Niles Audio CM8SW manual Painting the Speakers, Speaker/Subwoofer Phase

Final Installation In New Or Existing Construction

Painting the Speakers

All models may be painted. The plastic will readily accept most paints.

The speakers must be masked prior to painting them. The inside circular portion of the hole template can be used as a paint mask. Remove the outside portion of the template by gently pulling along the perforation. Affix the mask to the front of the speaker by friction-fitting the mask into the bezel.

The grilles should be painted before they are installed. For all models, the best results will be obtained by using a spray gun or airless sprayer, thinning the paint (prevents clogging of grille holes), and by applying several light coats instead of one heavy one.

Speaker/Subwoofer Phase

Speaker wire has two conductors. One conductor is attached to the negative (–) terminals and one conductor is attached to the positive (+) terminals of both your speaker and your amplifier. Usually, the wire is marked for your convenience. There are different ways wires are marked: a stripe on one wire, a ribbed area of one conductor you can only feel, different col- ors of metal wire on each conductor, or there might be a fabric strand or string wound into one of the conductors. Of course, there are some wires which appear completely identical. Be careful, or you might make a mistake.

If you make a mistake, there are three pos- sibilities:

1.Subwoofer Input Phase Reversal

The Left Input of the Subwoofer is out of Phase with the Right Input. If this is the case, you will hear almost no output out of the subwoofer when playing a loud bass passage. Try reversing one of the subwoofer inputs. If the sound gets a

great deal louder, that was the problem. If bass sound was reduced return the connections to their original state.

2.Subwoofer /Satellite Relative Phasing

An acoustically out-of-phase sat/sub combination works against each other and the sound of the overall system will be lacking in bass. This might be because of the position of the subwoofer rather than an error in wiring. Try revers- ing the phase of both the left and the right outputs of the subwoofer. Make sure you evaluate (listen) from the prima- ry listening position.

3.Satellite Left-Right Phase Reversal

If the right satellite is reversed in phase from the connections on the left satellite, you will hear reduced bass and a “phasey” diffused vocal image. If you suspect the sound is not right and you cannot see any markings on the wire, try this simple test:

a. Stand half way between the two satellite speakers.

b. Play some vocal music with the amplifier or radio set to Mono.

c. Listen to the apparent placement of the vocals.

d. Turn off the amplifier and reverse one of the connections on the subwoofer.

e. Repeat the listening test with the same setting of the volume control. When the sound has a richer bass, is slightly louder and the vocal image is “focused” the satellites are working together or “in-phase”.

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