G
ETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR D/A-1
The conrad-johnson D/A-1 offers a remarkable level of sophistication
and refinement in music reproduction, but it cannot transform an inferior
stereo system. Only high quality amplifiers and loudspeaker systems
will be capable of fully revealing the capabilities of this precision instru-
ment.
Given a system of high quality components, there remain a number of
important details which must be attended to.
ABSOLUTE PHASE
Musical notes are heard through the ear’s response to waves of alter-
nating rise and fall of air pressure. Musical transients are almost exclu-
sively positive: that is, the initial effect is a rise in pressure. The ear is
capable of distinguishing these positive transients from the musically
unnatural alternative of a negative transient (an initial fall in air pres-
sure). In terms of your stereo system, these transients are created by
your loudspeakers. If the speakers respond to musical transients by first
moving out, they are creating a rise in pressure, and the system is said
to be "phase correct". If they respond by moving in, they create a fall in
pressure and the system is said to be phase inverting.
Each component in the stereo system is either phase correct or phase
inverting (including the source and speakers-these are normally phase
correct). It is of no consequence if an individual component is phase
inverting, as long as the system as a whole is phase correct. This will be
the case as long as the number of phase inversions is even (or zero). A
system with an odd number of phase inversions can be corrected by
adding one more inversion by reversing the positive and negative
speaker leads.
We recommend that you connect your system for correct absolute
phase, and use the phase invert switch on the D/A-1 to correct for phase
incorrect recordings.
DA1 Owner’s Manual
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