1
INTRODUCTION
Since its foundation in 1966, the continuing
philosophy of B&W has been the quest for
perfect sound reproduction. Inspired by the
company’s founder, the late John Bowers, this
quest has entailed not only high investment in
audio technology and innovation but also an
abiding appreciation of music to ensure that the
technology is put to maximum effect.
B&W installed speaker systems are designed for
simple and flexible mounting in wall or ceiling
cavities. However, no matter how good the
speakers themselves, they must work well into the
listening room and time spent on planning the
installation will reap the reward of many hours
listening pleasure. Please read through this
manual fully. It will help you optimise the
performance of the system.
B&W distribute to over 50 countries world-wide
and maintain a network of dedicated distributors
who will be able to help should you have any
problems your dealer cannot resolve.
UNPACKING
• Fold the top carton flaps right back and invert
the carton and contents.
• Lift the carton clear of the contents.
• Remove the inner packing from the product.
Check the contents:
• 2x Pre-mount frames
• 2x Retaining wings
• 1x Alignment template
• 1x Accessory pack containing:
9x Self Tapping screws
(For fixing PMK to studs)
POSITIONING – NEW
CONSTRUCTION VERSUS RETROFIT
Check that there is no conflict with other in-wall
installations (pipe work, air conditioning, powercabling etc.). In existing construction, use a studfinding tool to map the wall construction
accurately and a pipe detector to scan the
proposed installation position. Avoid installing
the speakers in the same cavity of the wall as
flimsy ducting, which may be induced to rattle.
The speakers are designed to operate
satisfactorily in a wide range of cavity volumes,
ideally above 15 litres (0.5 cu ft).
The speakers are balanced for half-space
mounting (i.e. flush in a wall or soffit). Placement
near a wall/ceiling, wall/floor junction or in a
corner is to be avoided as it may give rise to too
much bass and a boomy quality to the sound. If
possible, keep the speakers more than 0.5m
(20in) from the wall edges.
The speakers may be mounted in either portrait
or landscape orientation. Wherever possible,
however, portrait orientation, with the drive units
mounted one above the other, is to be preferred
as it gives better horizontal dispersion and a
more stable stereo image. If landscape
orientation is used, orient the baffle so that the
tweeters are towards the centre of the room. Do
not mix portrait and landscape at left and right,
as an imprecise stereo image will be created.
The following sections give guidance on
optimum positioning, but this may be modified in
line with domestic constraints.
Normal Stereo and Home Theatre
Front Left and Right Applications
The speakers should be positioned with the
tweeters at a little above ear height. If the
speakers are to be used low in the wall invert
the speaker so the bass unit is uppermost. The
spacing between them will depend on the size
of the room and distance to the listeners. As a
general rule they should not be closer to the
listener than 1.5m (5ft) and the distance between
them should not exceed their distance from the
listeners. Having the speakers and listeners
approximately at the corners of an equilateral
triangle is not a bad rule to follow. This
arrangement generally provides the best stereo
imaging. If the speakers are placed too far
apart, a hole-in-the-middle effect may become
apparent. Too close and the panoramic effect
will be lost, accompanied by a reduction in
depth information.
For Home Theatre Installations, the speakers
should not be closer together than the width of
the screen and their height should be
approximately at centre screen height.
Home Theatre Centre Channel
Applications
Theoretically, the best position for a centre
channel speaker is behind the centre of the
screen, but this can only be realised when using
an acoustically transparent projection screen. In
most cases the speaker will be positioned in a
laterally central position either directly above or
directly below the screen. All other things being
equal, choose the position that is nearest ear
height. However, if this leads to a below screen
position, you should be careful to ensure that the
speaker is not too close to the floor (see above)
and that the sound will not be muffled by the
later placement of furniture.Seealso the comments
on baffle orientation in the preceding section.
Home Theatre Surround Speaker
Applications
The sound from surround speakers should be as
diffuse as possible. This ensures that the frontal
audio image is not distorted by changes of
listener position or head movements. The
speakers should generally be placed behind
and 0.6m (2ft) or more above ear height.
Ceiling mounting often gives good results in
this application. The orientation is less important
in this application than in other cases.
WARNING: The CWM
™
speakers produce a
static magnetic field that extends outside the
cabinet boundary. As such They should not be
placed within 0.5m (20in) of equipment that
may be affected by such a field, e.g. Cathode
Ray Tubes in TVs and Personal Computers.
DAMPING THE WALL CAVITY
A foam pad is supplied to damp the area
behind the drive units. In addition, loosely fill the
whole section of the wall cavity with wadding.
Fibreglass and mineral wool matting supplied for
heat insulation are suitable, but not closed cell
foam or expanded polystyrene. Check that there
is no debris that may fall into the speaker
(especially in ceiling mount situations).
IMPORTANT: YOU SHOULD CHECK THAT THE
MATERIALS YOU USE MEET THE LOCAL FIRE
AND BUILDING REGULATIONS.
FITTING THE PRE-MOUNT FRAME
New Construction
(figure 1)
Use the template provided to position the correct
size aperture, having regard to how the wall
frame is to be lined up with any features such as
door frames.
Clip the two plastic wings to the pre-mount frame
(top and bottom for horizontal studs and each
side for vertical studs) Offer the assembly up to
the studs. Screw the wings onto the front of the
studs. Break the excess length of wings off on
either side of the studs. A tab is provided to
wire-tie the speaker wire to the PMK to keep it
in place during drywall phase. Trim hole for
speakers when drywall is installed.
After the drywall panels have been fixed and the
coating applied, fit the wall frame and speakers
as described in the user manual supplied with
the system.
Existing Construction (not for PMK™500)
(figure 2)
Using the pre-mount frame in retrofit situations
requires that the aperture is cut fairly accurately.
Use the template provided to mark out the
correct size aperture, having regard to how the
wall frame is to be lined up with any features
such as door frames, and cut out the aperture
neatly.
Feed the pre-mount frame through the aperture
and pull it forward so that it sits flat on the rear
of the drywall and the inner part of the frame
protrudes through the aperture.
Hold the pre-mount frame in place and fit the
wall frame as described in the user manual
supplied with the system.