Conrad-Johnson ET5 Owner’s Manual
10
Getting the Most from Your ET5
In a system of commensurate high quality components, the
conrad-johnson ET5 offers a high level of sophistication and
refinement in music reproduction. To get the best performance out
of any audio system, there are a number of important details that
must be attended to.
Absolute Phase
Musical notes are heard through the ear’s response to waves of
alternating rise and fall of air pressure. Musical transients are
almost exclusively 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 pressure). 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 either preserves the phase of the incoming
signal, and is said to be phase correct, or inverts the phase and is
said to be phase inverting. It is unimportant whether an individual
component is phase correct or phase inverting, as long as the
system as a whole is phase correct. This will be the case if the
number of phase inversions is even (or zero).
The ET5 is phase inverting. If your system has an odd number of
inversions, (for example, if the ET5 is the only phase inverting unit
in the chain) then you must add one phase inversion. This is
conveniently done by reversing the positive and negative
connections to your speakers (be sure to reverse both channels). If
you are not sure about the phase of every piece in your system,
you can establish correct absolute phase by careful listening.
When the system is in correct phase, transients will be noticeably
cleaner and more sharply defined. The effect is especially apparent
on plucked string sounds. A final warning - not all recordings are
phase correct (including some “audiophile” recordings), so listen to
several before concluding your investigation of absolute phase.
