Constellation Audio Virgo Preamplifier - Manual (Page 16)

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Step-by-step operating process
We’ve covered all of the basic controls and indicators of the Virgo. Here’s how you use them to perform the
basic operations of turning the unit on, selecting a source, adjusting the sound, and turning the unit off.
STEP 1: To turn on the Virgo from the front panel, push the Power button in the middle under the LCD
touchscreen. Alternatively, you may push the Power button on the remote.
Whichever way you turn on the power, you will hear the Virgo’s internal relays click as the unit goes into warm-
up mode. In a few seconds, the front touchscreen will illuminate and the blue LED on the front of the power
supply will come on. The most recently used input will be selected.. If you wish to let the unit warm up for a
while before listening, hit the Power button (on the front panel or remote) again to enter Standby mode. The
Standby screen will appear on the LCD and the audio will be silenced until you push the Power button once
more.
NOTE: While the Virgo will work quite well immediately upon power-up, the light-dependent resistors used in its
volume control become most linear after 8 hours of continuous operation. In the first 15 to 30 minutes, you
may notice a slight left-to-right imbalance, which can be temporarily corrected using the balance control. We
recommend leaving the Virgo on all the time for optimum performance.
STEP 2: To change to a different input from the front panel, press the button under the Home icon. This will
bring up the input select screen. Push an onscreen button (XLR-1, RCA-1, etc.) to select the input you want. The
screen for that input will appear. Alternatively, you can scroll through the available inputs using the Input
button(s) on either of the remotes. Enable playback on the chosen source device.
STEP 3: Adjust listening volume with the volume knob on the front of the unit or the volume up/down buttons
on the remote. Note that the control is calibrated in negative decibels (-dB), reaching maximum volume at 0.0
dB and minimum at -99.0 dB. Thus, when you turn the volume up (clockwise), the number on the front display
will decrease. When you turn the volume down (counterclockwise), the number will increase.
STEP 4: To adjust left-to-right balance, turn the balance knob. Counterclockwise shifts the balance to the left,
clockwise shifts it to the right. The onscreen indicator will show you the balance setting in 0.1 dB increments.
STEP 5: You may wish to set a maximum output level to prevent damage to your speakers if the level is
accidentally turned up to high, and a minimum output level so that the preamp always delivers an audible
volume. To do this, adjust the Virgo’s volume to the desired minimum or maximum level. Push the
multifunction button labeled Setup. Press either the Set Min or Set Max button, depending on which function
you want. Hit Apply to accept the setting, or Cancel to return to the original setting. To clear the setting, press
either CLR Min or CLR Max as appropriate, or press Default to clear both settings.
STEP 6: If you want to use the Virgo in a home theater system, in conjunction with a surround-sound processor,
you should set up one input for home theater bypass. When you switch to this input, volume and balance will
be at fixed settings and your channel balance adjustments in the surround processor will be preserved. To do
this, first select the input you want to use for this function. Now adjust the volume on the Virgo to the desired
level. Push the multifunction button labeled Setup. Push the Set Min button, then the Set Max button, then the
Apply button. To clear these settings, press CLR Min then CLR Max, or press Default
STEP 7: To turn the system off, stop playback on the source device. Hold the Power button in the middle under
the LCD touchscreen or on the remote down for 5 seconds. The unit will enter cool-down mode for 10 seconds,
during which no buttons will work. After cool-down mode finishes, you can turn the unit back on again as
described in Step 1 above.