Speaker Placement; Constant Voltage Vs 8-Ohm Speaker Systems - Monoprice 16220 User Manual

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

Before making any connections, you should examine the room and determine where you
will place each speaker. This system is intended for open spaces as large as 30 feet by 50
feet. If installing to a larger room, multiple systems should be used in a 70-volt speaker
array. Some basic "rules of thumb" for the proper placement of this speaker system are
outlined below.
 The left and right channel satellite speakers should be placed in a staggered
manner, with a stereo pair along one wall and across the room on the opposite wall.
 If the ceiling is at least 9 feet above the floor, the satellites should be installed
about 8 feet or more above the floor surface.
 The subwoofer should be placed in a corner, which allows the adjacent walls to act
as a sound amplifier.
 Ensure that the bass port is unobstructed.

CONSTANT VOLTAGE VS 8-OHM SPEAKER SYSTEMS

A constant voltage speaker system differs from a traditional 8-ohm speaker system in that
it uses a step-up transformer at the audio source to raise the voltage and lower the current
on the transmission line. At the speaker end, a step-down transformer converts the signal
back to a normal speaker level voltage. This reduces power loss during transmission, which
allows for the use of longer speaker wire runs using smaller gauge wire.
Additionally, a constant voltage speaker system allows for the use of multiple speakers on
each channel, without the need for complicated impedance calculations and
configurations. In a constant voltage system, all speakers on a given channel are connected
in parallel and the complicated impedance calculations are replaced by simple wattage
calculations.
For example, if you want to connect two speakers per channel in a traditional 8-ohm
speaker system, you must either connect them in series, which results in an overall 16-ohm
impedance, or in parallel, which results in an overall 4-ohm impedance. In the first case, the
16-ohms impedance effectively halves the output power of your amplifier, resulting in
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