Positioning; Installation; Cable Connection - Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Owner's Manual

Positioning

60° 90°
1 Meter
Listening area

Installation

To Power Amp
X.L.R. & Phono Outputs
(X.L.R. to be used for
balanced inputs &
Phono for standard
single ended inputs)
USE ONE TYPE ONLY
FOR EACH OUTPUT
From Pre-Amp
X.L.R. & Phono inputs
(X.L.R. to be used for
balanced inputs &
Phono for standard
single ended inputs)
USE ONE TYPE ONLY
Mains A/C in
Placement of any loudspeaker can significantly
influence the relative balance of sound in the
listening seat and we recommend a degree of
experimentation. In general it will be found
that Nautilus gives optimum results when
"toed-in" to a greater extent than in
previous systems, set typically at an angle
of between 60° and 90°. This is due to the
smooth, wide dispersion of Nautilus which
is capable of increasing the relative
significance of the side-wall reflection.
Another benefit of the dispersion
characteristic is the substantially increased
listening area in which a pleasant and
realistic stereo image may be enjoyed.
All connections should be made with the
equipment turned off. Each Nautilus comes
with its own dedicated active crossover net-
work. The serial number on the amplifier end
of the harness should match the serial number
on the rear of the crossover network.
The crossover can be connected to the
amplifiers with Phono leads for unbalanced
operation or XLR types for balanced opera-
tion. Each Nautilus will require 1 separate
amplifier channel for each drive unit. The
gain and phase of each must be identical.
Each amplifier (channel) should be
capable of delivering at least 30V RMS
into 6 ohms for realistic levels of reproduc-
tion. Most amplifiers capable of delivering
100 watts into 6 ohms should be suitable.
Connect each of the 4 crossover outputs (LF,
LMF, UMF, HF) in turn to each amplifier or
amplifier channel. The loudspeaker harness
should then be connected to the appro-
priate terminals on the corresponding
amplifier. The input to the crossover should
then be connected to the output of the pre-
amplifier. Connect the power and turn on
the crossover, followed by the amplifiers.

Cable connection

Connection to Nautilus is via an 8-core cable
of high purity silver on copper, terminated in
bare ends to allow the most direct connection
to the amplifier terminals.
It is generally accepted that the wires
High Frequency Unit
between power amp and driver should be
as short as possible, so we do not recom-
mend that the captive cable be lengthened
in any way.
In the majority of cases it will be most
Upper Mid Range Unit
convenient to locate the crossover units in
close proximity to the power amplifiers, with
correspondingly short line interconnects.
Each cable should be connected directly
to the respective outputs of each amplifier.
The line from pre-amplifier and
crossover is likely to be comparatively
Lower Mid Range Unit
long and should, therefore, be of high
quality and low capacitance. It is further
recommended that the balanced input
of the crossover be used with two-core
screened cable – even if the pre-amp is
single ended.
In the latter case, the screen and one
core should be joined at the source end.
Detail of twin cored screened lead connecting phono to
xlr plugs (pre-amp to x-over)
Low Frequency Unit