Speakers - Arcam Solo movie 2.1 Handbook

speakers

Connecting speakers Speaker positioning
The Solo is designed to drive a set of up The advice given here is a general
to five speakers, rated between 4 and guideline for setting up speakers. Refer
8 ohms. The unit is fitted with speaker to the documentation supplied with your
terminals that can accept either spade speakers for more precise information.
terminals or bare wires. Visit
The speakers are: information on listening-room layouts.
Solo movie: LS (Left Surround), L
<
Room acoustics
(Left), C (Centre), R (Right) and RS
(Right Surround).
Your room's shape and how it is furnished
< Solo music: L (Left), R (Right)
will affect the sound you hear. For
An active subwoofer may be connected
instance, too many bare surfaces may
to the SUB output. See the diagram on
cause a harshness to the sound. Carpets,
this page for recommended speaker
wall-hangings and curtains can all help.
placement.
If you have a choice of listening rooms,
Speaker cables avoid one that is perfectly square or has
one dimension exactly twice another. Such
The speakers should be connected to
a room can aggravate resonances that
the Solo using good-quality, high-purity,
colour the sound.
copper cables. Solid core cables, or
The closer you place a speaker to corners
those with surface-only conductors, are
and the intersection of wall and floor or
particularly suitable. Bell wire and very
wall and ceiling, the stronger the bass
cheap speaker cables should be avoided,
output, which may over-emphasise the
as they significantly degrade the sound
bass. Moving a speaker just a few inches
quality.
can sometimes make a big difference
Connections to the speaker terminals
should always be tight, whether using
bare wires, spade connectors or "banana"
plugs, but do not use tools such as pliers,
wrenches or spanners to tighten the
connectors as these may cause damage to
the terminals.
Speaker setup
Proper speaker placement is the key to
achieving the best home theatre sound
www.dolby.com for usefuI
(see diagrams). As a rough guide, speakers
should be placed on rigid stands about
15cm from the rear wall and at least 60cm
from any side wall.
Speakers should never be placed on
the floor (unless they are floor-standing
speakers), or in corners. Speaker drivers
should be at, or a little above, ear level
when seated. If possible, centre your
seating area between the surround
speakers.
Sound will depend on the acoustics of
the listening room so experimenting with
speaker positioning is very worthwhile.
Subwoofer
The location of the subwoofer will affect
the overall sound quality. Placing it next
to a wall or in a corner will often boost
efficiency and give a cleaner low bass
sound. However, all rooms react differently
and we recommend that you experiment
with positioning by allowing at least 15cm
clearance between the walls and the unit.
Speaker stands
The more firmly a speaker is held, the
better it will sound. We recommend the
use of rigid metal stands of 40–60cm
height.
SUB
E-15
Ensure that the stands and/or speakers do
not wobble. Properly damped stands that
do not 'ring' when tapped with a pencil,
will bring out the best in a speaker.
C
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22˚
30˚
90˚
110˚