321 Studios P777 manual Speakers, Speaker placement, Speaker wiring options

speakers

Speaker placement

The P777 allows connection of up to seven loudspeakers. All speakers, with the exception of the subwoofer, should be arranged around your normal viewing/listening position (see diagram). The subwoofer can be placed almost anywhere and we recommend experimenting with it in various positions to obtain the best result.

The closer you place a speaker to intersecting room surfaces (corners, wall and ceiling, wall and floor), the stronger the bass output. This can help bass-shy speakers, but it can also add too much bass. Again, just moving a speaker a few inches can often make a big difference in sound.

Position your front left (L) and right (R) speakers to achieve a good stereo image for normal musical reproduction. If they are placed too close together there will be a lack of spaciousness. Alternatively if they are placed too far apart the stereo image will appear to have a hole in the middle and will be presented in

halves.

The centre speaker (C) allows for a more		L
realistic reproduction of dialogue and
centre sounds as well as wider and
better imaging for stereo effects
and background sounds for
home cinema use. Do not	SL
compromise on the quality

of your centre speaker as it carries all the dialogue for a home cinema system.

The surround left (SL) and right (SR) speakers reproduce the ambient sound and effects present in a multichannel home cinema system.

The surround back left (SBL) and surround back right (SBR) speakers are used to add extra depth, a more spacious ambience and sound localisation.

A subwoofer (SW) will greatly improve the bass performance from your system. This is useful for reproducing special cinema effects, especially where a dedicated LFE (Low-Frequency Effects) channel is available, as with Dolby Digital or DTS Digital Surround encoded discs.

				R
	C
		SW
				SR
SBL			SBR

Speaker wiring options

Single wiring

Single wiring is the conventional wiring method of running a single cable per channel between the amplifier and the speaker; this is the easiest technique.

Bi-wiring

Bi-wiring is running two separate cables between the amplifier and each speaker, with one cable carrying the low-frequency information, the other the higher- frequency signals.

Bi-wiring can improve the sound of your system because the separation of high- and low-frequency signal currents into different speaker cables avoids distortions caused by the different currents interacting with one- another within a single cable, as occurs in single-wired systems.

The P777 is designed to allow easy bi-wiring, but you will need to connect to loudspeakers that provide separate terminals for the two cables. Each speaker must have two pairs of terminals; one pair labelled HF or ‘High Frequency’, the other pair labelled LF or ‘Low Frequency’.

Bi-amping

Bi-amping is the separation of the amplification of low- and high-frequency signals over two amplifiers. Bi-amping requires the use of two amplifiers per channel.

Notes on making speaker connections

<Do not make any connections to any amplifier while it is switched on. We recommend that your amplifier is completely disconnected from the mains supply before starting.

<Before switching your amplifier on for the first time after connecting to speakers, please check all connections thoroughly. Ensure that bare wires or cables are not touching each other or the amplifier’s chassis (which could cause short circuits), and that you have connected positive (+) to positive and negative (–) to negative. Be sure to check the wiring for both the amplifier and the speaker.

<After making connections: switch the amplifier on, with the pre-amplifier volume set to a low setting. Select a source signal, then gradually increase the volume to the required listening level.

<If you are unsure as to how your system should be connected, or need advice on bi-wiring or bi-amping, please contact your Arcam dealer who will be happy to help you.

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