Owner’s Manual SSP-300 Surround Processor
WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL. NOTICE All of us at Classé take extreme care to ensure that your purchase will remain a prized investment.
Important Safety Instructions 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. Follow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water. If a liquid does enter your component, immediately disconnect it from the AC mains and take it to your Classé dealer for a thorough checkup 6. Clean only with dry cloth. 7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. 8.
Contents Welcome to the Classé family ..........................................................................6 Unpacking and Placement ...............................................................................7 unpacking your surround processor.......................................................... 7 placement ................................................................................................ 7 ventilation ..............................................................................
The Menu System ..........................................................................................40 system setup ........................................................................................... 40 volume setup ......................................................................................... 41 rotary ............................................................................................... 41 max volume ........................................................................
Welcome to the Classé family Congratulations on your purchase of a Classé product. It is the result of many years of continuous refinement, and we are sure that you will enjoy it for many years to come. We value our relationship with our customers. Please allow us to stay in touch with you by returning your warranty card now, before you pack up the shipping carton of your new product and forget all about it.
Unpacking and Placement unpacking your surround processor Carefully unpack your surround processor according to the supplied instructions, and remove all accessories from the carton. Important! Keep all packing materials for future transport of your Classé product. Shipping your new component in anything other than its purposedesigned packing material may result in damage that is not covered by the warranty.
register your purchase! Having found the serial number, now would be a good time to fill out the registration card. Please register your purchase so we can advise you of updates and other items of interest. It will take only a minute or so. Please complete the card now, before you forget. warm up/break-in period Your new Classé surround processor will deliver outstanding performance immediately.
Operating Voltage The SSP-300 surround processor is set at the factory (internally) for 100V, 120V, 230V, or 240V AC mains operation, as appropriate for the country in which it is to be sold. (230V only in European Union countries, in compliance with CE regulations.) The voltage setting may not be changed by the user. Make sure that the label on the rear panel of your surround processor indicates the correct AC operating voltage for your location.
A Word About Installation Every effort has been made to make the Classé SSP-300 simple and straightforward to install and use. Still, we have no way to evaluate other variables such as the size and shape of your room, its acoustics, and the associated equipment you have chosen to use with your surround processor. All of these factors influence the ultimate performance of your system.
Special Design Features high-bandwidth video circuitry Modern high definition video sources provide truly stunning picture quality. However, the technical requirements of passing these remarkable signals along to the display are quite challenging. In recognition of the degradations that normally occur when passing these pristine signals through circuitry that is often not up to task, many videophiles connect all their video sources directly to their video displays.
Re-Equalization™ The tonal balance of a standard film soundtrack will be excessively bright and harsh when played back over high quality audio equipment in the home because film soundtracks were designed to be played back in large movie theatres using very different professional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the correct tonal balance for watching a movie soundtrack in a small, home environment.
Advanced Speaker Array™ The people at THX have also found a solution to a problem that dogged high performance multichannel systems for years: the apparent conflict between optimal music and movie setups. You see, movies are mixed in highly standardized environments, with even spaced surround speakers in an array designed to provide a diffuse, enveloping soundfield. Their goal is to draw you into the movie on the screen.
THX Ultra 2 Cinema Mode As you might expect, the THX Ultra 2 Cinema mode does a similarly terrific job of optimizing the system for accurate reproduction of movie soundtracks. When in THX Ultra 2 Cinema mode, ASA creates a diffuse soundfield that emulates the much larger array of surround speakers found in a state of the art commercial theater.
The volume control system on your SSP-300 solves this problem by responding differently based on the specific circumstances (e.g. how quickly you are turning the knob and where in the volume range you are). After extensive testing, we feel we have created factory default settings that most people will find intuitive and a real pleasure to use. However, if you feel you would like to fine-tune its performance further in order to suit your particular preference, you may easily do so.
extraordinary longevity Another benefit of having worked with highly refined circuit designs so extensively over many years is that we have vast experience in what works well over the long term. By using only the highest quality parts to begin with, and then using them in an informed way as a result of both accelerated aging experiments and actual long-term experience, we are able to design and manufacture products which we are confident will stand the test of time.
Initial Setup We understand that you may be anxious to begin enjoying your new surround processor. Our best advice: take advantage of the considerable experience your Classé dealer offers to make sure you get all the performance you deserve. However, if you want to set up your new system yourself, this section is designed to get the system up and running quickly.
5 Now you are ready to power up your new SSP-300 and its associated amplifiers. Note that the initial power up takes approximately 90 seconds, during which time the blue LED on the standby button will flash. After approximately 45 seconds the LCD screen will display “initializing, please wait….” Once this period is complete the LED light will remain on while the LCD screen goes into standby mode. A simple touch of the LCD screen will wake up the SSP-300 from its standby mode.
7 Please take a moment to read the rest of this manual. It is important that you become familiar with the full capabilities of your new surround processor if you are to get maximum value from your purchase. (Alternatively, you may prefer to have your dealer perform a comprehensive installation of the system, leaving the technical details to the professionals.
������� ���� ���� ������� Front Panel 1 Standby button & LED indicator The front panel Standby button will toggle the surround processor between its fully operational status and a standby mode that leaves the surround processor off, yet ready to respond to system commands via any of the supported control options (e.g. IR input, DC trigger, CAN Bus, or RS-232). The current state of the surround processor is indicated by the LED on the standby button on the front panel.
2 Menu button Pressing the front panel Menu button will call up the menu system, replacing the normal status display in the LCD touchscreen of the SSP-300. 3 LCD touchscreen Much of your interaction with the SSP-300 will be with the LCD touchscreen (and the SSP-300’s supplied remote control). It will usually display the various input selection buttons you would use in day-to-day operation, along with access to the tape monitor button.
6 Volume Knob The large knob on the right side of the front panel of the SSP-300 is used to control the volume of the system. The volume is raised or lowered in precise 1dB increments throughout the range of the control most likely to be used while listening to music. At extremely low volumes, the step size is increased somewhat to make it easier to move quickly between extremely low and normal listening levels.
Rear Panel The table below shows the three types of inputs of the SSP-300 and which outputs can be used. The ✔ symbol indicates a signal is available, the ✘ symbol indicates a signal is not available. For example, with a Component Input an S-Video signal is available from the Main output, but not from the Rec 1 or Rec 2 output. See the following information on the various inputs and outputs for more detailed information.
Note that the three analog video standards offer varying degrees of performance: • Component video offers the highest picture quality • S-Video is second-highest in picture quality • Composite video offers the lowest picture quality For this reason, you are advised to use component video connections whenever possible, and S-video connections when component is not available. Composite video connections should be used when the other options are not available, or on less critical sources (e.g.
Note that the three analog video standards offer varying degrees of performance: • Component video offers the highest picture quality • S-Video is second-highest in picture quality • Composite video offers the lowest picture quality For this reason, you are advised to use component video connections whenever possible, and S-video connections when component is not available. Composite video connections should be used when the other options are not available, or on less critical sources (e.g.
7 Optical Digital Inputs These connectors accept digital audio signals in the EIAJ optical (sometimes called “Toslink™”) digital interface standard from a digital satellite receiver, compact disc, DVD player or other digital source component. Connect the optical digital output of your source component to either of the EIAJ optical inputs using a high quality EIAJ optical cable. Your Classé dealer can assist you in making an appropriate cable selection.
11 IR Input: Main and Zone Your Classé surround processor includes two 1/8th-inch mono mini-jacks to support the infrared (IR) remote controls that are ubiquitous today. Infrared commands exist (for example) for toggling the surround processor between operate and standby, in addition to discrete command codes for either operate or standby.
13 Microphone Input The MIC input on the rear of the SSP-300 is used during auto-calibration of the system. For a quick setup, connect the supplied microphone to this input and follow the procedure outlined in the Initial Setup section of this manual. For more details, please refer to The Menu System, later in this manual. 14 Analog Audio Inputs These RCA jacks accept right-channel and left-channel (single-ended) inputs from line-level source equipment such as tuners, CD players, and tape decks.
18 Component Video Inputs and Output The SSP-300 provides three Component video inputs. These are labeled COMPONENT INPUT 1, 2, and 3. Connect the Component video output of your source component to the appropriate Component video input of the SSP-300 using high quality 75Ω video cable for the best results.
19 AC Mains Power Switch The main power switch for the SSP-300 is adjacent to the receptacle for the power cord. Switching the unit on puts it in standby mode. The surround processor should be in standby before being switched off. Danger! Potentially dangerous voltages and current capabilities exist within your surround processor, even when disconnected from AC mains. Do not attempt to open any portion of the surround processor’s cabinet.
The Remote Control STANDBY LIGHT INFO THX NIGHT DISPLAY MODE VOL INPUT SEL. MUTE VOL TAPE HOME SETUP � Your new surround processor comes with a versatile remote control which can control both the SSP-300 itself and several aspects of the rest of a Classé-based system. The buttons are arranged in logical groups according to their functions. � 1 � � • Light switches the backlighting of the remote control on, for better visibility under low-light conditions.
5 Navigation and Control Menu Keys The five keys at the center of this group are the navigation keys. They are similar to what you may have seen on remote controls for DVD players, and are used to navigate of the menu systems of the SSP-300. The four keys around the navigation keys are used to directly access certain control menu screen.
Understanding Surround Sound Today’s sophisticated surround sound systems seem to spawn a bewildering array of technologies and acronyms. In this section, we will attempt to give you a basic understanding of what all that jargon means. As a result, you will be better equipped to take advantage of the best that home entertainment has to offer.
By contrast, modern soundtracks use discrete channels of information. That is, each speaker has a distinct signal that is completely independent of every other channel. This approach is clearly more desirable, since it gives the movie makers more creative control over the quality of your experience. Musicians also prefer discrete formats, since it allows them to place their instruments and voices with greater precision, to create the musical effects they desire.
For example: movie soundtracks are created in highly-standardized environments, in order to offer excellent performance in large, commercial theaters. Acoustically, your home is a radically different environment than that for which the movie soundtracks were optimized. Therefore it makes sense that you might want to compensate for the differences between the intended environment (a commercial theater) and your actual environment (a domestic living room or family room).
Using the SSP-300 Your SSP-300 includes a versatile touchscreen LCD display which supports most of your day-to-day operations (as well as a flexible menu system for functions you use less often). While the use of this touchscreen is quite intuitive, it is also quite extensive. This section of the owner’s manual outlines the use of this touchscreen in day-to-day operation of the system.
mode selection While you can specify default surround processing modes for each individual input, you may occasionally wish to choose something other than the default for a particular recording. For example, when watching a classic movie from the 1940’s, you may prefer to hear it in the original mono mode (using only the center channel speaker). Touching the mode button brings up a scrolling list of the available surround modes.
system trims The System Trims menu controls several parameters of the SSP-300’s operation that may occasionally need adjustment to suit a particular recording. • level trims are provided for L/R balance, center, surround, rear speakers, and subwoofer. As an example, you might bump up the center channel speaker by 2-3 dB if the dialog in a particular movie is difficult to understand. Note: level trims for surround and rear speakers are grouped together as “surround”.
position select The SSP-300 supports four different families of settings for various listening positions you may use. The Position Select menu allows you to easily choose among your various listening positions. For example, you might use position 1 to optimize the sound for the seating arrangement you use when watching a movie, but have a different set of levels and delays (position 2) for when you are off to one side, sitting on a couch and listening to music while reading a good book.
The Menu System Pressing the front panel Menu button to the left of the LCD touchscreen brings up a comprehensive menu system, that is divided into a further six sections as shown below. When this button is pressed you may toggle between the “Menu” and the “Home” screens. For easy viewing during setup, the menu screens are always shown as an OSD (On Screen Display) on the main video outputs.
Here, you can: • • • • • volume setup Touching the Volume button on the “system setup” screen brings up the “volume setup” screen.
The most significant factor in the perceived responsiveness of the volume control is the speed at which the knob is being turned. We all naturally tend to move volume knobs more quickly when we need to make a bigger change, and we tend to slow down as we approach our desired volume. Thus, if the SSP-300 sees the knob moving relatively quickly, it uses coarse steps to effectively accelerate the action of the circuitry.
• high speed: determines the responsiveness of the control when the knob is being turned slowly. A setting of 0 will cause the volume to change as slowly as possible at high knob speeds; a setting of 100 will cause the volume to change as quickly as allowed at high knob speeds. (The menu is the same as the one above except for the indication that it is for the “high speed” adjustment.
mute setup Here you can choose how you want the mute button to function. • classic - When the mute button is pressed no audio will be heard. The next two choices are useful in situations where you wish to still hear the audio source but temporarily reduce the volume to a lower level. For example, let’s say you are watching a football game and the phone rings. You need to take the call but would still like to monitor the progress of the game...
• The left button acts like the backspace key on a computer keyboard, moving the cursor to the left and eliminating any characters along the way. • The right button moves the cursor to the right, adding characters along the way. (Change each character to what you want as you go along, using the + and – buttons.) • The + and – buttons change the current character through the available characters. They include all upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, and a variety of punctuation.
The position button allows you to assign a default position setting (a collection of level and delay settings) to a particular input. (This default setting can be temporarily overridden at any time in the Home menu.) The video button takes you to a menu in which you can specify what type of video signal (if any) the source being set up will supply.
speaker setup The Speaker Setup menu (found via the following path: system setup/speakers) allows you to tell the SSP-300 about the speakers with which it is working, so it can provide the best and most appropriate signals to each speaker. • speaker config allows you to customize your speaker configuration and set up the bass management within the SSP-300.
• THX setup sends you to a screen in which you can configure some THX-specific features. Specifically: • THX Ultra 2 sub should be engaged if you are using a subwoofer that is certified by the THX Ultra 2 standard. Such subwoofers are essentially flat to 20 Hz under what might be considered worst-case acoustic conditions for bass, and have prodigious output capability.
• autocalibration uses the provided microphone to calibrate the system automatically for optimal performance in each of these four positions. Simply plug in the microphone to the mic input on the rear panel, place the microphone at the desired position, and then press auto levels and auto delays in turn, allowing the SSP-300 to run its tests and establish the correct settings for you. • manual levels adjusts the speakers levels manually as you might have done with other surround processors.
triggers setup Each of the SSP-300’s DC triggers may be programmed to either “logic” (12V) or “inverse logic” (0V) settings. The ability to change the way the trigger operates can solve installation-specific problems that otherwise require external devices that add to both the cost and complexity of your system. For more information on the use of DC triggers, we recommend you speak with your authorized Classé dealer.
brightness timeout The brightness setting of the SSP-300 has three possible values: low, medium, and high. Select the appropriate setting based on the level of ambient light typically found in your listening room while using the system. A high brightness setting usually works best in brightly-lit rooms; you may find that a lower setting is less visually intrusive under more subdued lighting conditions.
temp. display NOTE: volume The temp. display button leads to a screen on which you may select how long the temporary on-screen display shown on your television lasts when you make a change to the SSP-300. Your choices are none (effectively turning off these small OSD messages on the television), and 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 seconds. Anytime there is a status change, the temporary display will appear at the bottom of the main video output screen and over the menu screen.
Dolby Pro Logic II Dolby Pro Logic II has three user-adjustable parameters. Panorama is a simple on/off toggle (highlighted means “on”) that will present a wider and deeper front soundstage. This effect is somewhat signal-dependant, meaning that it is more pronounced with some recordings and less so with others. With a good recording, however, the effect an be quite dramatic. Center Width determines how much of the center-channel information is allowed to remain in the left and right speakers.
The remote Fkey menu has four buttons, one each for the four Fkeys on your remote control. Pressing any of these buttons on the LCD touchscreen takes you to a subordinate, scrolling list of possible functions for that particular Fkey. Selecting the one you want is as simple as scrolling through the list (by touching either the up or down arrows on the right), and then touching the specific function in the list that you want that Fkey to perform.
Troubleshooting In general, you should refer any service problems to your Classé dealer. Before contacting your dealer, check to see if the problem is listed here. If it is, try the suggested solutions. If none of these solves the problem, contact your Classé dealer. 1 Important! Check that the power amplifier is off before checking any connections between the surround processor and power amplifier, or between the power amplifier and the speakers.
3. Important! Only one speaker seems to be playing. ✓ Does the problem occur with all inputs? If so, check the interconnect cables between the preamp and the power amp. If no fault is found there, check the speaker wires for secure connections. Be certain that the power amplifier is off before checking any connections between the surround processor and power amplifier, or between the speakers and the power amplifier.
Care & Maintenance To remove dust from the cabinet of your surround processor, use a feather duster or a lint-free soft cloth. To remove dirt and fingerprints, we recommend isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. Dampen the cloth with alcohol first and then lightly clean the surface of the surround processor with the cloth. Do not use excessive amounts of alcohol that might drip off the cloth and into the surround processor.
Specifications All specifications are accurate at the time of printing. Classé reserves the right to make improvements without notice. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Frequency response DC – 200kHz ± 0.1dB Distortion (THD + noise) 0.003% Maximum input voltage (single-ended) 5Vrms Maximum output voltage (single-ended) 10Vrms Gain range -100dB to +14dB Input Impedance 100kΩ Output Impedance (main output) 100Ω Signal-to-noise ratio (ref.
Dimensions ������ �� �� 59
Classé Audio 5070 François Cusson Lachine, Quebec Canada H8T 1B3 +1 (514) 636-6384 +1 (514) 636-1428 (fax) http://www.classeaudio.com email: cservice@classeaudio.com Copyright © 2006 Classé Audio, Inc. Printed in Canada. V 2.
