Harman Kardon CIT22 Owners Manual - Page 7

6

The

following

is

a

short

explanation

of

the

operating

con-

trols

and

features

on

the

front

and

back

of

your

Citation

Series

Power

Amplifier.

Rant

Featureg-

:5

Beginning

on

the

far

left

hand

side

is

the

Power

Switch.

Always

turn

on

the

rest

of

your

system

FIRST,

since

other

components

in

the

signal

chain

often

produce

turn

-on

transients,

loud

THUMP's

which

can

cause

potential

damage

to

your

speakers

(and

ears).

Conversely,

when

turning

off

the

system,

shut

down

your

Citation

Power

Amplifier

first.

Next

are

two

Operating

Mode

lights.

The

High

Current

light

will

remain

on

at

all

times

during

operation

of

the

ampli-

fier

in

either

8

-ohm

or 4

-ohm

modes

and

also

serves

the

purpose

of

a

"power

on"

indicator

light.

The

High

Voltage

indicator

will

light

if

you

have

switched

your

amplifier

to

the

8-

ohm

mode.

(More

on

this

subject

farther

on

in

this

manual).

The

Remote

Standby

light

is

for

use

with

future

remote

con-

trolled

Citation

preamplifiers.

This

feature

is

not

found

on

Citation

24

Power

Amplifiers

sold

in

North

America.

The

next

indicator

is

extremely

important.

Should

your

Citation

Power

Amplifier

experience

thermal

overload,

or

if

a

short

circuit

develops

in

your

speakers

or

their

cables,

the

Citation

22/24

will

mute

sound

output

while

activat-

ing

internal

protection

circuits.

At

this

time

the

Protect

indicator

will

light.

If

the

amplifier

has

overheated,

the

Protect

light

will

remain

on

until

the

unit

cools

down.

This

usually

takes

several

minutes,

depending

on

the

amount

of

ventilation

and

environmental

temperature.

If

the

Protect

light

turns

on

while

the

amplifier

is

cooling

down,

check

for

a

short

circuit,

beginning

at

the

speaker

terminals

on

the

back

of

the

amplifier,

and

proceeding

through

the

speaker

cables

and

finally

the

speakers

them-

selves.

In

the

rare

event

the

Protect

indicator

stays

on

even

when

the

amplifier

is

cool

and

your

speaker

cables

have

completely

been

removed,

there

is

an

internal

prob-

lem

within

the

power

amplifier

and

you

should

consult

your

Harman

Kardon

dealer.

The

Citation

22

employs

a

double

display

of

9

LED's

to

indicate

Power

Output.

These

consist

of

8

lights

calibrated

linearly

in

dB

from

-50

to

OdB,

and

logarithmically

for

output

wattage.

There

are

two

such

scales

printed

on

the

face

of

the

power

amplifier,

one

each

for

stereo

and

bridged

-mono

output.

Each

channel

also

has

a

ninth

LED

marked

Voltage

Over-

load.

A

sort

of

"red

line"

indicator,

these

react

when

the

amplifier

is

entering

a

clipping

condition

where

it

cannot

complete

the

musical

waveform

demanded

of

it.

From

a

purely

sonic

standpoint,

you

should

avoid

driving

the

amplifier

so

hard

that

this

occurs.

Realistically,

you

may

allow

the

indicators

to

occasionally

light

on

momentary

peak

passages

without

consequences.

However,

if

the

Voltage

Overload

LED's

are

lighting

constantly,

you

are

courting

thermal

overload

and

the

Citation

Power

Ampli-

fier's

protection

circuits

will

activate

at

some

point.

The

entire

9

-LED

power

output

display

is

controlled

by

the

On/Off

button.

Whether

or

not

you

choose

to

use

the

Citations

display

depends

largely

on

your

own

taste

and

how

hard

you

drive

the

amplifier.

If

you

play

your

music

loud

and/or

have

relatively

inefficient

speakers

which

demand

large

amounts

of

power,

you

should

leave

the

dis-

play

on

to

monitor

potential

clipping.

If

you

operate

the

Citation

22

at

lower

levels,

and

feel

that

the

"dancing"

lights

are

a

distraction,

you

may

leave

the

display

off.

The

final

button

is

used

in

conjunction

with

the

4

-ohm/

8

-ohm

switch

on

the

back

of

the

amplifier

to

match

the

display

to

the

impedance

of

the

speakers

used.

It

remains

"out"

if

you

are

using

8

-ohm

speakers,

or

is

pushed

"in'

for

4

-ohm

speakers

or

8

-ohm

mono

operation.

Harman Kardon CIT22 Owners Manual - Page 7

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