Installation Of The Speaker And Grille In New Or Existing Construction - Niles HD-CTR Installation & Operation Manual

the drywall section can be replaced clean-
ly if there is an unseen obstruction behind
the wall. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO
SAW THROUGH EXISTING WIRES, PIPES,
OR STRUCTURE. IF YOU FEEL ANY
EXTRA RESISTANCE AS YOU ARE CUT-
TING, STOP.
4. If you are cutting into lath and plaster
walls, use masking tape to outline your
penciled marks, drill the four corners with
a 1/4" bit and use a razor to score the
plaster down to the lath beneath. Then use
a chisel to remove all of the plaster within
the taped outline. Finally, insert a metal
cutting blade into a sabre saw and very
slowly and carefully saw the lath. Sawing
the lath can easily vibrate plaster off the
wall. If you have the patience, use a pair
of tin snips to slowly nip away at the lath
instead. There is no risk with this method,
it is just time consuming.
5. Fill the wall cavity with insulation at
this point. Remember to use equal
amounts of insulation for each speaker.
6. Slip the mounting bracket through the
hole and pull it toward you so that its front
edge slides into the hole and stops in place.
7. Attach the frame to the bracket by
screwing the frame to the bracket using
the supplied screws. Do not overtighten
the screws, this will distort the frame and
the grilles will not fit (this is not perma-
nent, just loosen the screws and the grille
will pop in). The screws should pull the
frame and bracket together (sandwiching
the drywall) so that the frame is absolutely
flush with the wall surface. There should
be no gaps between the wall and the
frame (See Figure 17).
17
Installation of the
Speaker and Grille
in New or Existing
Construction
Speaker Orientation for Directed
Sound Field Geometry
The Directed Sound Field Geometry
(DSFG) provides optimum off axis phase
and frequency response due to the
acoustic interaction between the woofers
and the tweeter. The flattest response will
be obtained approximately 15 degrees off
axis in the direction opposite the tweeter.
Therefore, the orientation of the speaker is
important for optimum performance. For
an HD•CTR placed above a TV, install
the speaker with the tweeter up. For an
HD•CTR placed below a TV, install the
speaker with the tweeter down. For
HD•LRS's placed in the front, install the
speakers with the tweeters facing out.
Setting the Acoustic Fine Tuning and
Configuring the Crossover
Both the HD•CTR and HD•LRS models
feature front-mounted Acoustic Fine
Tuning controls and crossover mounted
configuration switches.
HD•CTR
Acoustic Fine Tuning
The front-mounted switches on the
HD•CTR enable the speaker to be opti-
mized regardless of positioning or room
acoustics by providing 3dB of Treble Cut
and 3dB of Dialog Enhancement. Start by
listening to the speaker in the normal
mode (switch is in the "out" position). If
the sound seems to have too much treble,
depress the switch labeled Treble Cut to
reduce the amount of high frequencies.
If you desire to make the dialog in a movie
more pronounced, depress the switch
labeled Dialog Enhance.
Defeating DSFG
The crossover on the back of the HD•CTR
enables you to defeat the Directed Sound
Field Geometry (DSFG) feature. This is
useful when the speaker is mounted at
ear level directly in front of the
primary listening position as
would be the case when the
speaker is mounted behind
a perforated projection
TV screen.
HD•LRS
Acoustic Fine Tuning
Figure 18
The front-mounted switches on
the HD•CTR also enable the speak-
er to be optimized regardless of positioning
or room acoustics. They provide 3dB of
Treble and Bass Cut respectively. Start by
listening to the speaker in the normal
mode (switch is in the out position). If the
sound seems to have too much treble,
depress the switch labeled Treble Cut to
reduce the amount of high frequencies. If
the sound has too much low frequency
output (because it is placed near a corner
perhaps) depress the switch labeled Bass
Cut to reduce the bass by 3dB.
Main/Surround Configuration
The crossover on the back of the HD•LRS
enables you to configure the speaker for
best performance as either a front "main"
speaker or rear "surround" speaker. When
the HD•LRS is used as a surround speaker,
set the switch to the "Surround" position to
provide a diffuse sound field which pro-
vides a more convincing illusion of sound
all around the listener. When configured as
a surround speaker, the orientation of the
tweeter is no longer critical.
Installing a Niles MS-1 MicroSensor™
There is a 1/2" round molded "IR Sensor
Knockout" on the face of the speaker baf-
fle. To prevent damage to the crossover
network you must remove the knockout
from the rear of the speaker. Do not
attempt to remove the knockout with the
speaker face up. Lay the speaker face
down on a clean carpet or rug. Put the
tip of a screwdriver into the cen-
ter of the round "knockout"
and sharply tap the screw-
driver handle as necessary.
Install the MS-1 using its
mounting hex nut and
washer so that it is tightly
secured to the speaker.
Connect all wires and con-
tinue your installation.
Installing the Speaker
If the grille is already installed, remove it
by using a bent paper clip or the tip of a
corkscrew and pulling it away from the
frame (See Figure 18).
1. Separate the speaker wire so that at least
two inches of each conductor are free.
2. Strip one half inch of insulation from the
end of each conductor of the speaker wire.
3. If you have gold pin connectors which
you wish to use, affix them to the stripped
wire ends now.
4. Connect one stripped wire end (or con-
nector) to the black and one to the red ter-
minal. Pay attention to the markings on the
wire. Each speaker must be connected to
the amplifier in the same way.
5. Place the speaker baffle in the frame and
secure it with the supplied #8 x 1/2" screws.
If you find that the baffle does not smoothly
fit the frame, slightly loosen the mounting
screws that hold the frame to the bracket.
6. Carefully fit the grille into its recess so
that it is barely in place. Starting with one
18