Alesis MONITORONEMK2 manual Connecting your speakers to an amplifier

installation • chapter 2

Connecting your speakers to an amplifier

Before connecting the speakers, make sure your amplifier is turned OFF!

The Monitor One Mk 2 features professional-grade 5-way binding posts for external wiring to the amplifier. This type of connector can accommodate bare or tinned wires, banana plugs in two different orientations, and even spade lugs.

About Wire: Use the shortest length of the largest diameter wire you can get. #12-14 gauge multi-stranded speaker wire found at most hi-fi stores works very well. This kind of wire resembles oversized lamp cord and is very easy to work with.

Use the correct polarity when wiring

Be sure you wire the + terminals of the speakers to the + terminals of the amplifier. If one speaker's polarity is out of phase with the other, the result will be loss of low frequency response and stereo imaging when the system is played. To help you do this, most speaker cable has a way to tell one conductor from another. Some use different-colored wires or insulation; others mold a small line or marker into one insulator to mark it.

In most cases, the speaker outputs of the amplifier will have a red terminal and a black terminal; these should be connected to the same-colored terminals of the Monitor One. Consult the manual of your power amplifier for specific information. In a properly-phased system, a positive input to the amplifier should result in a positive voltage on the red terminal, and push the driver forward.

If you are using a dual banana plug connector, one side of the plug usually has a "GND" marker molded on it so you can keep polarity straight after unplugging and replugging. In standard practice, the GND side connects to the black terminal of the speaker. Note that you may plug a banana connector directly into the jack top, or you may turn the red and black terminal caps of the Monitor One all the way up and plug the banana connector into the sides of the jack. Use the method that will be the most secure and cause the least amount of bending of the wire.

14 Monitor One Mk2 Reference Manual