  Frequency response is flat to ten times above and below the limit of human hearing.

Speaker Warning: Cone speakers lose their flexibility with age. The powerful bass of the SLC-A300 may tear older speaker cones. Speaker damage can occur before your hear distortion.

See Ask the Professor - Wide Frequency Response

Golden Ears: Look for speakers with very wide frequency response and a very large sound stage such as Magnepan MG 3.6.  Speakers with high SPL ratings are also fun to listen to on the SLC-A300 due to the dead quiet background noise and wide dynamic range of the amplifier.

SPEAKER WIRE

Professor:  The SLC-A300 can supply over 9 amps of current to the speaker load. This means that with the SLC-A300, we are concerned with inductance much more than capacitance. In general, wire that is 14 gauge or heavier with low inductance will give the best performance.


Golden Ears:  It is best to use the same length of speaker wire for a pair of speakers. Not all speaker cables sound the same. Try different ones on your system.

TEMPERATURE

Professor:  The single most important thing you can do to extend the life of electronic products is to keep them cool. For every 10^oC (18^oF) hotter that equipment runs, the life of the components is cut in half. Since we have eliminated the need for a fan by using massive external heatsinks and many internal heatsinks, it is absolutely crucial that there be adequate air flow around the amplifier.         Do not place the amplifier in an enclosed cabinet.