Thank you for purchasing Atlantic Technology products. Our speaker systems have been designed to deliveri exceptional sound and value. We hope you like what you hear from them, and are happy with your decision to buy them.
Please take a few moments to read these instructions. They’re intended not only to tell you how to mount the speakers, but how to get the best perfor- mance from them.
Important Considerations
Before Installation
Recommended Wire Sizes
The longer the wire run, the heavier the wire should be. Use the following recommendations as a guide for your installation. And if you’re in doubt, remember that it never hurts to get the next heavier grade of wire. Also note that lower gauge numbers equal heavier wire sizes.
Wire Run | Wire Gauge |
<15 ft. | 18 ga. |
15 to 30 ft. | 16 ga. |
30 to 50 ft. | 14 ga. |
50 to 80 ft. | 12 ga. |
80 to 120 ft. | 10 ga. |
Location, Location, Location
A major determinant of any speaker’s sound quality is the room and its loca- tion in it. With in-wall speakers there are fewer placement options than with box speakers, so giving some thought to location can really pay off. Addition- ally, the wall your speaker is mounted in will affect its sound. Our InWall Theater Systems have been computer designed to minimize the detrimental effects wall mounting can have on sound, so they sound better than most, if not all in-wall speakers.
Locations of Choice
Assuming that you’ll be using System 5 speakers for more than simple back- ground listening, here are some placement recommendations:
Stereo Systems
For stereo music reproduction the speakers are best located at approximately ear level when seated, both on the same wall, facing the prime listening location. A separation of approximately six to eight feet between the left and right speakers is usually good. Ideally, the distance between the two speakers will be the same as the distance from the speakers to the listening position. The speakers and the listening position will then form an equilateral triangle. There is a benefit to mounting the speakers approximately the same distance from the side walls, so they both create the same reflective patterns.
Hard surfaces create lots of sound reflections in the room while soft surfaces tend to absorb sound. Note the speaker’s location in terms of proximity to glass and other highly sound reflective or absorptive surfaces. A simple pair of curtains can make a major difference in sound quality and intelligibility! The more similar the speaker’s surroundings, the more consistent the sound will be. So placing one speaker directly adjacent to a glass wall, with the other speaker by an open archway, will make for two dramatically different sounding speakers.
Note that as bass frequencies reflect within the room, some locations may be bass heavy while other areas may be bass shy. With an external subwoofer, changing its placement within the room may reduce these effects. But when in-wall speakers are utilized full range, the only real option is to change the listening position, if you end up in a difficult bass area.
Home Theater Systems
Today’s home theater systems require you to place six or more speakers in your room. Placement for these speakers is potentially more critical than with pure music reproduction alone. That’s because the goal of setting up a good home theater isn’t to put you in the movie theater; it’s to put you in the movie! That’s right, we want you to believe you’re in the jungle, the restaurant, the office, or wherever the video scene is taking place. If you keep this goal in mind throughout the system development process you’ll end up with a better home theater, for sure.
Left/Center/Right Locations The front three speakers should be at ear height when seated, just as with stereo speakers. Unfortunately, the presence of the television tends to make this difficult, if not impossible to achieve. (Unless you’re using a front projector and a perforated screen with the center channel speaker directly behind it). The closer you can get to this ideal the better, however. Try to keep the left and right speakers within 3 feet to either side of the TV screen. If possible, place the left and right speakers no more than 2 feet above or below the height of the center channel speaker. The center speaker itself should be centered on, and directly above or below the TV screen.
IMPORTANT: The System 5 LCR speaker may be used in a vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) orientation.
The All Important Surround Speakers In order to achieve optimum perfor- mance we strongly recommend Atlantic Technology Dipole or TriVector sur- round speakers. If you are using our dedicated surround speakers please follow the placement recommendations included in their installation instructions.
Non-Dipole Surrounds If you decide to use the System 5 LCR as a surround speaker keep the following in mind. The more a direct radiator like the System 5 LCR is aligned with your ears, the more localizable its sound will be. And since the vast majority of surround information consists of sonic cues that aren’t supposed to be localized, this is particularly undesirable. Generally then, when used as a surround speaker, place the System 5 LCR on the side or rear walls at least 2 feet above ear level, when seated.
