HECO BellaDonna High-End Two-Way Loudspeaker Owner’s Manual

OWNER’S MANUAL

At the end of the product’s useful life, please dispose of it at appropriate collection points provided in your country.

Dear HECO Customer,
Congratulations on your fine new loudspeakers and thank you very much for choosing HECO! You have made an excellent choice. The high-quality speakers produced by  HECO are renowned all over the world.
Please study the instructions and information below carefully before using your new loudspeakers.

SET-UP INFORMATION

BellaDonna should if possible be set up without obstruction and slightly inclined towards the place of listening (fig.1). In the ideal configuration, the speakers and the listening position should form an equilateral triangle.
When the left and right speakers are the same distance from the listening position their sound arrives at the same time, resulting in harmonious, natural music reproduction.
There should be a clear line of sight between the loudspeakers and the listening position. Any sound-absorbing or reflecting obstacles in the path will distort the sound.
For the set-up, we recommend the optional BellaDonna speaker stand. This has been specially developed for the BellaDonna loudspeakers. This sturdy stand provides a secure base and optimal setup height for the speakers. For installation, please refer to the assembly instructions enclosed with this product.
If you would like to use an alternative speaker stand, please make sure it is stable and suitable for the size and weight of the speaker.
If you use the speaker without a stand, e.g. on a sideboard, the tweeters should be more or less at ear level. If possible, the distance to the side and rear should not be less than  20 cm from walls and objects. This avoids excessive bass reproduction.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT CONNECTING YOUR HECO BELLADONNA LOUDSPEAKERS

Please always use a good-quality loudspeaker connection cable from an audio dealer. To prevent impairment of sound quality, we recommend cables with cross-sections of at least 2.5 mm² for lengths up to 3 m and at least 4 mm² for lengths above 3 m.
Always turn off the amplifier or receiver before connecting or disconnecting loudspeaker cables. Place the loudspeakers in their planned positions and cut the cables to the right length. The cables for both channels should always be exactly the same length.
Strip 10 – 15 mm of insulation from the ends of the cables. Twist the ends – this is much better than tinning them with solder – insert them in the terminals and tighten the terminal screws firmly. (Fig. 2)
For good sound, it is imperative that the cables must be connected in such a way that the speakers are “in phase”. This means that the black negative terminals on the speakers  (-) must be connected to the negative (-) terminals on the amplifier, the red positive (+) speaker terminals to the positive (+) amplifier terminals. To make this easier one wire of most speaker cables is marked with a colored stripe or a ridge in the insulation.
Before switching on the system double-check all your connections and make sure that the terminal screws are tight and that there are no short circuits caused by stray wire filaments – this could cause serious damage to your amplifier!
You can, of course, also use cables with banana plugs (4mm) or cable lugs.

**CONNECTOR PANEL ON THE HECO BELLADONNA LOUDSPEAKERS / BI-WIRING AND

BI-AMPING**

The connector panels on the BellaDonna speakers are equipped with 5 terminal screws, enabling bi-wiring/bi-amping in addition to the conventional connection to an amplifier.  The upper terminals are connected to the crossover and the lower terminals to the bass side. An additional connector terminal enables a 2dB treble boost option. (Fig. 3B, 4B, B) Bi-wiring means using separate cables to carry the high and low audio frequencies. Bi-amping takes this idea one step further and uses separate power amplifiers as well as separate cables for high and low frequencies. Bi-amping in particular produces an additional improvement in sound reproduction quality.

SINGLE WIRING OPERATION

Please fit the cable bridges provided as shown in Fig. 3A/B. To do this, loosen the respective screw terminal and push the cable lug into the contact surface area. Then re-tighten the terminal screws.
Image A shows the connection for linear high-frequency reproduction, and Image B for high-frequency reproduction increased by 2dB.
The speaker cable from the amplifier should always be connected to the lower pair of terminals!

BI-WIRING/BI-AMPING OPERATION

The cable bridges provided are not required. The connection to the amplifier(s) is shown in Fig. 4A/B and 5A/B.
The appropriate setting depends on the listening space, on where the loudspeakers are placed, and naturally on personal taste. In rooms with high absorption (e.g. heavily upholstered furniture and curtains), the +2dB tweeter setting is recommended.

HOW TO AVOID DAMAGE TO YOUR VALUABLE SPEAKERS

All HECO loudspeakers are designed and built for optimum sound reproduction with the tone controls in the central position – i.e. with “linear” amplifier output. Turning up the bass and treble controls too far delivers more power to the woofers and/or tweeters, and at high volumes, this can actually destroy the speaker units!
If the output of your amplifier is significantly higher than the rated power handling capacity of your speakers extremely high volumes can physically destroy your speakers. This doesn’t actually happen often but you should be aware that it is possible.
Weak amplifiers with low output ratings can actually be more dangerous for your speakers at medium volumes because weak amplifiers may overload much faster than powerful ones and this causes measurable and audible distortion, which is extremely dangerous to your loudspeakers.
Always turn the volume down immediately as soon as you hear distortion! If you like listening to loud music make sure that your amplifier can deliver at least as much power as the speakers’ power handling rating.

THE SOUND YOU CAN’T HEAR..

Amplifiers, tuners, and CD players can all produce inaudible high-frequency signals – and this doesn’t only apply to cheap products. If your tweeters fail at low or medium volumes you should have a qualified technician check your system components for dangerous inaudible signals.

MAINTENANCE
The surface is best cleaned with a mild household cleaner. On no account use furniture polish or similar products.

SPECIFICATIONS

BellaDonna

Subject to technical change.

Congratulations! You have made a wise selection in becoming the owner of HECO HiFi equipment. Due to high-quality HECO HiFi products have earned an excellent reputation throughout the western world. And this high-quality standard enables us to grant a 5-years warranty for HECO HiFi products.
The equipment is checked and tested continuously during the entire production process. In case you have problems with your HECO HiFi equipment, kindly observe the following:

1. The guarantee period commences with the purchase of the component and is applicable only to the original owner.

2. During the guarantee period, we will rectify any defects due to faulty material or workmanship by replacing or repairing the defective part at our discretion. Further claims, and in particular those for the price reduction, cancellation of the sale, compensation for damages or subsequential damages, are excluded.

3. Unauthorized tampering with the equipment will invalidate this guarantee.

4. Consult your authorized dealer first, if guarantee service is needed. Should it prove necessary to return the component to the factory, please ensure that
   • the component is packed in the original factory packing in good condition
   • you enclose your receipt as proof of purchase.

5. Excluded from the guarantee are:
   • Illuminates
   • Wear parts
   • Shipping damages, either readily apparent or concealed (claims for such damages must be lodged immediately with the forwarding agent, the railway express office or post office).
   • Scratches in cases, metal components, front panels, etc. (You must notify your dealer directly of such defects within three days of purchase.)
   • Defects caused by incorrect installation or connection, operation errors (see operating instructions), overloading or by an external force.
   • Equipment that has been repaired incorrectly or modified or where the case has been opened by persons other than us.
   • Consequential damages to other equipment.
   • Reimbursement of cools, without our prior consent, when repairing damages by third parties.

Warranty Card

Type…………………………..
Serial-No……………………………..
Name and address of the dealer/stamp…………………….
Customer……………………..
Name………………………..
street…………………………
City……………………
Country……………………
buying date………………………….
No warranty without a receipt!……………………….

Lise-Meitner-Str. 9
D-50259 Pulheim
Germany
el. +49 (0) 2234 / 807 – 0
Fax +49 (0) 2234 / 807 – 399
Internet: http://www.heco-audio.de

References

• German HIFI since 1949 – und immer noch der Zeit voraus

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