We can however list some very helpful hints to speed up your speaker positioning. Placing them near
corners will increase the bass, whereas if you mount them on a wall or put them on a stand they will have less
bass. If you have shaggy carpet you should attach spikes to the speakers. A bare timber floor may often require
you to put the speaker on a small stand or on some bricks. A double brick home will tend to increase the bass
output whereas a timber house causes much less bass. A brick veneer home will be somewhere in between.
Also the amount of soft furnishings (carpet, curtains, lounge etc.) in your room changes the sound - the use of
more soft furnishings will deaden the sound.
FOR HCC-600, HCC-300, HSS-600 AND HSS-300
In order to best appreciate the wonderful spatial image our centre channels and surround sounds can create
in your room, it is important that you take note of what we call best positioning practice. We understand you may
not be able to adhere, to the letter, all of our recommendations. That’s why we designed our speakers not to be
too position critical. Following are the ideal placement positions.
In the case of the centre channel it should be either placed directly under or above the TV. The optimum
position is at, or slightly above, ear height when you are sitting down. Note; if this is not possible don’t worry, as
the sound image quality will not deteriorate a great deal if you place them outside this area. Also note it is
possible to use two centre channels each side of the TV placed in the tower orientation.
The HSS-600 is a little more complex but the general principal is to place them directly each side of your
sitting position slightly above ear level. Being a genuine balanced bi-polar there is no left hand side or right hand
side speaker. You may wish to use blue tack under the four rubber buffers to stop any chance of vibration or
speaker swinging, plus it may also reduce the chance of pant damage to your wall. Due to the many variations
of room shape, size and absorption characteristics the following points should be noted:
1) If your sitting position is against the rear wall then the HSS-600 should be mounted 500mm from the rear
wall. However the HSS-300 can be mounted in the corner.
2) If the surround sound image is not giving you enough sound coming from behind them move the HSS-600
closer to the rear wall, vice versa if the image is too much at the rear.
3) Moving the HSS-600 back from level to your listening position will have two other effects. The first is to
slightly increase the brightness of the rear speaker’s sound and the second will be to make the speaker appear
to spread the sound around a little less.
4) Installing the HSS-600 higher will raise the perceived image but as the speaker is raised the sound will
become very marginally less bright.
5) If you have two rear speakers at different distances from your listening position, just adjust the left and
right rear channel volumes on the amplifier so both rear speakers are as loud as each other.
MOUNTING OPTIONS
On the back of the HSS-600 you will see two metal key holes. These can make your installation very easy
because all that is required are two screws on your wall. It is important though, that you make sure the screws
are fixed securely enough to hold the speakers weight.
There is an added mounting option we have provided for you in the HSS-600, HSS-300 and HCC-300. They
each have a 3/8 whitworth screw thread mounted in the back of the cabinet. This thread suits the best wall
mounting bracket on the market (in our opinion). The bracket is called the “Maxi Bracket”. If your retailer does
not stock them you can ring Altronics in Western Australia to find out who the nearest stockist is.
MAXI BRACKET
On the other hand the HSS-300 positioning is a little less complex. Again it is ideal to place them each side
of your seating position slightly above ear level and the five points mentioned above regards the HSS-600 are all
valid except for point (1). However in the case of the HSS-300 it can also be mounted in the room corners
should you desire and moving the HSS-300 back will reduce brightness if positioned flat on the wall.