AC Power Connection

Connection

Electrostatic speakers use an internal power supply to energize their electrostatic elements with high-voltage DC (low current). As such, they must be connected to an AC wall outlet. For this reason we have provided your speakers with the proper IEC standard power cords. These cords should be firmly inserted into the AC power receptacles on the rear connection panel of the speakers, then to any convenient AC wall outlet. Extension cords may be used, if necessary, since the AC power requirement of the speaker is extremely small (less than 2.5 watts).

We do not recommend the use of "super cords", as many of these designs eliminate the ground prong of the male plug and therefore do not follow IEC convention standards. If proper plugs are fitted, then the choice is up to you.

Your Martin-Logan speakers have been designed to remain on continuously and should remain connected to a continuous AC power source. As mentioned earlier, power consumption of the MONOLITH III is very small and the life expectancy of its components will not be reduced by continuous operation.

The power cord should not be installed, removed, or left detached from the speaker while the other end is connected to an AC wall outlet.

Your Martin-Logan speakers are wired for the power service supplied in the country of original consumer sale unless manufactured on special order. The AC power rating applicable to a particular unit is specified both on the packing carton and on the serial number plate attached to the speaker.

If you remove your Martin-Logan speakers from the country of original sale, be certain that AC power supplied in any subsequent location is suitable before connecting and operating the speakers. Substantially impaired perform- ance or severe damage may occur to a Martin-Logan speaker if operation is attempted from an incorrect AC power source.

If your home is not equipped with three-prong wall outlets, you may use “cheater” plugs to connect the speakers to AC power. However, please make certain that you connect the grounding wire or tab of the plug to a ground. These may be obtained at your dealer or any hardware department.

Signal Connection

Use the best speaker cables you can! The length and type of speaker cable used in your system will have an audible effect. Under no circumstance should a wire of gauge higher (thinner) than #16 be used. In general, the longer the length used, the greater the necessity of a lower gauge, and the lower the gauge, the better the sound, with dimin- ishing returns setting in around #8 to #12.

A variety of speaker cables are now available whose manufacturers claim better performance than with standard heavy gauge wire. We have verified this in some cases, and the improvements available are often more noticeable than the differences between wires of different gauge.

We would also recommend, if possible, that short runs of speaker cable connect the power amplifier(s) and speak- ers and that high quality long interconnect cables be used to connect the preamplifier and power amplifier. This results in the power amplifiers being close to the speakers, which may be practically or cosmetically difficult, but if the length of the speaker cables can be reduced to a few meters, sonic advantages may be obtained. The effects of cables may be masked if the equipment is not of the highest quality.

Connections are done at the SIGNAL INPUT section on the rear electronics panel of the MONOLITH III. Use spade or banana connectors for optimum contact and ease of installation. Make certain that all your connections are clean, tight and positive.

Be consistent when connecting the speaker cables to the SIGNAL INPUT terminals. Take care to assign the same color cable lead to the (+) terminal on both the left and right channel speakers. If bass is nonexistent and you cannot discern a tight, coherent image, you probably need to reverse the (+) and (-) leads on one speaker to bring the system into proper polarity.

The MONOLITH IIIp INTERFACE provides you with three different methods for connecting the MONOLITH III to your audio system, while the superior MONOLITH IIIx CROSSOVER uses active bi-amplification.

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Monolith III User's Manual