I would like to personally thank you for your purchase of the Wells Audio Dragon tube hybrid headphone amplifier. We know that you have many choices when it comes to your personal electronics and we deeply appreciate your choice of a Wells Audio product.

Please read the instructions carefully and completely before attempting to operate the unit. We recommend that you save this manual and the original packaging for future use.

WARRANTY

Please refer to the warranty page a full explanation of the warranty.

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND SAFETY INFORMATION 

WARNING! To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture.

CAUTION: To prevent electric shock do not use this polarized AC plug with an extension cord, receptacle or other outlet unless the blades can be fully inserted to prevent blade exposure. To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock do not remove cover. Please refer to an authorized dealer or to Wells Audio for qualified service personnel only.

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product's enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of an electric shock to persons.

This symbol is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the unit.

UNPACKING

The packaging for the Dragon headphone amplifier is simple, elegant and effective in protecting the Dragon during shipping. To remove the amplifier from it's packing, simply open the box, remove the Dragon its foam end caps, and set it on a firm, flat, stabile surface, and then remove the foam end caps. At this point we recommend that you check the Dragon carefully for any damage that may have occurred during shipping. Contact Wells Audio immediately if any damage is found.

It is important to keep all of the original custom packaging materials for any future need you might have to ship the Dragon. Shipping the Dragon headphone amplifier in any packaging other than the original packaging materials could result in voiding of the warranty repair coverage. The Dragon is shipped with the tubes installed. This is done to further attempt to avoid damage occurring during shipping.

SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

The unit should be connected to an AC power source of the correctly rated voltage. Never remove or modify the grounding feature of the connected AC power cord. Never expose the AC cord to excess heat or flame. The AC cord should fit firmly and securely into the chosen AC receptacle.

The unit should not be operated near water. If the unit is exposed to liquids serious damage can occur. Immediately shut the unit off and disconnect from the power source.

Make certain that the unit has proper ventilation during operation. Never block the slots located at the top of the unit and do not place the unit in a confined space during operation. These actions may result in damage to the unit due to overheating.

Never operate the unit with the cover off. Do not touch any internal parts. Damage to the unit may occur and serious injury or death may also result.

PROPER CARE

Do not use any cleaning products on your Wells Audio product. Instead, use a clean, non-abrasive cloth with clear water. A proper break-in period is necessary before the unit will sound it's best. This allows for the establishment of of the cleanest conducting pathways and for the internal components of the unit to stabilize at their proper operating parameters. This is accomplished by simply playing music through the unit for a period of about 800 hours. This break in period is due to the necessary but extremely long break in period for the very high performance capacitors used in the Looking Glass II design.

DESCRIPTION

This manual shall serve as the operation manual for the Dragon headphone amplifiers. The Dragon models are an unbalanced tube circuit design using 2 12BH7 tubes or 2 6DJ8 tubes (or equivilents). The Dragon is a revolutionary new design employing a number of remarkable technical highlights which are described in further detail in the Dragon page of the website.

FRONT PANEL

From left to right the 4 pin balanced XLR output is the first feature. This is a 4 pin stereo balanced connector for outputting the music signal to the headphones. It is important to note that the Dragon headphone amplifier is not a balanced design. This connector is made available for convenience for those customers who choose to use an existing 4 pin headphone cable. Next feature is the centrally located volume knob. This is to adjust volume output up and down. On the far right is the 6.3mm unbalanced output stereo plug. This is an unbalanced stereo output for transmission of the music signal to the headphones. Directly below this plug is the blue LED that illuminates when the Dragon is powered up. It will blink for approximately 70 seconds while the soft start circuit is slowly allowing for the amplifier to come up to operating temperature. The signal is muted during this period. When the blinking stops the amplifier is ready for operation.

POWER

The power switch is a round rocker style switch located on the top panel. Switching the switch on will power the amplifier on. You should see a blinking blue LED on the faceplate if the amplifier is successfully powering on. The LED will blink for approximately 70 seconds for a soft start period and a solid blue illumination indicates that the Dragon is ready for operation.

BACK PANEL

While facing the rear panel of the Dragon all features have been clearly labelled. Located in the center are the right and left channel RCA input connectors. These are to be used for unbalanced operation with unbalanced interconnects terminated with RCA connectors. Travelling outward the next features are the 3 pin XLR balanced connectors. The Dragon is not a balanced design but the XLR connectors will operate in an unbalanced circuit. These connectors are provided for the convenience of customers who currently use XLR interconnects in their system. Finally to the far right is the IEC connection for connection to mains power.. This allows for the connection of a detachable power cord to the Dragon. This IEC has a fused element within it and takes a 3 amp 5mm x 20mm fast blow fuse.

top panel

Located on the top panel are a number of access holes to switching for gain and, tube switching and different grounding schemes. Located below and on top of these access ports are the legends for using each particular switch. Located closest to the front of the Dragon in the center of the top panel is the access port for the different grounding choices. Position 1 as labelled is a capacitor in line with the circuit ground. Position 2 is a resistor in line with the ground circuit, position 3 is a straight connection to ground and position 4 is a combination of capacitor and resistor in then ground circuit. There is no right answer. Try all four to determine which one sounds better in your particular setup. To the direct right and left of the ground switch are the switches for switching between the 12bh7 and 6dj8 tubes. the labelled choices should be self explanatory. .Above the tube switching ports on the left and right side is the access to the switches changing the amplifier gain. Gain can be set by the switches from left to right for 0db, 6db, 12db, and 24db of gain per channel (this is with the 12bh7 tubes. With 6dj8 tubes each setting is 3 db higher). To switch tubes the large toggle switch located front right must be set to the desired tube choice. The toggle switch is a locking switch and must be pulled up to unlock and set back down to lock once the tube choice is selected. This allows the Dragon to operate optimally with a wide variety of headphone loads. From the most efficient to the most difficult headphone loads the Dragon can operate at your most comfortable level by manipulating these switches. The printed legend next to each access port will guide you to the correct switch settings.

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