Manley Stingray iTube - Manual (Page 5)

Connecting Your Stingray iTube
Setting up this integrated amplifier is rather easy. Please refer to pages 8 & 9 for pictures of the back and sides of
the Stingray iTube.
1. You will be connecting power last and turning the system on after all other connections are made to prevent
ugly noises as wires are connected and to prevent possible damage to the amps and speakers. In general, it is
best to make any connections with the power off, the unit in “Standby” mode, or the volume control turned all
the way down. With all tube amps, you MUST have speakers (or a load box) properly connected to the speaker
terminals before power is turned on. Without a speaker, the voltage swings can be large enough to possibly cause
an electrical arc inside a tube, tube socket or transformer and this may damage the amp. Solid state amps operate
with no speaker connected but generally don’t tolerate a short circuit. Most tube amps will tolerate a short, but
we try to avoid this.
2. Before plugging in your interconnects, take a quick visual inspection of the tubes. Sometimes either through
shipping or unpacking things get jostled. Make sure all tubes are firmly in their sockets and standing straight up.
You might also verify that none have turned white inside. That indicates that air has leaked inside the tube (or the
vacuum leaked out!). Though it is rare, a tube is sometimes cracked or broken in shipping. It would need to be
replaced before powering up the amp.
3. On a rectangular chassis it is easy to specify front, back, sides etc - but on the 6 sided Stingray iTube we
should adopt a convention and refer to the sides that have the RCA inputs as Left-Back and Right-Back. We pro-
vide 3 left inputs on the Left-Back, 3 right inputs on the Right-Back, and an iPod interface on the top of the unit.
Plug in your interconnects, one at a time, from each source (i.e. CD, Tuner, AUX, etc.) then connect each input
to the appropriate RCA jack on the Stingray iTube. All RCA jacks are clearly labled as 1, 2, and 3. Each input is
for all intents functionally and electronically the same - only the labels are different. You may have to separate
or split interconnects an extra 12 inches if they are the “paired” type or slide the loop that holds the pair together.
If you need to connect a turntable (vinyl!) you will need a separate phono preamp to raise the level from the tiny
signal from the cartridge to regular line levels. Manley builds these, as do some other manufacturers. The final
interconnect available is the iPod interface, which will play your music from any iPod on the market at the date
of this manual’s publication.
5. Connect the speaker leads to the terminals on the far left and far right corners of the Stingray iTube. Be sure
that the RED (+) terminal is connected to the RED (+) wire and the WHITE (-) terminal connects to the WHITE
(-) wire. This color scheme may vary as to which color represents (-), but it is generally either black or white.
Connect the opposite ends to the speakers also RED to RED and WHITE to WHITE. This insures that your
speakers will be “in-phase”. All too often people accidently connect their speakers out-of-phase and lose most
of the lows. We have even seen this happen in “unthinkable” situations, most notably at hi-fi trade shows and
in record company executive offices. There is always some indication on the wire to help get “polarity” right
but it may be as subtle as a “ridge” on the insulation or different colored conductors. Most high quality speaker
interconnects are clearly labeled and/or color coded. Be sure that these connections are firm and solid. We do not
recommend using pliers or a wrench to tighten the terminals because one can easily overtighten or mar the finish
of the bolts. Good finger tightening is usually the best.
6. Before proceeding to the next step (power!) check that the On/Off switch on the back of the unit is in the
“Off” position. Now connect the IEC power cable to the back of the Stingray iTube and the other end to your
mains wall socket, or to your Power Supply Regulator if you have one.
7. Turn on the On/Off switch, and you will see a mini light-show on the front panel knobs. This will put the unit
into “Standby” mode. If you then press the “Standby” button (now glowing blue) on the front panel, it will initi-
ate a 10-second warmup/mute period and the “Standby” button light will begin to pulse. You should be seeing
the tubes begin to glow a bit. None should turn bright red - that would indicate a problem. After 10 seconds, the
unit will power on completely and the front-panel LEDs will stop pulsing and remain lit.
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