System 10 LCR System 10 SR Dipole Surround System 10 InWall Speakers qqqqqqqqqqq 1 qqqqqqqqqqq 343 Vanderbilt Ave. Norwood, MA 02062 (781) 762-6300 www.atlantictechnology.com Instruction Manual System 10 InWall Speakers Thank you for purchasing Atlantic Technology products. Our speaker systems have been designed to deliver exceptional sound and value. We hope you like what you hear from them, and are happy with your decision to buy them. Please take a few moments to read these instructions. They're intended not only to tell you how to mount the speakers, but how to get the best performance from them. Important Considerations Before Installation Recommended Wire Sizes The longer the wire run, the heavier the wire should be. Use the following recommendations as a guide for your installation. And if you're in doubt, remember that it never hurts to get the next heavier grade of wire. Also note that lower gauge numbers equal heavier wire sizes. Wire Run <15 ft. 15 to 30 ft. 30 to 50 ft. 50 to 80 ft. 80 to 120 ft. Wire Gauge 18 ga. 16 ga. 14 ga. 12 ga. 10 ga. Location, Location, Location A major determinant of any speaker's sound quality is the room and its location in it. With in-wall speakers there are fewer placement options than with box speakers, so giving some thought to location can really pay off. Additionally, the wall your speaker is mounted in will affect its sound. Our InWall Theater Systems have been computer designed to minimize the detrimental effects wall mounting can have on sound, so they sound better than most, if not all in-wall speakers. Locations of Choice Assuming that you'll be using System 10 speakers for more than simple background listening, here are some placement recommendations: Stereo Systems For stereo music reproduction the speakers are best located at approximately ear level when seated, both on the same wall, facing the prime listening location. A separation of approximately six to eight feet between the left and right speakers is usually good. Ideally, the distance between the two speakers will be the same as the distance from the speakers to the listening position. The speakers and the listening position will then form an equilateral triangle. There is a benefit to mounting the speakers approximately the same distance from the side walls, so they both create the same reflective patterns. Hard surfaces create lots of sound reflections in the room while soft surfaces tend to absorb sound. Note the speaker's location in terms of proximity to glass and other highly sound reflective or absorptive surfaces. A simple pair of curtains can make a major difference in sound quality and intelligibility! The more similar the speaker's surroundings, the more consistent the sound will be. So placing one speaker directly adjacent to a glass wall, with the other speaker by an open archway, will make for two dramatically different sounding speakers. Note that as bass frequencies reflect within the room, some locations may be bass heavy while other areas may be bass shy. With an external subwoofer, changing its placement within the room may reduce these effects. But when inwall speakers are utilized full range, the only real option is to change the listening position, if you end up in a difficult bass area. Home Theater Systems Today's home theater systems require you to place six or more speakers in your room. Placement for these speakers is potentially more critical than with pure music reproduction alone. That's because the goal of setting up a good home theater isn't to put you in the movie theater; it's to put you in the movie! That's right, we want you to believe you're in the jungle, the restaurant, the office, or wherever the video scene is taking place. If you keep this goal in mind throughout the system development process you'll end up with a better home theater, for sure. qqqqqqqqqqq 2 qqqqqqqqqqq System 10 InWall Speakers Home Theater Locations of Choice Left/Center/Right Locations The front three speakers should be at ear height when seated, just as with as stereo speakers. Unfortunately, the presence of the television tends to make this difficult, if not impossible to achieve. (Unless you're using a front projector and a perforated screen with the center channel speaker directly behind it). The closer you can get to this ideal the better, however. Try to keep the left and right speakers within 3 feet to either side of the TV screen. If possible, place the left and right speakers no more than 2 feet above or below the height of the center channel speaker. The center speaker itself should be centered on, and directly above or below the TV screen. IMPORTANT: The System 10 LCR speaker was designed to be used in a vertical (portrait) orientation, if at all possible. The dispersion characteristics of the speaker are optimized in this position. The All Important Surround Speakers In order to achieve optimum performance we strongly recommend Dipole surround speakers like the System 10 SR. The following placement recommendations apply to all Dipole surround speakers (whether the System 10 SR or another model) Please try to follow them. Dipole surrounds produce a wide, diffuse, relatively non-localizable sound field that projects to the sides of the speaker. Directly in front of the speaker there's a sound "null" or dead zone. When properly placed in the room, with the apex null aimed at the listeners, this creates the illusion that the sound is coming from a large area to both sides of the speaker! The result is that you're immersed in the surround field and become one with the action taking place up on the screen. Surround Speaker Locations The absolute best place for a Dipole surround is directly to the sides of the prime listening position (+/- 15 degrees). They should be located no less than 18 inches above ear height when seated and at least 24 inches below ceiling level. If the surround speakers must be located closer than 24 inches to the ceiling they should be turned upside down to keep the tweeters as far as possible from the ceiling. Please see the important note below. System 10 SR surrounds are designed to mount horizontally, on the side walls. If they must be placed on the back wall or the ceiling, please follow these guidelines. On the rear wall, install the speakers horizontally at least 24 inches away from the corner, and between 18 inches above ear level when seated and 24 inches down from the ceiling. If installed in the ceiling, position them with the drivers facing the front and back of the room, with the Left speaker on the left side of the room and the Right on the right side. As much as possible keep the null centered on the prime listening position. IMPORTANT: Please note that there are dedicated left and right Dipole surround speakers and they are labeled as such. This is done to ensure that the drivers facing the front of the room are in phase with the system's front speakers. Left and right refer to the left and right wall when you are seated facing the screen. If the speakers must be mounted upside down on the side walls, as outlined above, be sure to swap them from side to side in order to maintain proper phasing with the fronts. In any case, please note that for the greater part of any movie you should not be directly aware of the surround speaker's presence. They're there to create those environmental sounds of the location up on the screen. So in a rain filled scene you should be thinking, "Is it raining outside my house?", not "Hey, I hear the rain in the surround speakers!" Non-Dipole surrounds If you decide to use a Monopole for the surrounds (like the System 10 LCR) keep the following in mind. With nonDipole surrounds, the more directly they are aligned with your ears, the more localizable their sound. And since the vast majority of surround information consists of sonic cues that aren't supposed to be localized, this is particularly undesirable. Generally then, non-Dipole surrounds should be placed well above ear level on the side or rear walls. As opposed to Dipoles, Monopoles and Bipoles work best when placed on the side or rear wall, well above and not aimed directly at the listening position. qqqqqqqqqqq 3 qqqqqqqqqqq System 10 InWall Speakers Mounting Issues System 10 LCR We always recommend a professional be involved in the installation of InWall Theater System speakers, if at all possible. The System 10 LCR speaker can be easily mounted in most any standard wall material, from 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches (12 to 38 mm) thick. Its rotating wall clamps firmly fix it to the wall surface after the proper cutout has been made. Here are some important precautions to take before mounting: Keep the sides of the actual mounting hole at least 1 inch (25 mm) away from beams or studs. The clamps require 3/4 of an inch (19 mm) to rotate, and a stud or other obstruction that's too close will stop them from properly doing their job. Wall cavity size will effect the bass and midrange performance of any in-wall speaker. The System 10 LCR is designed to play optimally in a 0.5 to 1.25 cubic foot space (864 to 2160 cu. inches, measured before wall insulation is inserted). Cubic dimensions can be determined by multiplying the length x width x height of the cavity. A larger cavity won't hurt, but a smaller one will definitely impact the bass and midrange response of the system. Some of the sound from the speaker will transmit to the space on the other side of the wall cavity. If this is a major concern, you can build a box within the wall that provides the required cubic volume. The larger the volume, the better the bass response will be, up to 1.25 cubic feet. Beyond this size there will be no effective performance gain. Also please note that there is very little room behind the drivers in a standard "2 x 4" wall cavity (1/4 inch, 6 mm), so the back of any enclosure box must be made from relatively thin materials, yet it should not physically contact the back wall. Typically then, the back wall material will be roughly 1/8 to 1/4 inch (3 to 6 mm) thick. Insulate the speaker cavity with fiberglass wool, observing all the relevant precautions and instructions from the insulation manufacturer. If you have built a back box, you can use common fiberfill (available at craft stores as pillow stuffing), or fiberglass in the enclosure. Be sure to push the insulation back from the drivers to ensure that it doesn't get into the moving cone area. Ceiling Mounting It is especially important when mounting the speaker in a ceiling that you cover the back of the system with a fiberglass window screening (available at any home center or hardware store) to keep insulation and other foreign matter out of the assembly. You also should install safety wires from the rear of the assembly to a secure mounting place, like adjacent beams or the floor above, for added security. Should you be installing System 10 speakers in a suspended ceiling, it is imperative to install safety wires from the speaker to the support structure above, to ensure security under all conditions. Installation of System 10 LCR in New Construction Atlantic Technology offers an optional Rough-in Frame Kit to ease installation in new construction. Instructions for its use are included with this kit. The kit's model nomenclature is IN-NC-10 Installation of System 10 LCR in Existing Construction Remove and Installing the Grille Remove the grille from the speaker using an awl or the point of a drywall screw in a grille opening near one of the grille corners. Slowly pry the grille out, being careful not to damage the speaker's frame or its finish. Install the grille by pressing it carefully into the appropriate opening in the frame assembly. Since it's designed to fit snugly, please take your time and use care when installing the grille. Cutting the Opening After determining the best location for the speaker as outlined above, use the enclosed template to cut the proper size hole (15 13/16" x 7", 402 x 178 mm). Exercise extreme care before making any wall cuts to ensure that you will not cut through any wires, pipes, or other items that may be in the wall. You may sometimes, but not always, be able to determine the approximate location of wires and pipes by looking at the locations of nearby outlets and plumbing. But their location or absence is never an assurance that there is not something within the wall cavity. qqqqqqqqqqq 4 qqqqqqqqqqq System 10 InWall Speakers Installing the Mounting Frame The clamping mechanism allows the wall material to range from 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches (12 to 38 mm) in thickness. There must be a minimum depth behind the wall face of 3 5/8" (92 mm). As noted above, be sure to keep the edges of the cutout at least 1 inch (25 mm) away from any stud or obstruction, as the rotating clamps will not operate properly if you don't. The speaker baffle (the part with the drivers mounted in it) is designed to mount into the white frame ...