Owner`s manual

7
Special Design Features of the
Nº32 Reference Preamplifier
controller/preamplifier
architecture
The Nº32 employs an unusual two-chassis design that optimizes the
division of labor within the product. The traditional two-box approach
to preamp design places the power supply in a box by itself, with all
control and audio circuitry in the other box. In the Nº32 Reference
Preamplifier, the audio circuitry has primacy of place with a chassis of
its own, with power supply and control circuitry in a separate chassis.
Thus the display and user controls are effectively isolated from the sen-
sitive audio signals. The only signals entering the chassis that handles
audio signals are the audio signals themselves and extremely pure DC
power.
a note about nomenclature Within this manual, the chassis that contains the power supplies and
user controls will be referred to as the Controller; the chassis that con-
tains the actual audio circuitry will be called the Preamplifier; when the
two-box system is being described, its name will be the Nº32 Reference
Preamplifier. This nomenclature is consistent with the engraved names
on the components themselves.
AC regeneration The foundation upon which any audio component is built is the power
supply. Without an extremely clean, noise-free power supply, no audio
circuit can live up to its potential.
Unfortunately, we live in a world in which the quality of AC mains
power is increasingly in question. The modern conveniences upon
which we have become so dependent introduce line noise, spikes, and
various other irregularities. Everything from refrigerators to televisions
and computers inject their peculiar contaminations back onto the AC
line, making it increasingly difficult for a high performance audio com-
ponent to live up to its potential.
In the Nº32, we solve this problem by becoming our own power utility.
Strange as this sounds, it is effectively true. There are two independent,
unusually high quality power supplies dedicated to the two audio chan-
nels. The DC power from these supplies is then used to power a special
power amplifier that is fully optimized for reproducing only one fre-
quency: 400 Hz. This extremely pure 400 sine wave is then rectified, fil-
tered, and regulated again to create extraordinarily pure DC power for
the use of the critical preamplifier circuits.