VK-33 WARRANTY REGISTRATION FORM Unit Serial Number: _______________________________________ Customer Name: _______________________________________ Address: _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Date of Purchase: _______________________________________ Purchased From: Dealer Name: _______________________________________ Address: _______________________________________ _______________________________________ IMPORTANT NOTE: 1
In order to receive the full five year product warranty, please mail this completed form together with a copy of your sales receipt to Balanced Audio Technology at the address below, within thirty days of purchase. Failure to do so will result in the product being warrantied for one year from the date of manufacture. 1300 First Stat Blvd.
VK-33 Vacuum Tube Balanced Stereo Preamplifier Owner's Manual 1300 First Stat Blvd.
TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION Package Content Physical Placement Connecting to your system 4 4 5 5 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS VK-33 Power On sequence Turning the VK-33 Off PHASE Button and LED MONO button and LED MUTE button and LED INPUT selection VOLUME knob DISPLAY format FUCTION button DISPLAY Brightness function MUTE function 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 VK-33 PROGRAMMABLE FUNCTIONS 10 Parameter Definitions 11 PROGRAMMING THE VK-33 BALANCE adjustment VOLUME offsets PHASE MONO/STEREO MAXIMUM gain FIXED gain
WARNINGS: To prevent the possibility of serious injury, electrical shock or fire: DO NOT operate with the cover removed. DO NOT expose to rain or moisture. DO NOT defeat the ground power-plug. DO NOT replace fuse with anything other than the same type and rating as supplied by the factory.
PHYSICAL PLACEMENT It is recommended that you provide at least 6" of free space around the unit for proper ventilation. Mount the unit on a hard surface with proper ventilation underneath. Do not stack the VK-33 preamplifier on top of other units, nor vice versa. CONNECTING THE VK-33 TO YOUR SYSTEM Balanced Components Use balanced XLR interconnects. All input and output connectors are clearly marked on the back panel.
VK-33 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS STANDBY Button and LED The Standby button is used to turn the unit ON and OFF and to switch the preamplifier into its Standby mode.
PHASE button and LED This button allows the user to invert the absolute polarity of the signal to compensate for some recordings that are made out-of-phase. The LED indicates whether the unit is in its INVERTING or NONINVERTING mode. This function is also accessible via the VK-R3 remote control. LED OFF Non Inverting operation LED ON Inverting operation MONO Button and LED The Mono button allows the user to switch the VK-33 in Mono operation when the two channels are summed together.
switched into its Balance mode. More on that in the corresponding sections of this manual. The volume control knob on the VK-33 is linked to a digital encoder and is of a continuously rotating type (there are no stops). DISPLAY FORMAT: The VK-33 Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) is capable of showing up to twelve alphanumeric characters. Its format depends on the mode of operation. In the normal PLAY mode the display has the following format: 1. One character indicating the selected input number. 2.
DISPLAY Brightness Function Changing the Display Brightness: The VK-33 display can be dimmed or turned completely OFF by simply pressing the DISPLAY button on your VK-R3 remote control transmitter. Each press will reduce the brightness of display and LED indicators in steps from full ON to OFF, and then one press back to full ON. The LED indicators will dim but never turn completely OFF. With the display OFF, issuing any remote control command that would normally require a display change (i.e.
VK-33 PROGRAMABLE FUNCTIONS The VK-33 programming functions allow the user to optimize the unit configuration for any particular system set up. The flexible programming facility defines each signal input with a group of user-selectable parameters that are then stored in the unit’s memory. Every time a particular input is selected, its unique combination of parameters is loaded into the operating memory.
Parameter Definitions: Every input of the VK-33 is defined with the following set of parameters. 1. Input name (Examples include CD1, DVD1, PH-1, VKD5, or any other combination of up to four characters including the Latin, Cyrillic and Greek alphabet as well as digits) 2. Balance adjustment – gain shifted Left or Right. 3. Volume offset relative to any other input (to compensate for gross differences in various sources levels) 4. Phase: Inverting, Non-inverting or Last configuration 5.
Exiting the programming mode by pressing and holding the Function button will store this adjustment for the selected input. The BALANCE adjustment for each selected input is also stored when switching to another input while still in the BALANCE programming mode. RELATIVE Volume adjustment. It is quite common to have sources with very different output levels connected to a preamplifier. In this case, switching between different inputs is usually accomplished by a large change in volume.
Alternatively, the volume offset number can be entered directly, based on your judgement of volume difference between the two sources. To do that, select the input, enter the VOLUME programming mode by pressing the Function button twice, and use the volume knob to set the volume offset number that you deem desirable. Then exit the programming mode by pressing and holding the Function Button .
Enter the MAXIMUM programming mode by pressing the Function button five times. Set the display to any desired number that will now represent the maximum allowable volume setting for the selected input. Exit the programming mode by pressing and holding the Function button . FIXED Gain mode In some systems (some A/V installations, for example) it is desirable to set a particular input to a fixed gain, that is then becomes unaffected by the volume knob.
CNTS: Relative volume counts with the range of 000 to 140 DBU: Decibel readings with respect to unity gain (0dB). DBM: Decibel readings with respect to maximum gain (20dB) NOTE: To avoid possible confusion, the SAME display mode setting applies to ALL inputs. It is not possible, for example, to set one input to CNTS and another to DBU. INPUT NAME programming: The VK-33 allows the user to assign any a custom name to any input. Those names may include up to four characters.
Exit the programming mode by pressing and holding the Function button . REMOTE CONTROL FUNCTIONS: The optional VK-R3 remote control that comes with your VK-33 has the following functions: Volume Up and Volume Down control Mute function Fade Down/Fade Up function Input source selection 1 through 5 Phase switch Function switch Display/POWER switch. The following describes these functions. Volume Up and Down These two buttons are programmed with variable speed volume change profiles.
accelerate, allowing for more flexible control when large changes in volume are required. Mute Pressing this button will cause the MUTE function in the VK-33 to toggle between ON and OFF states. The Mute LED on the VK-33 front panel will reflect the status of the Mute circuit. Fade Pressing the FADE button on the VK-R3 remote control will cause the volume to smoothly decay over the period of several seconds. This allows for a gradual reduction in volume, as opposed to the instantaneous MUTE function.
With the VK-33 in its OFF or STANDBY state, simply press the POWER button on the VK-R3 remote control transmitter. Fuse Protection: A blown fuse in the VK-33 is an indication of a serious problem. If a replacement fuse fails as well, no further attempts should be undertaken. Please contact the factory for professional service. The proper fuse ratings are as follows: For 100-120 VAC Units: 2A 250V Slow Blow For 200-240 VAC Units: 1.
4. Press AND HOLD front panel buttons Input #4 and Input #5. 5. WHILE HOLDING the buttons, insert the power cord. 6. Power up the unit normally.
Terms and Conditions Five Year Limited Warranty 1. Limited Warranty Upon receipt of the attached warranty registration form, Balanced Audio Technology warrants the purchased product to be free from manufacturing, materials, and workmanship defects for five years from date of original purchase, excepting vacuum tubes, subject to the following conditions.
