Vanatoo Support
Vanatoo Support
Have a question about Vanatoo Speakers? Check out our frequently asked questions below or feel free to reach out to us with our contact form and we'll be sure to get back to you as soon as we can.
FAQs - Transparent One (T1)
The T1 speakers draw less than half a Watt (less than a standard night light), and go into sleep mode after 10 minutes of quiet (i.e. no music being played and the digital connections have been dropped).
As long as the digital connection is active the Transparent One will not go into sleep mode. Due to the nature of the digital inputs, even if the music source is not sending out music or is "quiet", the Transparent One electronics sees that connection as active.
You do not have to use the wire that came with the unit. We do recommend you use either 16 AWG or 14 AWG for best results.
FAQs - Transparent Zero (T0)
The T0 speakers draw less than half a Watt (less than a standard night light), and go into sleep mode after 20 minutes of quiet (i.e. no music being played and the optical connections have been dropped).
As long as the optical connection is active the Transparent Zero will not go into sleep mode. Due to the nature of some optical sources, even if the music source is not sending music it sends "digital silence". When this happens the Transparent Zero electronics sees that connection as active. You can verify that the source is sending "digital silence" by looking at the end of the cable. If you see a red light then the source is sending a signal.
To use the threaded insert on the bottom of the Transparent Zero just remove the rubber plug. You can then use a standard 1/4" x 20 screw (standard camera mount screw) to secure the T0 to any stand or wall mount. Be sure that the 1/4" x 20 screw is long enough to reach the treads on the insert as it is recessed a bit past the bottom surface of the speaker.
Yes, it is possible to use a standard RJ45 network cable as the interconnect cable between the two Transparent Zero speakers. However be sure to use CAT6 cable that uses 23 AWG wire and that the cable is no longer than 20 feet. The only down side to using the RJ45 cable is that of the 8 conductors in the cable, 4 will be used for the tweeter and 4 will be used for the woofer. When you use the RJ50 cable provided by Vanatoo the 10 conductors in the cable will be divided 4 conductors for the tweeter and 6 conductors for the woofer. The extra 2 woofer conductors provide more current carrying capability for the woofer signal.
The remote control batter tray is located on the bottom edge of the remote. First, turn the remote over so the back of the remote is up and push the battery tray locking tab toward the center of the remote. Then while continuing to push the locking tab toward the remote's center pull the tray away from the remote. Make note that the "+" polarity of the battery is facing the back of the remote. Replace the battery with a standard CR2032 battery in the same orientation as the old battery. Then just slide the battery tray back into position.
The Bass and Treble settings can be adjusted using the Vanatoo remote control. To do this you first have to depress the "Enable" key on the remote to enable the Bass and Treble settings. After depressing the "Enable" key you have 15 seconds to adjust either the Bass or Treble using the appropriate keys on the remote. Each time one of the Bass or Treble keys is depressed the 15 second timer is reset and starts counting again so you can make all the adjustments you want consecutively as long as the 15 second timer does not expire. However if it should expire all you have to do is depress the enable key again and you have a new 15 seconds. Please note that you cannot increase/decrease either of the tone controls by holding down the "+" or "-" keys. Each depression of either the "+" or "-" keys will advance or decrease the tone by only one dB. For example, if you want to increase the Bass by 3 dB you will have to first depress the "Enable" key the depress the "Bass +" key and release the "Bass +" key three separate times. This gives you the maximum control over these tone controls.
FAQs - General
Speakers can be divided into two types - passive and active (or powered). Passive speakers are your 'typical' speaker – an enclosure with speaker components only, that you need to connect to a separate amplifier or receiver. Active, or powered, speakers embed the amplifier within the speaker enclosure. Vanatoo speakers have both a passive and an active speaker. An amplifier is embedded in the active speaker to power both. This design is more energy efficient and requires only one power cord, so we felt it was better for home environments than the single channel design, which places separate amplifiers in each speaker, and is a common configuration for studio monitors.
Powered speakers are a more compact solution and setup is simplified because there are fewer boxes, cables, and connections. The powered speaker configuration allows us to include an integrated, state of the art digital signal processor (DSP) that tunes and matches the amplifier with the speaker's performance characteristics for optimized system performance. This method of optimizing is very difficult and costly to do in the classic amplifier/passive speaker model.
The Transparent Series speakers are extremely easy to set up. Just plug your music source into the desired input on the active speaker, connect the speakers together using the provided speaker interconnect cable and plug the active speaker into the wall power. What could be easier than that? Click here for detailed information on how to connect various devices.
Yes, you can. The very best sound will always come from having the speakers evenly spaced at ear-height and several feet away from sound reflecting surfaces. Speaker stands are ideal for this purpose. We realize that most people will want to tuck the speakers away on a shelf, table, etc. You do need to leave an inch or two behind the speakers for the connections and for the passive radiator to have some room. Depending on where the speakers are placed, you may want to adjust the bass and treble controls for the best sound in the chosen location. This will usually mean turning the bass down and/or the treble up. Put them where you want, and adjust them accordingly!
The simplest approach is to plug the device's headphone jack output into the active speaker's analog input. If you can connect a set of headphones to the device, you can connect just as simply to the Transparent Series speakers.
Yes, you can stream your music to our speakers using various wireless formats by connecting the appropriate wireless device (e.g. Apple Airport Express, AppleTV®, Bluetooth, Chromecast Audio or DNLA device, etc) to the active speaker. Make sure the device has an analog, Coax, Optical Toslink, or USB audio output. Note that the newest entries in the Vanatoo Transparent Series speakers have the Bluetooth receiver already embedded.
We spent a good deal of time considering whether to embed a specific wireless technology into our speakers. For our newest designs we decided to embed Bluetooth as it is the most prevalent wireless technology used. However, if Bluetooth isn't your cup of tea, our flexible design allows you to use virtually any wireless technology you wish simply by connecting the wireless receiver of your choice to one of the Transparent Series' many inputs.
The Transparent Series speakers have a number of input options - analog, audio USB, optical TOSLINK®, Bluetooth (some models only) or Coax (some models only)- which allow you to connect to a wide variety of devices and audio networks, such as those from Sonos or Chromecast Audio. You can view various connection possibilities here.
Yes, but be aware that all TVs are different and have different ways to connect to external speakers. Some speakers have an analog output that can be set as variable. For those TVs connection is simple as you will be able to control the volume using your TV's remote. Other TVs have analog outputs that are not variable. For those TVs it is best to use the Transparent Series speakers that come with a remote so you can control the volume using the Vanatoo remote control. Still other TVs only have optical outputs. It is best to pair those TVs with the newer Transparent Series speakers that have a remote. But be sure to go into the TV's menu and set the TV's Optical output to PCM only as the Transparent Series speakers cannot decode 5.1 audio.
All of this probably seems like a lot of work, but it is very much worth it as the audio in today's TVs is poor at best and a set of Transparent Series speakers will be a tremendous improvement. If you find this setup process too confusing just email us at support@vanatoo.com and send us the make and model of your TV. We can usually look up the online owners guide for the TV and give you instructions how to complete the setup.
Yes, although the Transparent Series speakers were specifically designed to produce rich, full, satisfying bass without the need for a subwoofer, we do provide a subwoofer out connection with a fixed crossover frequency of 125 Hz (which can be modified to 80 Hz in some models). Set your subwoofer to the maximum crossover point and the Transparent Series electronics will automatically set the crossover between the speakers and the subwoofer. All you need to do is set the subwoofer volume.
Yes, if your receiver has preamp outputs. Connect the preamp outputs directly to the analog connection on the Transparent Series active speaker. In most cases this is done using the 3.5mm to RCA cable provided with your Transparent Series speakers. DO NOT connect your receiver's speaker outputs to the active speaker directly (the outputs used to connect to a set of passive speakers). This could damage either your receiver or the Transparent Series electronics.
Yes, just connect the output of the turn table into a phono preamp that has the required RIAA filter incorporated. The output of the preamp would then be connected to the active speaker's analog input. If your turn table has a built in phono preamp then all you need to do is connect the phono preamp's analog output to the active speaker's analog input.
Our ClearBass™ technology reproduces the lowest possible true bass from a very small enclosure.
ClearBass technology is Vantoo's unique design which uses a combination of a patented XBL woofer, a custom passive radiator, and digital signal processing filters to achieve very low, clean bass from a small speaker enclosure.
One of the great joys in listening to music is when it sounds so real, you feel you could reach out and touch the artists. Stereo imaging is what makes this possible, and in order to create true stereo imaging, speakers need their space. Why? Audio engineers use stereo imaging to give the music spatial location and depth, so that it "comes alive" in your living room. If the lead guitarist of your favorite rock band stands on the left side of the stage, the audio engineer will mix the audio so that we hear the lead guitar from the left speaker a little louder and a split second before we hear it from the right speaker. Most experts agree the optimal distance between the right and left speakers should be about the same as the distance from either speaker to the listener (i.e. listener and speakers form the 3 points of an equilateral triangle). So if speakers in a single enclosure are separated by 18 inches or so, the optimum listening distance is an intimate 16 inches. A few feet further, and most of the imaging and depth are lost. So to enable proper stereo imaging for all sizes of listening environment, we needed to separate the speakers more than is possible in a single box configuration.
Each day more and more of our music is moved into the digital domain. As such we have designed the Transparent Series speakers to accommodate your digital music as much as possible from the digital inputs (optical, USB, Bluetooth and coax) to the digital signal processor on to the Class D amplifier. With this design, your digital music can be sent to the Transparent Series speakers directly from your digital music source, conditioned through the DSP, then amplified by the Class D amplifier never leaving the digital domain until the point it is sent to the speaker drivers themselves. Not only that, but we have designed the Transparent Series electronics to handle high definition digital music up to 96,000 samples per second and 24 bits wide, which is roughly 3.26 times higher resolution than a standard CD. We feel the advantages to this digital centric design is that it is more cost effective, repeatable, lower power consumption, and, via the DSP, provides a means to better match the amplifier to the speaker than could be achievable cost effectively in an analog only system. And in case you were wondering, the first thing the Transparent Series electronics does when it receives an analog input is convert it to high resolution digital.
Affordable audiophile quality is a key feature of our speakers and wireless technology would have significantly increased the price. While a big appeal of wireless is the desire not to see speaker wire, each speaker would still require its own power cord, which can offset this visual appeal.
The Transparent Series speakers will automatically go into the sleep mode after a set time period of no input. If you are seeing this happen when playing your music at a very low volume level on the analog input, slightly turn up the volume on your music source and slightly turn down the volume knob on the active speaker.
The XBL technology is a patented technology which eliminates some of the non-linear properties experienced in the classic woofer design. What that means to you is that a woofer which is designed with the XBL technology will reproduce its full frequency spectrum with much less distortion. Less distortion = truer reproduction of the music.
There are a number of design parameters that are critical to the design of a good pair of speakers. One of the most critical parameters is how the speaker responds to every frequency of audio from its lowest frequency to its highest frequency. Put another way, you wouldn't want a set of speakers that played the mid-range frequencies three times as loud as the low and high frequencies. As such, most speaker developers strive to design their speakers to output a relative flat frequency response with no frequency greatly emphasized nor greatly diminished. This is where the DSP comes in. Since we "marry" the amplifier to the speakers we can we can use the DSP to adjust out any bad habits the woofer or the tweeter may have native to their makeup. As such, the Transparent Series speakers are extremely flat over their frequency range.
We wanted a nicely finished speaker that was visually versatile enough to fit in with a variety of home décor, so we dressed them up. For those who prefer the "no grill" look found on studio monitors, or want the flattest frequency response possible, our grills are easy to remove. While we agree with audio engineers that grills do change the speaker's performance slightly, we have designed the Transparent Series grills to minimize those performance changes as much as possible.
Actually the Transparent Series speaker design did start out to be a ported system. However we ran into two difficulties. The first minor problem was that when playing very low frequencies we could hear port noise, or what is sometimes called "chuffing" from the air moving in and out of the port. There are a number of good port designs out there that can greatly reduce this effect with different port topologies but at some point it is always there even if it is just a little. The second problem was that in order to make the speakers the size we wanted and still play down to the legitimate low frequencies we wanted, the required port would be too large. The laws of physics wouldn't allow it. However, we found we could fit a correctly sized passive radiator in the small enclosure and produce the low frequencies we were looking for, so the passive radiator design won out.
No, all of the Transparent Series speakers have the ability to designate which side the active speaker is on as viewed from the front. You can put the active speaker on whichever side of the room is most convenient for you and still hear the music as left/right correct.
Yes, but it is your responsibility to select a mount that is rated for the wight of the speakers and secure the speakers safely to the mount. Do note that when a speaker is placed very close to a wall, it creates a boundary reinforcement, which means the wall has the effect of slightly amplifying the bass. If you need to mount the speakers close to a wall, we recommend you turn down the bass slightly (using the bass control on the back of the active speaker). Remember to allow for some space for the control and inputs.
When the Transparent Series detects that the music on the currently selected input has stopped, it scans the other inputs to see if there is another signal to start playing. In the case of the analog input, the electronics waits for 7 seconds (15 seconds for some models) of silence before searching any of the digital inputs to account for the inter-track quiet time so that we don't falsely switch away from the analog input before the start of the next track.