INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of athena TECHNOLOGIES® speakers! Proprietary technology and high quality manufacturing will allow you to enjoy the most natural and accurate music reproduction for many years. The advice offered in this manual is aimed at helping you maximize and maintain peak performance, and therefore, your listening satisfaction. Please take the time to read all of the instructions contained in this manual to make certain your system is properly installed and functioning correctly.
BREAK-IN PERIOD
We strongly advise that you resist the temptation to play the athena TECHNOLOGIES® speakers to their full capabilities or experiment with critical placement and listening until they have been properly broken in. This process should last approximately 50 to 100 hours of music playback. This can be easily be done by putting your compact disc player on Repeat mode, while playing a CD with a wide dynamic range at normal listening levels.
athena TECHNOLOGIES® COMPANY
BACKGROUND
athena TECHNOLOGIES® is the newest division of Audio Products International Corp., known throughout the industry as “API”. A Canadian company founded in 1975, The API factory is a modern 165,000 square foot research, development and manufacturing facility located in Toronto, Canada. API is one of the largest speaker manufacturers in the world, distributing products to over 60 countries worldwide. A talented research and development team utilizes advanced computer- based design and sophisticated measurement techniques in its ongoing quest for new and better acoustic technologies. This research is based upon the years of pioneering psycho-acoustic research developed in conjunction with the Canadian “National Research Council” (NRC), to create speakers that achieve high performance in typical home listening environments. Extensive research into every aspect of the speaker is analyzed and evaluated before the design stage begins, a concept that we refer to as a holistic design approach. This method guarantees that the finest components and materials are made and tested with sophisticated manufacturing and quality control techniques to ensure exceptional performance that is superior to speakers costing several times their price.
AMPLIFIER REQUIREMENTS
The athena TECHNOLOGIES® Point 5 Speaker series was designed to be extremely efficient and therefore very undemanding of the connected amplifier. The entire series is designed to be 8 ohm compatible allowing playback on almost any amplifier or receiver on the market. Most amplifiers with a power rating of 20-100 watts per channel will efficiently drive athena TECHNOLOGIES® S.5 and C.5 speakers. If more than one pair of speakers are being used on the same amplifier channel, (an additional pair of speakers for another room, for example) check with the amplifier manufacturer to confirm that the amplifier can handle loads under 8 ohms.
WARNING: If an amplifier is over-driven, the resulting distortion is actually many times greater than its rated power. Over-driven amplifier distortion is called “Clipping”, easily identified by its fuzzy, distorted sound, and can damage any speaker. The volume control of most amplifiers and receivers is a logarithmic type, which means that full power may be reached with the volume control set at as little as the halfway point. Operating the loudness, treble, or bass controls increases power output well beyond rated levels. The warranty on your speakers is therefore void if the voice coils are burned or damaged as a result of overpowering or clipping.
CABINET CARE
Great care and craftsmanship have gone into the construction and finish of the cabinet. Periodically use a soft, dry cloth to remove dust or fingerprints. Do not use paper towel or other abrasive materials as it may damage the finish.
LIMITED WARRANTY POLICY
WARRANTY FOR UNITED STATES AND CANADA (see back cover)
Warranty Outside of The United States and Canada:
Product warranties may be legislated differently from one country to another. Ask your local dealer for details of the LIMITED WARRANTY applicable in your country.
NOTE: Please retain the carton and packing material for the athena TECHNOLOGIES® speakers to protect them in the event of a move or if they need to be shipped to a service center. Product received damaged by a service center that has been shipped by the end user in other than the original packaging will be repaired, refurbished and properly packaged for return shipment at the end user's expense.
SPEAKER PLACEMENT
S.5 Front Speaker placement
For best stereo imaging, the left and right speakers should be the same distance from their respective side walls. If the distance from one speaker to the listener is very different from the other it can affect the soundstage or stereo imaging. Therefore, the ideal position is having the speakers equidistant to the listener.
A general guideline for speaker placement is to set up the space between speaker and listener at approximately 1-1/2 times the distance between the speakers. For example, if the speakers are placed a minimum of 6-feet (1.8m) apart (the absolute minimum), the best seating position would be 9-feet (2.4m) away.
C.5 Center Channel placement
A center channel can be expected to reproduce as much as 60% of a movie's soundtrack, most of which is dialogue. In order to maintain the effect of voices emanating from the actor's mouth, the C.5 should be centrally located between the left and right main channels and placed above or below the television. Be sure that the C.5's front baffle is flush with the front face of the television or cabinet to maximize dispersion.
S.5 Surround Speaker placement
The surround speakers can be positioned in a variety of locations. The most popular places used for surround speaker placement are the following:
Side walls: To maximize the ambient field for side wall mounting, position the speakers adjacent to and slightly behind the primary listening area at a height of approximately 6 feet.
Rear walls: To maximize the ambient field for rear wall mounting, position the speakers so they flank the main listening area and point towards the front of the room. They should be raised to a height of approximately 6 feet and should ideally have a space of 6 feet between them.
Stand mount: Place the stand mounted speakers slightly behind and on each side of the main listening area. They can be anywhere from 1-6 feet behind or to the side of the main listening area.
If you have followed these guidelines, then there should be speakers surrounding your listening area, which will result in the encompassing surround sound feeling. These are basic guidelines and can be tailored to suit the décor of your room.
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS
CAUTION:
Turn off all power in your audio/video system before proceeding with your installation. Not doing so could result in potential damage to the system.
Connecting the S.5 and C.5 Speakers
On the rear of your athena TECHNOLOGIES® S.5 and C.5 speakers are red and black binding posts. Using standard speaker wire, connect the system one channel at a time, and start your process at the Receiver. Connect the speaker wire from the positive (RED +) terminal on the receiver to the positive (RED+) terminal on the speaker. Connect the negative (BLACK-) terminal on the receiver to the negative (BLACK-) terminal on the speaker. Do this one channel at a time until all of your speakers are connected properly. Be careful to correctly match positive and negative, as well as the correct speaker to the correct channel. See Diagram 1.
NOTE: If you inadvertently reverse one of the connections (i.e, red to black), you will notice a severe lack of bass from your system. This is called wiring the system “Out of Phase”. If this occurs, check the wiring and re-connect as necessary.
A Note about Speaker wire
Contrary to popular belief, not all speaker wire is the same. The speaker wire is the only contact the speaker has with the amplifier. If thin, low quality cable, such as “lamp cord” is used, then the overall sound quality will suffer, particularly in lengths of 10 feet or more. We strongly recommend the use of high quality speaker cable to obtain the best performance from your speakers.
athena TECHNOLOGIES® is a registered trademark of Audio Products International Corp. “Dolby”, “Dolby Pro-Logic” and “Dolby Digital Surround” are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing. DTS is a Trademark of Digital Theater Systems Inc.
