User manual ATLANTIC TECHNOLOGY COMPACT THEATER CTS 1

Owner's Manual Covers Compact Theater One LR Front Channel Speakers, C Center Channel Speaker and SR Surround Speakers System One High Performance Compact Home Theater Loudspeaker System 343 Vanderbilt Avenue Norwood, MA 02062 (781) 762-6300 www.atlantictechnology.com System One High Performance Compact Home Theater Loudspeaker System Thank you for choosing Compact Theater Series home theater products. Your new speaker system is precision crafted to give you years of enjoyable, trouble free service. This manual will show you how to set up all the Compact Theater One System components except the subwoofer. Compact Theater Series Subwoofers are covered in detail in separate manuals. Compact Theater System One has been optimized for use with all surround formats including Dolby Surround®, Dolby Pro-Logic®, Dolby Digital 5.1® and DTS®. Connecting Your System We recommend that you connect your Compact Theater One System with high quality dual conductor stranded wire of 18 gauge or larger, for lengths up to 25 feet. (Remember, the lower the gauge number, the larger the wire). Use 16 gauge dual conductor or larger for longer runs of wire. Contact your audio/ video dealer for specific cable recommendations and further information for special circumstances. Warning: To prevent risk of electrical shock or damage to your equipment, always switch off the amplifier or receiver when making connections to the speaker. You can connect your Compact Theater System speakers by using a variety of audio connectors, or you can: 1. Remove 1/2" of insulation from each wire end. 2. Twist the stranded wire together, keeping the two ends separate. 3. Place the appropriate wire through the appropriate postholes in the connectors. These holes are revealed when you loosen the connector thumbscrew. 4. Screw down the thumbscrew tightly. We recommend that you check your local electrical codes to make sure that you are not using an improper connector. It is important to observe polarity while making speaker connections: red (+) terminals on the amplifier to red (+) on the speaker, black (­) on the amplifier to black (­) on the speaker. Look carefully at the wires you are using and note that one of the conductors of each pair is marked by a different color, printing, ridges, or a thread intertwined with the wire strands. By convention, the marked wire is connected to the red (+) terminal. Warning: Before turning on the amplifier, be certain that no stray wire strands are touching across any two terminals as this might damage your amplifier. Finally, check the polarity of your front speakers by listening to some music. If the sound seems hollow, unusually spread out, or has weak bass, recheck your connections for proper polarity and reverse any out of phase connections, if necessary. Only one speaker wired out of phase is usually the culprit. Compact Theater One LR Front Channel Speaker The Compact Theater One LR Front Channel Speakers are two-way systems intended for use with a quality subwoofer. Each speaker contains a precision 5-1/4" Poly composite woofer and a 3/4" Mylar tweeter, using a powerful neodymium magnet, in an acoustically designed cabinet. The Theater One LR speakers are magnetically shielded so they may be placed right next to a TV set without concern. Compact Theater One C Center Channel Speaker The Compact Theater One C Center Channel Speaker contains a powerful 4" Poly composite cone woofer, 3/4" Mylar tweeter, and a supplemental 4" passive radiator to enhance its output and power capabilities. The Compact Theater One C is designed for use in home theater systems that use a dedicated center channel speaker. The Theater One C center speaker is designed to be used in a horizontal position, as opposed to the vertical positioning intended for the Compact Theater One LR. Compact Theater One SR Surround Speaker The Compact Theater One SR Surround Speaker is intended for use in audio/video sound systems with dedicated surround channel speakers. Each speaker has the same driver compliment as the Compact Theater LR speakers, without magnetic shielding. It's therefore important to use the Compact SR speakers only for surround purposes in home theater applications. Simply check the labels on the rear of the enclosure to be sure which speakers are the LRs and which ones are the SRs. Important: Be sure to identify the surround speakers by checking the label on the rear of the enclosures. Because the SRs are not magnetically shielded, they should not be placed near a television set. Center channel should be within 2' of front speaker tweeter height 2 feet above ear level Left surround speaker Ear level Right surround speaker Surround speaker should be slightly behind and above listening position Placement and Operation Speaker/room interactions have a huge impact on the sound of the system. Moving the speakers just a little bit can make a dramatic difference in what you hear. The compact design of Theater One's components provides you with maximum placement flexibility while creating a large, seamless, acoustically accurate soundfield for your home theater or music system. The best placement of the speakers will vary from room to room. Use the following placement guidelines and the illustration above as a starting point. But also feel free to experiment. In fact, it may be beneficial to hook up the speakers with some extra wire and to simply drape the wire across the floor before installing the speakers permanently. This will allow you the opportunity to move the speakers around easily so you can find the best sonic and visual locations. Note: Some surround sound decoders and receivers offer a choice of "Normal" / Small or "Wide-band / Large" modes for the center channel. The Compact One C is designed to be used in the "Normal / Small" mode. Additionally, some discrete digital home theater systems allow you to select between "Small" and "Large" speakers throughout the system. Since the Compact Theater One system has been designed to work only with an active subwoofer, please set all the speaker positions to "Small." Surround Effects The Compact One SR's size and shape allows greater flexibility in placement than most conventional surround loudspeakers. Due to their monopole design it's preferable to locate the SR Surround speakers behind the prime listening position, at least 2 feet above ear level when seated. The goal is to aim the front of the speakers in such a way that their output is not directed right at the listeners and therefore not easily localizable. For example, placing them on the sides of the room, behind the listening position and aimed across at each other, is a good starting point. Note: The surround speakers are intended to re-create the ambient sounds taking place in the movie scene.Throughout most of a movie or TV program you may not be directly aware of the surround speakers presence. It's OK if you don't seem to be hearing the surround speakers directly.Try to avoid the trap of turning the surrounds up so that you hear them all the time.The result will be a much less believable surround sound experience. Remember that the signal they receive is 99% subtle sounds that should make you believe you're in the action up on the screen. Home Theater Please note that the primary goal of a good home theater is not to make you believe that you are in a movie theater. It's to make you believe you are in the action occurring on the screen. For a home theater system, place your Compact Theater One LR speakers on either side of the television. The three front channel speakers (Compact Theater One LRs and C) are magnetically shielded so they will not interfere with your television picture. The left front and right front speakers should be far enough apart that you get a good stereo image, but not so far apart that the sound seems to come directly from the speakers, distracting you from the picture. You may chose to "toe" the LR speakers in, aiming them at the prime listening position. This can be particularly useful if the front LR speakers are fairly far apart. The Compact One C should be placed directly above or below your television. It is important that the speaker is centered on the screen, not off to the side. Mounting The Compact Theater One LR and SR speakers can be mounted in a variety of ways: On speaker stands Atlantic Technology speaker stands provide an ideal height (29" above the floor) for most rooms. They are available in black or white. Speaker stands from other manufacturers may be used, but should be of approximately the same height (29" to the base of the speaker). Threaded inserts on the backs of the speakers allow for secure mounting on stands designed for these types of connections. On the wall To mount your speakers on a wall, we have installed metal key-hole brackets on the back of the LR and SR speakers. Be sure to use a strong screw whose head and shaft will fit within the keyhole opening and slot. Also be sure to drive the screw well into a stud or use a mounting device (such as a molly-bolt) that is capable of holding the weight of the speaker. Never simply drive a nail or screw into a sheet rock or other wall materials. Always follow the above guidelines for safe speaker mounting. The threaded 1/4" x 20 insert located on the back of the SR and LR enclosures can also be used to mount the speakers to a wall using any commonly available "ball joint" style mount that includes 1/4" x 20 mounting hardware. Be sure to use a mount that will hold the weight of the speaker and follow all the manufacturer's directions concerning appropriate hardware and mounting methods. Important: Save Your Boxes! If you can do so, save the cartons, packing pieces, and plastic bags that came with your speakers.They will be useful in case you move or have to ship your loudspeakers for any reason. In any case, save all packing materials until you are certain that the systems have suffered no damage in shipment. If you find such damage, either visible or internal, contact your dealer immediately for the proper return procedure. Compact Theater System One Specifications Model Type Drivers Frequency Response (±3dB) Nominal Impedance Crossover Frequency Sensitivity Recommended Amplifier Power Magnetic Shielding Size (W x H x D) Weight (ea., unpacked) Model Type Drivers Frequency Response (±3dB) Nominal Impedance Crossover Frequency Sensitivity Recommended Amplifier Power Magnetic Shielding Size (W x H x D) Weight (ea., unpacked) Model Type Drivers Frequency Response (±3dB) Nominal Impedance Crossover Frequency Sensitivity Recommended Amplifier Power Magnetic Shielding Size (W x H x D) Weight (ea., unpacked) System One LR Front Channel Speaker Sealed-box, 2-way 5-1/4" Poly Composite woofer 3/4" Mylar tweeter 85Hz ­ 20kHz 8 4kHz 88dB 10 ­ 100 Watts Yes 6-3/4" x 9-3/4" x 5-5/8" 6.5lbs; 2.94kg System One C Center Channel Speaker 2-way 4" Poly Composite Woofer 4" Poly Composite Passive Radiator 3/4" Mylar Tweeter 100Hz ­ 20kHz 8 3.5kHz 88dB 10 ­ 100 Watts Yes 12-3/8" x 6" x 5-3/4" 7lbs; 3.17kg System One SR Surround Speaker Sealed-box, surround speaker 5-1/4" Poly Composite woofer 3/4" Mylar Tweeter 100Hz ­ 20kHz 8 4kHz 88dB 10 ­ 100 Watts No 6-3/4" x 9-3/4" x 5-5/8" 6.5lbs; 2.94kg IMPORTANT! ­ Listening Levels and Power Handling The power recommendation for these speakers assumes that you will not operate your amplifier/receiver in a way that produces high levels of distortion. A moderately powered amplifier driven beyond its intended capacity can and will damage even rugged speakers like the Compact Theater One system. This type of damage is easily identifiable through examination of the damaged speaker's voice coil and is not covered by the warranty. The Compact Theater One System will play very loudly when provided with enough clean power to do so. Again, consult your dealer or Atlantic Technology for additional information. Care and Feeding of Your Speakers Clean your speaker cabinets using a soft cloth moistened with a mild, non-abrasive glass cleaner being careful not to wet the edges of the cabinet. Also, be careful not to get any cleaning fluids on the driver cones or domes. It may be best to dampen the cloth with the cleaner and then wipe the speakers. Brush the non-removable grilles with a clean soft brush or a lint free cloth to clean them. Do not use a vacuum, as the combination of hard vacuum attachments and suction are likely to cause damage to the drivers. Avoid placing your speakers in direct sunlight or near a source of heat that may, over time, damage the finish. Specifications are those in effect at the time of printing. Atlantic Technology reserves the right to change specifications or appearance at any time without notice. Dolby Digital, AC-3, 5.1, Dolby Stereo and Dolby Pro Logic are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. DTS is a registered trademark of DTS Technology. For Future Reference Record your system serial number and date of purchase here: Serial Number Date of Purchase The serial number is found on the back of the center channel speaker near the connecting terminals. 010-1115