Vote

Mesa Engineering's manual for the Tigris integrated amp had 23 pages of great info. I didn't buy the amp but I kept the manual (PDF download from their site).

The manual for my Nordost cable. I understood everything, and it took me a full minute to read it.

Selling hi-fi I get to read a fair amount of manuals whether it's curiosity about a new product, setting up a product, or for personal use. The most interesting manual I've read and actually enjoyed to the very last page is any manual that comes with a pair of MartinLogan speakers. Great job guys! good pointers on speaker placement and cables, not to mention the great documentary of the electrostatics speakers and the history of electrostatics and the role they played in MartinLogan's research.

NAD 3155 amplifier and NAD 4155 tuner: Thorough, clear, relevant. Excellent language.

I have a ton of audio equipment and find most manuals rather thin and uninformative or thick as a brick and full of confusing information that just does'nt add up. The last few days I made a custom sub and used a car audio driver (Orion XTR 10") and a Soundstream Granite 110.2 amplifier. The Soundstream manual is second to none I've read. It tells all about the amps' specifications and a host of different hook-ups. It even goes into construction of 6 and 12db cross-overs. And more. So far this manual is my vote.

Manuals take the fun out of everything! You've got to figure it out yourself if you want to be satisfied =D.

Any Mitsubishi Video Product

By far, the best manuals I have come across are Madrigal's Mark Levinson. They are very well presented and explain all of the functions of their equipment, from linking up the communications ports to assigning devices to each input, whether DAC or preamp. A honorable mention would go to Bryston, just because of the final test specs they package with each amplifier. It was nice to see that the amplifiers I bought rated at 500W at 8ohms actually put out 640W at 8ohms before clipping. It brings a tear to my eye.

Apt Holman Preamplifier

Toshiba 3006 DVD player Audible Illusions M3A Sonus Faber speakers

THE APT HOLMAN PREAMPLIFIER THAT I BOUGHT IN N.Y.CITY ON 1979

My first Krell amp manual, because it was extrememly short and to the point—AND it ended with the word "enjoy." I have never encountered the concept of a company using a term such as this in a manual, but they should. It came as a shock to see because it immediately told my mind that someone actually considered the end concept or purpose of this electronic device. By using the term "enjoy," they were inviting me to acknowledge the point of it all: the ineffible pleasure of music.

The ones that provide me a detailed picture of the back pannel. And F#%* the ones that don't.

The Joy of Sex&3151;it had plain, explicit language and clear graphics. I was up and running in minutes!

Late '60s to mid '70s Hewlett Packard computers, calculators and equipment manuals. They are not audio component manuals, of course, but still an example of how manuals should be written. It's something of a lost art now.

The assembly and operation manuals that Dynaco and Hafler provided with their kits are among the best manuals I've ever seen. Having schematics and circuit descriptions makes it easier to keep these older components working almost forever.

Pass Labs Aleph 3. Discussed the design philosophy intelligently and with good humor.

Components are becoming so sophisticated—yet so unintuitive—that reading a well written manual is almost obligatory. One of the best I've referred to recently is a JVC RX-884VBK Audio/Video Control Receiver home theater manual. This one is comprehensive yet easy to comprehend. It also came with an easy set up diagram best described as a poster. Hard to go wrong with documentation like this.

I've bought hi-fi equipment that was imported from Japan, Italy, and Germany. I couldn't read the manuals even if I wanted too. Mr. Susumu Sakuma makes great electronics, but I can't understand anything he's written or said.

I haven't seen a well-written manual, especially for high end equiment for the past 15 years. The sad part is 99% of high end electronics manufacturer focus on the design itself but fall short of creating a well-written manual. I believe that a well designed piece of equipment should always come with a well-written user manual.

I would respectfully say that the weekly vote topics are becoming more and more insipid.

Good manuals are a reaffirmation our your purchase. My Z-Systems RP-1 manual was a real page turner.

The Anthem AVM2 manual. The web site is excellent as well. These Canadian guys know what they are doing.

All of Roger Sanders Innersound manuals. Well written, explain everything--even tell you about where to put the speakers. And, if you call Innersound, he actually speaks to you.

Martin-Logan Loudspeakers Sim-Auido Moon I-5

Martin Logan speaker

Martin Logan gets my vote for their manual on setting up ReQuest speakers. Lots of good information about positioning although I would have appreciated something on the max torque one could tighten the 5-way binding post nuts... somewhere around 15 ft-lbs I can now attest to.