The Speaker Company Home Theater Speaker User manual

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page2

Thelightningflashwitharrowheadsymbolwithinanequilateraltriangleisintendedtoalerttheusertothepresenceofuninsulated“dangerous

voltage”withintheproductsenclosurethatmaybeofsuffici entmagnitudetoconstituteriskofelectricshocktopersons.

Theexclamationpointwithinanequilateraltriangleisintendedtoalerttheusertothepresenceofimportantsafety

instructionsintheliteratureaccompanyingtheappliance.

WARNING:TOREDUCETHERISKOFFIREORELECTRICSHOCKDONOTEXPOSET HISAPPLIANCETORAINORMOISTURE.

1. Readtheseinstructions.

2. Keeptheseinstructions.

3. Heedallwarnings.

4. Followallinstructions.

5. Donotusethisapparatusnearwater.

6. Cleanonlywithdrycloth.

7. Donotblockanyventilationopenings.Installinaccordancewiththemanufacturer'sinstructions.

8. Donotinstallnearanyheatsourcessuchasradiators,heatregisters,stoves,orotherapparatus(includingamplifiers)thatproduceheat.

9. Donotdefeatthesafetypurposeofthepolarizedorgroundingtypeplug.Apolarizedplughastwobladeswithonewiderthantheother.Agroundingtype

plughastwobladesandathirdgroundingprong.Thewidebladeorthethirdprongareprovidedforyoursafety.Iftheprovidedplugdoesnotfitintoyour

outlet,consultanelectricianforreplacementoftheobsoleteoutlet.

10. Protectthepowercordfrom beingwalkedonorpinchedparticularlyatplugs,conveniencereceptacles,andthepointwheretheyexitfromtheapparatus.

11. Onlyuseattachments/accessoriesspecifiedbythemanufacturer.

12. Unplugthisapparatusduringlightningstormsorwhenunusedforlongperiodsoftime.

13. Ref erallservicingtoqualifiedservicepersonnel.Servicingisrequiredwhentheapparatushasbeendamagedinanyway,suchaspowersupplycordor

plugisdamaged,liquidhasbeenspilledorobjectshavefallenintotheapparatus,theapparatushasbeenexposedtorainormoisture,doesnot operate

normally,orhasbeendropped.

14. Maintainaminimumdistanceof50mmaroundthefront,rear andsidesoftheapparatusforsufficientventilation.Theventilationshouldnotbeimpeded

bycoveringthe ventilationopeningsorplacingonoraroundtheapparatusitemssuchasnewspapers,tablecloths,curtains,etc.

15. Nonakedflamesources,suchaslightedcandles,shouldbeplacedontheapparatus.

16. Theapparatusshallnotbeexposedtodrippingorsplashing.Noobjectsfilledwithliquids,suchasvases,shallbeplacedontheapparatus.

17. Eitherthepowerinletconnectorontherearoftheapparatusorthepower plugatthewallmustremainaccessible,tobeabletodisconnectpowerfrom

theapparatus.

18. TocompletelydisconnectthisapparatusfromtheACMains,disconnectthepowersupplycordplugfromtheACrecept acle.

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page3

Thankyou.Andcongratulations!

OurthanksforbuyingyournewspeakersfromTSC.Wesincerely

appreciateyourconfidenceinusandourproducts.

PleasereadthisOwner’sManual!Itcontainsmanytipsongettingyour

newspeakerssetup,connected,andsoundingasgoodastheyshould.

Wehopeyoufi nditclear,concise,andhelpful.

Again,thankyou.



OutoftheBox

Youshouldsav ethecartonandtheinsertsyourspeakerscamein.You

mayneedtostoreorshipyourTSCspeakersinthefutureandthe

packagingisdesignedtoprotectthemfromdamage.

WhereShouldYouPutThem?

Werealizethattherealworld(familyopinions,roomtrafficpatterns,

etc.)willhavemajorimpactonwhereyouplaceyourTSCspeakers.

Thatbeing said,herearesomeguideli nesyoushouldfinduseful.

ForTSCbookshelf/centerchannel/surroundspeakers:

1) Shelfmounting.Logically,thismaybeyourfirstconsideration.

That’sfineiftheshelfissturdyenoughanddeepenou ghtohold

yourspeakerssecurely.Rememberthattheshelfshouldbeat

least2”deeperthanthespeakeritselftoallowforcable

connections,etc.SoifyourTSCspeakeris13”deep,you’ll

needashelfabout15”deeptoholditsafely.

Rememberthatm ostTSCspeakersarebassreflexenclosures.

Somehaveportsontherearpanel. Becausetheportisvery

importantforproperbassreproduction,pleasedonotblockit.

Infact,ifyou’reshelfmountingyourspeakersandcanleave6”

to8”ofopenspacebehindtherearpanel,somuchthebetter.

2) Standmounting:Thisisyoursecondoptionandit’sanattractive

oneformanyowners. Ifyou’replacingyourTSCbookshelf

speakersonstands,youcanuseamateriallikeBluTack®,a

moldable,reusableadhesivecompound,tokeepyourspeakers

firmly(butnotpermanently)attachedtothestands.Ifyoucan’t

findBluTack,justaskyourneighborhoodhardwarestoreforthe

genericequivalent.

PlacingYourSpeakersProperly

MainSpeakers:Trytoputthemainspeakers(LeftandRightforstereo,

Left,Center, andRightforhometheater)alongthesamewallofyour

listening/viewingroom.Ifyoucanplaceyourspeakersalongthelong

wall,somuchthebetter.

Usethe“RuleofThirds”wheneverpossible. Thissuggeststhatthebest

placementforyourLeftspeakerisapproximately1/3ofthewayalong

thewallbehindyourspeakers.Similarly,thebestplacefortheRight

speakerisusually2/3ofthewayacrossthesamewall. Remem berthat

the“RuleofThirds”isaguidelineonly.

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page4

Makesurethatt hespeakertolistening/viewingpositi ondistanceisthe

sameforeachspeaker.

Someprofessionalsrecommendplacingthemain(LeftandRight)

speakerssothattheyformanequilateraltrianglewiththeprime

listening/viewingposition.

Thisisasclosetoidealasyoucanget.

Ifyourroomwon’tallowthis,don’tbeoverlyconcerned.

Justplaceyourspeakersasclosetothisidealaspossible

andenjoythesound.

Reflectionsfromsidewallshaveamajorimpactonyoursoundsotry

nottoplaceyourmainspeakersclosetothem.Trynottoplaceyour

mainspeakerssothey’reexactlythesamedistancefromtheclosest

sidewall.Abitofasymmetryhereisactuallypreferable.

WhenyoutakethetimetoproperlyplaceyourMainspeakers,you’ll

enjoybetter “imaging”(theapparentplacementofindividuali nstruments

orvoices),andmoredepth.

CenterChannelSpeakers

Forahometheatersystem,placethecenterchannelspeakerbetween

yourLeftandRightspeakersasclosetoyourTVscreenaspossible.

Trytokeepthetweetersofallt hreespeakers(Left,Center,andRight)

asclosetothesameheightaspossible. Tweetersat–orverycloseto

–yourseatedearlevelareideal. (Thismayposeachallengeifyou

havetoplaceyourCenterChannelspeakereitheraboveorbelowyour

TVscreenbutyoushouldn’tworrytoomuch.)

Trytoplacethecenterchannel speakeratex actlythesamedistance

fromyourlistening/viewingpositionasthemainLeftandRight

speakers.Thishelpscreatethemostconvincingimage.

SurroundSpeakers

Surroundspeakerplacementischallenging.Ifyou’reusingapairof

TSCbookshelfspeakers,youhavetwooptions.

Ifyou’reprimarilyamusiclistener,placethemonthebackwallof

yourlistening/viewingroombutabitclosertothesidewallsthanthe

“RuleofThirds”indicates.Makesurethetweetersareatapproximately

thesameheightasarethetweetersofyourfrontLeft,Center,andRight

speakers.

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page5

Ifyou’reamoviefan,mountthesurroundspeakersontheside

walls flankingyourprimarylistening/viewingposition.Makesure

they’reslightlybehindyourcouchorchairandatleast1.5to2’above

earlev el.

Trynottoplacefurniturebetweenyourspeakersandyour

listening/viewingposition.Makesureyoucanseeallyourspeakers

whenseatedthere.

SubwooferPlacement

Subwoofersarenotaseasytoplaceproperlyassomepeoplemight

haveyoubelieve.Althoughbassfrequenciesareomnidirectional(they

spreadevenlyintoaroom),youcannotplaceyoursubwoofervirtually

anywhereandenjoyqualitybassreproduction.

Herearesomepracticalhints.

· Formorebass,putthesubwooferinorclosetoaroomcorner.If

youdo,however,knowthattheresultingbassresponsewillmost

likelybeveryuneven.Somefrequencies will beemphasized.

Otherswillbesuppressed.Andthatpatternofexaggerati onand

repressionwillchangeasyoumoveabouttheroom!

· Forabitl essbassbutmoreev enfrequencyresponse,movethe

subwooferawayfromthecorneralongonewall.

· Ifthatstilldoesn’tpleaseyou,t henmovethesubwooferfurtherout

intotheroom.You’llhavelessoverall“boom”butprobablyhigher

overallsoundquality.

Onceyou’vedecidedongeneralplacement,there’sanothertechnique

thatwillhelpyoufinetuneyoursubwoofer’si deallocation.

1. Identifyyourf avoritelistening/viewingposition.

2. PuttheSubwooferthere. (Yes,wemeanputitonorinyourfavorite

chairorsofa.Don’tworry,thefurniturewillhandletheweight.)

3. Playsomemusicorasoundtrackwithalotofbasscontent.

4. Crawlaroundtheroomonallfoursuntilyoufindtheplacewherethe

basssoundsthebesttoyou.

5. PuttheSubwooferthere.

ConnectingYourSpeakerSystem

Nowthatyouhaveyourspeakersplacedproperly,it’stimetoconnect

them.

Beforeyoubeginconnectingyour

speakers,turnyoursystem

componentsOFF.Thatway,youwon’t

runanychanceof“shorting”your

amplifierandpossiblydamagingitas

you’rehookingupyourspeakers.And,

ofcourse,turnyoursystembackON

whenyou’redone!

Method1(LineLevelConnection)

IfyoursurroundsoundreceiverhasalinelevelLFE(LowFrequency

Effects)output–sometim escalleda“subwoofer”output–connectitto

thesubwoofer’srearpanelSubwooferInputviaashieldedRCAtoRCA

cable.Seeyourreceiver’sinstructionmanualformoredetails.

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page6

Next,connectyourotherspeakers(Left,Center,Right,LeftSurround,

andRightSurround)directlytoyourreceiver.

Notethatyourreceiver’sspeakerconnectionsarepaired. One

terminalsineachpairisred(positiveor“+”),theotherblack(negativeor

““).

You’llnoticeapairofspringloadedterminalsoneachspeaker.They

arealsoredandblack,respectively.

Speakerwire,inturn,hastwoconductorsseparatedbyinsulationand

identifiedbycolor(iftheinsulationisclear)orbydifferencesinthe

insulationitself (ridgedvs.plai nisthem ostcommon).Chooseone

conductortocarrythe“+”signalandtheotherforthenegativesignal.It

makesnodifferencewhichoneyoupick–justmaintainthatchoice

forallyourconnections.

Preparethewirebyexposingabout3/8”ofeachconductorbyremoving

theinsulationwithawirestripperorsharpknife.Twistalltheindividual

strandsofeachconductortogether.

PolarityandProperPhasing

Don’tletthesewordsscareyou.Theybothrefertomakingsureyouget

allthesoundyourspeakersarecapableofgivingyou.

HerearestepbystepinstructionsforconnectingtheLeftfrontoutput

fromyourreceiveroramplifiertotheLeftfrontspeaker.

1) LocatetheLeftfrontspeakeroutputonthereceiveroramplifier.

Notethetwoconnectors–onemarked“+ ”(thepositiveterminal

–usuallyred)andonem arked““(thenegativeterminal–

usuallyblack).

2) Connectthe“+”conductorofthespeakerwiretothereceiv er’s

“+”terminal.

3) Connectthe”“conductorofthespeakerwiretothereceiver’s“

“terminal.

4) Atthespeakerendofthesamewire,connectthe“+”conductor

tothe“+’terminalonthespeakerbypressingthespringloaded

tabtorevealaholeinthe connector.Insertthestrippedendof

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page7

thewireintothathole.Releasethetabtocompletethe

connection.

5) Connectthe““conductortothe““speakerterminal.

Thenfollowsteps1through5forallotheramplifierspeakerconnections

inyoursystem.Maintainthesamepatternforallamplifierspeaker

connections!

Whyareweplacingasmuchemphasisonconsistencyhere?Wewant

youtogetall theperformanceyou’v epaidfor!

Whenyouram plifiertospeakerconnectionsareconsistent(when“+”is

alwaysconnectedto“+”and““isalwaysconnectedto““),your

speakersareconnected“inphase.”T hatmeansthedriversineach

speakerwil lpushoutwhentheygetacommonpositivesignalfroman

amplifierandpullinwhentheygetanegativesignal.

Whenspeakersareconnected“outofphase,”thedriversfi ghteach

other–somemoveoutwhileothersmovein.Theresult?You’llget

lessbassandblurredim aging.That’saprettyheavypricetopayfornot

takingjustafewextrasecondstomakesureyourconnectionsare

correct.

SomeAdviceOnSpeakerWire

Pleaseuse16gaugewireifyouramplifi ertospeaker

runsareunder50’.Forlongerruns,westrongly

suggest14gauge.

Foryourreference,standard“lampcord”availableat

mosthardwarestoresis18gauge.Bettertouse

heavierwi resuchas16or14gauge.

Method2(SpeakerLevelConnection)

IfyourreceiverdoesnothaveanLFEoutput,simplyconnectyour

receiver’sLeftandRightspeakeroutputstothesubwooferinputs

marked“FromReceiver.”

ThenconnectyourmainLeftandRi ghtspeakerstothesubwoofer’s“To

Speakers”outputs.

Notethatallother speakers(CenterChannel,LeftSurround,andRight

Surround)connectdirectlytothereceiver’sspeakeroutputsastheydid

inMethod1above.

Makesureyouobserveproperpolarity(“+”to“+”and““to““)forall

connections.

TheSpeakerCompanyHomeTheaterSpeakerSystem Page8

AdjustingYourSubwoofer

Onceeverythingishookedupproperly,you’rereadyto“finetune”your

systemtoyourpreferences.

Thefollowingsuggestionswillgiveyouagoodstart.Rememberthat

theyaresuggestionsonly.Youmaychoosetovarythecontrolsettings

tosuit yourroomandspeakerplacement.

· SettheCrossovercontrolto150Hz(allthewaytotheright).

Thiswill directmostofthedeepbassinformationtothe

subwoofer.

· SettheVolumecontrol(actuallya“basslevel”control)to

maximum.

· Select“AutoO n”bychoosingthemiddlepositionofthethree

positionsliderswitch.

· SetthePhaseswitchtonormal(NOR).

· PlayafavoritemusicCDorDVD.Concentrateontheamount

ofbassyouhearanddecideifyoulikethatsound.

· Ifyouthinkthere’st oomuchbass,turntheVolumecontrol

downuntilyou’resatisfi edwiththesound.(Youmayalsowant

totweaktheCrossovercontrolbyturningitslowlytotheleft.)

· Onceyou’repleasedwiththesound,flipthePhaseswitch

betweenNORandREV(reverse)toseeifthatmakesa

discernabledifference.

You’llprobablyhavetoplaywiththeseadjustmentsseveraltimesuntil

youachievejustthesoundqualityyoureallylike.Don’tworry–it’sjust

partofthefun.

BreakIn

Manypeoplebelievespeakersimprovewithage.

WithTSCspeakers,you’llnoticeachangeintimbre,responsiveness,

andsheermusicalityasyouusethembecausethedrivers“settlein”

withuse.

Howlongshouldyouwait?Thatdepends,forexam ple,onwhetheryou

listenAMradioatlowvolumeorfullorchestralmusicatliveconcert

levels.Ingeneral,you’llbegintoheardifferencesafter2030hoursof

us.

Care

YourTSCspeakersdon’tneedmuchmaintenance.Dustthem

occasionally.Anddon’tyourkidstrytopushinthedrivers,either!

Aboveall,enjoy!That’swhatyourTSCspeakersweredesignedforand

whywetakesuchprideinbringingthemtoyou!

The Speaker Company Home Theater Speaker User manual

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