Arcam Alpha 9 Handbook

Please refer to drawing inside front cover.
LOUDSPEAKER CONNECTIONS
■ The amplifier is fitted with BFA (British Federation of
Audio) loudspeaker connectors, which are designed to
meet EU safety standards.
The BFA connector will accept spade terminals, bare
wires up to 4mm in diameter or a BFA plug. BFA plugs
are available from your Arcam dealer.
■ The speaker terminals are colour coded red for positive
and black for negative. These terminals are also
labelled 'R' for the right channel speakers and 'L‘ for the
left channel speakers.
©o Connect terminals © to your right speaker and
terminals © to your left speaker, ensuring correct
polarity.
■ Connect the red cable termination to the red terminal
and the other cable termination to the black terminal. If
your speaker cable has bare ends, the positive
conductor can usually be identified by a ridge or
coloured marking.
Ensure that no stray strands are allowed to touch
another cable or the amplifier's casing. This can cause
a short circuit and damage your amplifier!
©.© To drive a second pair of speakers, connect terminals
© to the right speaker and terminals ® to the left
speaker, ensuring correct polarity.
■ The Alpha 9 can drive two pairs of loudspeakers,
simultaneously if required, providing both pairs are rated
between 8 and 16 ohms. Either pair can be selected
using the switches labelled SP1 and SP2 on the front
panel. To avoid overheating, the combined load
impedance as seen by the amplifier should not fall below
4 ohms per channel.
CONNECTING YOUR SOURCE COMPONENTS
■ Using a suitable pair of Interconnect cables, insert the
red phono plugs into the sockets labelled 'R' and the
other phono plugs into the sockets labelled V.
All the line inputs (not PHONO) have the same
sensitivity and may be used with equipment other than
that labelled, if you need to do so.
© PROCESSOR/TAPE 2 RECORD OUT - Connect to your
tape deck's input (RECORD) or to your A/V processor's
Tape or Line inputs.
© PROCESSOR^APE 2 PLAY IN - Connect to your tape
deck’s output (PLAY) or to your AA/ processor’s Tape or
Line outputs.
■ If you have only one tape deck connect it to the TAPE
1 sockets.
® TAPE 1 RECORD OUT - Connect to your tape deck’s
input (RECORD).
® TAPE 1 PLAY IN - Connect to your tape deck's output
(PLAY).
© TUNER - For connecting your radio tuner.
® A/V - Suitable for connecting an Audio-Visual product
such as a VCR, Laserdisc player or Nicam tuner.
® CD - For connecting your CD player or DAC (digital to
analogue convertor).
© AUX - For connecting any unit with a line level output,
eg. tape deck, tuner etc.
■ PHONO OPTION - Please note: The phono inputs are
on a separate plug-in module which your Arcam dealer
or distributor can supply and fit.
This module is compatible with most high output moving
coil and moving magnet cartridges (MM) and low output
moving coil cartridges (MC).
MM or MC is selected via an internal switch. Your
cartridge type should be specified when the module is
fitted.
© MM - For connecting a turntable fitted with a high output
moving coil or a moving magnet (MM) cartridge.
© MC - For connecting a turntable fitted with a low output
moving coil (MC) cartridge.
© GROUND TERMINAL - For connecting your turntable’s
earth lead (if fitted).
OPERATION OF THE ALPHA 9 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
© NORMAL/AA/READY SWITCH - (This switch is found
on the rear panel.)
With the switch set to NORMAL the unit functions as a
standard amplifier. For use with an A/V decoder with its
own volume control, such as the Arcam Xeta 2, set the
switch to '/W READY'. This bypasses the Alpha 9's
volume control when 'PROCESSOR/TAPE 2' input is
selected, to provide a fixed gain stereo amplifier.
The volume control and MUTE cannot be operated by
remote in this situation. \
CAUTION; Do not set the switch to A/V READY if you
have a cassette deck connected to the PROCESSOR/
TAPE 2 input.
This will bypass the volume control when you push the
PROCESSOR/ TAPE 2 button in and send the signal
straight into the power amplifier section. This could give
an extremely high sound output sufficient to damage
your loudspeakers.
® LISTEN SELECTOR - Selects the input you wish to
listen to. This signal also goes to the TAPE 2 output
sockets for recording onto a cassette deck or for
external processing. The selector can also be operated
by remote control. (See Remote Control Functions).

Arcam Alpha 9 Specifications

General

Brand	Arcam
Model	Alpha 9
Category	Amplifier
Language	English