Klipsch reference bookshelf owners manual

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REFERENCE SERIES IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS 1. READ these instructions. 2. KEEP these instructions. 3. HEED all warnings. 4. FOLLOW all instructions. 5. DO NOT use this apparatus near water. 6. CLEAN ONLY with dry cloth. 7. DO NOT block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. 8. DO NOT install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat. 9. DO NOT defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a thirdgrounding prong. The wider blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet. 10. PROTECT the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs, conve nience receptacles,and the point where they exit from the apparatus. 11. ONLY USE attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer. 12.USE only with a cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tipover. 13. UNPLUG this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time. 14. REFER all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way,such as powersupply cord or plug is damaged,liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped. This symbol indicates that there are important operating and maintenance instructions in the literature accompanying this unit. This symbol indicates that dangerous voltage constituting a risk of electric shock is present within this unit. WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose this apparatus to rain or moisture. WARNING: Voltages in this equipment are hazardous to life. No userserviceable parts inside. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. CAUTION: Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the users authority to operate. ABOUT YOUR KLIPSCH PURCHASE Thank you for your purchase of Klipsch bookshelf loudspeakers. After reading this manual and connecting your system,you will hear the result of over 55 years of stringent engineering and classleading research and development. Like all Klipsch products, your bookshelf loudspeakers feature Klipsch Tractrix ®Hornloaded Technology-the guiding design for the first Klipschorn ® developed in 1946 and for every product that has followed. Hornloading allows your speakers to deliver high sensitivity, low distortion, flat frequency response and wide dispersion, which translates to unequaled power, detail and dynamics, the hallmarks of The Klipsch Sound. Please be sure to fill out the warranty card at the back of this manual or online at www.klipsch.com so we are better able to serve you. Again, thank you for choosing Klipsch and we hope that your speakers bring life to your music and movies for many years. UNPACKING The easiest way to remove the speaker from its carton is to turn the open end of the box down so that it is resting on a table or the floor, with the flaps spread out and away. Then pull the box straight up and off. Remove any packing material from the speaker and grille, place it back in the carton, and store in case you ever need to ship the loudspeaker. Attach the domeshaped selfstick pads on the bottom of the cabinet for shelf protection. (See Figure 1.) Align the magnetic posts on the inside of the grille with the screws on the front of the speaker, and it will snap into place. PLACEMENT Although your Reference Series speakers will perform well in a wide variety of locations, you will get the most out of them by following some simple guidelines: - Place the front left and right speakers on shelves or stands with their tweeters at approximately ear height for a seated listener. Used as surroundchannel speakers, they usually perform best when placed slightly higher than that. - If you are installing your speakers in a cabinet, place them so their fronts are at least flush with the cabinets front. - If possible, arrange both speakers so that they are equal distances from the floor and the wall behind them. It can also help to have the left and right speakers at different distances from their nearest side walls. This sort of staggering helps smooth the bass range. - Any speakers bass output and response is strongly influenced by its distance from room boundaries,such as walls and the floor. Moving a speaker closer to a room boundary will increase its bass output, while moving it away will reduce the bass. Following the suggestions above will typically yield good results with Klipsch Reference Series bookshelf speakers,but you may find that you can finetune the sound by moving them slightly from side to side or front to back until music recordings with strong bass content sound just right to you. Dont be afraid to experiment. Figure 1 Figure 2 RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN Angle inward2' 3'6'15' 6'15'R L

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TwoChannel Stereo System Figure 2 shows a typical speaker arrangement for a twochannel stereo system. A good starting point is to create an equilateral triangle with the speakers and your listening position. Depending on the size of the room and the furniture arrangement, you may findit convenient to make the distance from the listening position to the line between the speakers somewhat larger or smaller, but try to keep it centered, so that you are at approximately the same distance from each speaker. That will yield the best stereo image. Angling widely spread speakers in slightly toward the listening position can help maintain a good stereo image. Stereo Setup for Wide Coverage If you are primarily interested in being able to hear the sound well from any position in the room rather than from a particular seating area, you may prefer to move the speakers far apart along adjoining walls, creating a big L. This will not provide a very good stereo image, but it will give spacious, wellbalanced sound with good coverage. Home Theater System Figure 3 shows a typical home theater speaker setup, with a pair of bookshelf speakers at the front left and right, a horizontal centerchannel speaker between them, and a pair of surround speakers on the side walls. The basic strategy for placing the front left and right speakers is similar to the one described above for a twochannel stereo system, but anchored by the video screen. Ideally, the front left and right speakers should be approximately in line with the screen and equidistant from it. Unless your video screen is very large, you may prefer less spread between the left and right speakers than in a dedicated stereo music system. This may better associate the size of the sonic image with the video image. Reference Series bookshelf speakers can also be used as surroundchannel speakers.The best location usually is high up, on the walls to the sides and slightly behind the seating area. Many other placements can work surprisingly well, however - behind the listening area, for example,or even on the floor facing up toward the ceiling in a pinch.Aiming the speakers toward your listening area will emphasize specific rear channel sounds, while directing them away from the listening position will produce a greater sense of spaciousness. Experiment and find what sounds best to you. WALL AND CEILING MOUNTING Some models have threaded inserts for use with wall or ceiling brackets, as well as backpanel keyholes for flush wallmounting. If you will be using brackets, see their instructions for mount ing details. To use the keyhole, all you need is a screw head of the appropriate size protruding slightly from the wall. If possible, the screw should be driven into a wall stud; if not, be sure touse anchors appropriate for the speakers weight in the drywall or plaster. (See figure 4.) CONNECTIONS Note: Proper connection of your speakers to your amplifier or receiver is vital to obtaining good sound quality. Please follow these directions carefully. Sloppy connections can cause amplifier malfunction or damage. Klipsch Reference Series speakers are wired internally with Bandwidth Balanced -„¢Monster ® Cable. Bandwidth Balanced technology employs multiple gauges of highpurity copper wire,carefully selected and wound to ensure optimum signal transfer at all frequencies. You will obtain best performance from your speakers if you connect them to your amplifier or receiver with Monster Cable or similar quality wire available from your dealer. We recommend that you use 16gauge or heavier stranded copper wire. Use a lower gauge (heavier) wire for longer runs to reduce the amount of amplifier power lost due to the wires resistance. On the back of each speaker are two sets of binding posts, one feeding the tweeter and the other the woofer. For conventional wiring, these sets are connected together with goldplated metal straps or wire jumpers, which can be removed for biwiring or biamping. We will explain ordinary singlewiring first and then the alternatives. All the information regarding singlewiring also applies to biwiring. BUT FIRST:TYPES OF CONNECTORS Bare wire. Pull the two conductors apart for about an inch and strip approximately 1/4inch of insulation from the end of each.(A wire stripper will simplify this,but you can use an ordinary pocket knife to cut around and through the insulation down to the wire.) Twist the strands of wire on each individual conductor tightly together. Loosen the nuts on a pair of binding posts until the holes through the metal posts are exposed,then insert the bare wire through the holes. Screw the nuts down fingertight on the wire. Make sure that no strands of wire are touching from one binding post to the other or to any strands from the other conductor. Failure to observethis precaution at either end of the connection can result in amplifier malfunction or damage. Pins. Many premade speaker cables are terminated with metal pins. Loosen the nuts on a pair of binding posts until the holes through the metal posts are exposed, then insert the pins through the holes. Screw the nuts down fingertight on the pins - do not overtighten. Make sure that there is no metaltometal contact between the two pins or binding posts. Failure to observe thisprecaution at either end of the connection can result in amplifier malfunction or damage. Spade lugs. Some speaker cables are terminated with Ushaped connectors called spade lugs. Loosen the nuts on a pair of binding posts and slip the spade lugs around the metal posts. Screw the nuts down fingertight on the lugs and inspect to ensure they have remained firmly in place. Make sure that there is no metaltometal contact between the two lugs or binding posts. Failure to observethis precaution at either end of the connection can result in amplifier malfunction or damage. OTHER TYPES OF SPECIALTY CONNECTORS ARE AVAILABLE TO FACILITATE HOOKING UP YOUR SPEAKERS. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR AUTHORIZED KLIPSCH DEALER FOR SUGGES TIONS AND FURTHER DETAILS. SPEAKERS TO AMPLIFIER:KEEPING IT STRAIGHT One of the most important things about hooking up your speakers is keeping them in the same polarity,or phase.If they are connected out of phase,bass and sound imaging will be degraded. The easiest way to ensure that your speakers are wired in phase is to always connect the posi tive and negative output terminals on your amplifier or receiver to the matching input terminals on your speakers:positive (+,colorcoded red) to positive and negative (-“, colorcoded black) to negative. (See Figure 5.) Figure 3 X=Y=Z Figure 4 SURROUND LCR AND REARS6'15'SS LRCTVY X ZO ptional s ub O ptional s ubX=Y=ZAlternate rear placementAA BB