Cambridge SoundWorks Six by Henry Kloss User Manual

Instructions for:

Model Six

by Henry Kloss

Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................. 1

Unpacking The System ............................................................................. 2

About Amplifier Power ............................................................................. 3

Cleaning The Cabinets .............................................................................. 3

Optimizing Your System ........................................................................... 4

Connecting The System ............................................................................ 6

10-Year Limited Warranty ........................................................................ 7

In Case of Difficulty .................................................................................. 7

About The Model Six ................................................................................ 8

Introduction

hank you for purchasing
Model Six loudspeakers by
Henry Kloss. More than 30
years ago, Henry Kloss

T

designed the now-legendary
KLH™ Model Six, the first speaker
system to exploit the potential of
two-way design to provide
extraordinary performance at a
moderate cost. A decade later, he
took the two-way concept still
further with The Advent
Loudspeaker, one of the best­selling speaker models of
all time.

Today Henry Kloss has come
full circle to yet again exploit the
cost/performance advantages of a
properly conceived two-way
loudspeaker. The result is
Cambridge SoundWorks’ Model
Six loudspeakers, a basic two­way system named in honor of
his first ground-breaking two­way system.

™

Cambridge SoundWorks

1-877-YES-HIFI

(1-877-937-4434)

24 hours a day,

every day

In Canada: 1-800-987-9104

Outside US or Canada:

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

www.cambridgesoundworks.com

E-mail:

[e-mail]

1

Unpacking The System

1. Upon unpacking your Model
Six loudspeakers please

examine them carefully for any
signs of shipping damage. If
there is evidence of shipping
damage, do not discard the
shipping carton, do not install
or use the Model Six loud­speakers, and contact the store
where you purchased the
system or call your Cambridge
SoundWorks Audio/Video
Consultant immediately at
1-877-YES-HIFI. Your Audio/
Video Consultant will tell you
how to proceed and will help
minimize any inconvenience.

2. Check to make sure the box
includes eight rubber feet.
Simply peel the feet off their
backing, and place them near
the corners on the bottom of
each speaker.

3. We suggest that you keep the
shipping carton and packing
materials in case you later
move, or have to ship your
speakers.

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Model Six Speakers (2)

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Rubber feet (2 strips of 4)

2

About Amplifier Power

The amount of amplifier or
receiver power needed to drive the
Model Six loudspeakers satisfacto­rily varies significantly with such
factors as the size of the listening
room, its acoustics and furnish­ings, the type of music you like to
listen to, and most importantly,
how loud you like to play it. Power
requirements can range from 20 to
150 watts per channel.

The Model Six loudspeakers can
be used safely to play music with
the most powerful amplifiers and
receivers designed for home
listening. However, take reason­able care to prevent strong non­musical transients. Keep the
volume turned down when
connecting or disconnecting
components, raising or lowering
your turntable’s tonearm, and so
on. This will help protect your ears
as well as the speakers.

If at a given volume level the
sound is consistently “grainy” or
“gritty,” you may be overdriving
your amplifier or receiver. Back off
on the volume control until the
symptoms disappear. If that is not
loud enough for you, you may
need a more powerful amplifier or
receiver for satisfactory results.
Call your store or a Cambridge
SoundWorks Audio/Video Consult­ant, who will advise you on how
much power would be appropriate
for your particular circumstances.

Cleaning The Cabinets

If more than dusting is needed, the
finish on your Model Six loudspeak­ers can be cleaned with a window or
vinyl cleaning product. Avoid spray­ing the cleaner directly on the
speaker grilles to prevent damage
to them or the speaker.

3

Optimizing Your System

We encourage you to experiment
with different locations for your
Model Six loudspeakers within
your listening room. Of course, if
the system sounds satisfactory
from the moment you connect it
and first turn it on, you may wish
to go no further. But if you have
any doubts or wish to see if an
improvement can be made, we
suggest you experiment with
placement using
these guidelines.

1. Let your ears be your guide,
and trust them. When the
speakers sound right to you,
you’ve found the best
placement.

2. A relatively small change in
placement can have a rela­tively large effect on the
sound. For example, low bass
increases as you move the
speakers closer to intersecting
room surfaces. The sound

appears brighter with the
speakers close to the listening
area than with them across the
room. The fullness of the
sound, a function of mid-bass
rather than low bass, is greater
with the speakers against a
wall than with them out in
the room.

This is not to imply that “more
is better,” whether it be low­bass, brightness or fullness.
The point is that a change can
be effected simply by moving
one or both speakers.

3. Program material varies
greatly, so be sure to listen to a
variety of recordings. This will
prevent your being misled by
the particular characteristics of
a particular recording.

4. Model Six’s high-frequency
output has been chosen: a) to
take full advantage of the very

best program material, and b)
to accommodate the scattering
and reflecting of high­frequencies by room surfaces
when the units are placed
across the room from the
listening area. If you find the
sound too bright on older,
noisy recordings and/or with
the speakers placed close to the
listeners, adjust your amplifier
or receiver’s treble control.

If it is necessary to place the
speakers close to the listening
area, try placing the units at
an angle so that listeners
aren’t directly on axis. In a
small room, you might try
aiming the speakers away from
the listeners altogether into the
corners of the room to scatter
the highs for a more natural,
spacious sound.

5. The subjective “fullness” of the
sound is not so much a
function of the low bass as it is
of the mid-bass. Similarly, the
subjective “openness” of the
sound is not so much a
function of the high treble as it
is of the lower midrange. Both
of these critical ranges are
affected by speaker placement.

The mid-bass and mid-range
balance of Model Six loud­speakers, which are somewhat
subjective in the first place,
will usually be appropriate
with the speakers against a
wall. If you have them out
from the wall and the sound is
subjectively too “thin”
(particularly on vocal record­ings), move them back against
a wall. If they are against the
wall and sound to “heavy” or
“boomy,” particularly on male
voices, try them out from
the wall.

4

6. The Model Six’s woofer can
reproduce low bass, such as
bass drum, organ pedals, and
the lowest notes of string
basses and synthesizers. The
strength of these sounds,
some of which are more felt
than heard, is affected by the
position of the speakers. Bass
output becomes stronger when
the speakers are placed close
to a wall. Bass output is even
stronger when the speakers
are placed near the intersec­tion of two planes in the room
(e.g. a corner where two walls
meet). Bass output becomes
stronger yet when the
speakers are placed near the
intersection of three planes in
a room (e.g. on the floor in a
corner). In fact, bass output
often becomes too strong
when placed in a corner on
the floor or near the ceiling.
Please note that not all
recordings have true low bass
on them, so be sure to make
judgements on recordings
which do.

7. Call the store where you
purchased the system or
Cambridge SoundWorks if
you’re not happy with what you
hear and are having trouble
improving it. Your store or a
Cambridge SoundWorks Audio/
Video Consultant can be of great
assistance making suggestions
for improvements, trouble­shooting your entire stereo
system if necessary.

5

Connecting The System

1. We recommend 18 gauge wire
(or regular electrical “zip” cord)
to connect your Model Six
loudspeakers to your amplifier
or receiver. For runs of more
than 50 feet, we recommend
the next size larger wire, 16
gauge or heavier wire.

2. Strip about half an inch of
insulation off the ends of each
speaker wire to expose the two
conductors. Twist the wire
strands tightly on each
conductor.

3. The stripped ends of the
speaker cable can be inserted
directly into the holes on the
side of the speaker’s binding
post. Unscrew the black or red
knob and insert the stripped
end of the cable into the
opening in the side of the
binding post, then tighten the
knob again. Be sure that no
individual strands of wire
short across terminal pairs on
the speaker units or on your
amplifier or receiver.

4. It’s important that you connect
both speakers identically. Your
receiver/amplifier and your
speaker terminals are color­coded. Connect the amplifier’s
red terminal to the speaker’s
red terminal, and the black
terminal to the speaker’s black
terminal. Look for the ribbed
insulation on one lead of the
wire – or for different colored
wire strands after you strip off
the insulation – as a means of
telling the two leads apart.

While reversing the connections
on one unit will do no damage, the
speakers will be “out-of-phase”
which can diminish the stereo
effect and the speakers’ low bass
output.

Insert the wire marked with a stripe
or molding into the red terminal,
and insert the unmarked wire into
the black terminal.

6

10-Year Limited Warranty

To the original purchaser,
Cambridge SoundWorks, Inc. will
warrant the Model Six loudspeak­ers to be free of defects in material
and workmanship for a period of
ten (10) years from date of
purchase. With respect to defects,
Cambridge SoundWorks will, at its
option, replace the product or
repair the defect in the product
with no charge to the original
purchaser for parts or labor.

This warranty does not extend
to any defect, malfunction or
failure caused by misuse, abuse,
accident, faulty hookup, defective
associated equipment or use of the
speaker with equipment for which
it is not intended.

This warranty is valid only
when the speaker is returned to
an authorized Cambridge
SoundWorks Service Station or
directly to Cambridge Sound­Works at the address to the right,
freight prepaid, together with a
copy of the original sales slip to
establish warranty status. If you
have any questions regarding the
location of an Authorized Service
Stations in your area, please
contact Cambridge SoundWorks.

This is the sole and express
warranty. This warranty is in lieu
of all other warranties, expressed
or implied, of merchantability,
fitness for purpose or otherwise. In
no event shall Cambridge
SoundWorks be liable for inciden­tal or consequential damages or
have any liability with respect to
defects other than the obligations
set forth above.

To ensure warranty coverage it
is incumbent upon the original
purchaser to inform Cambridge
SoundWorks or any of its
Authorized Service Stations of the
defect within the warranty period.
The only acceptable method of
establishing warranty status is a
copy of the original proof of
purchase indicating customer’s
name and purchase date.

For warranty information
contact:

Cambridge SoundWorks, Inc.

311 Needham St.

Newton, MA 02464

1-877-YES-HIFI

(1-877-937-4434)

www.cambridgesoundworks.com

[e-mail]

Difficulty?

If you suspect a problem with
your Model Six loudspeakers,
contact the store where you
purchased them. If a problem is
confirmed, you will need to
return the speakers to that store.
If you purchased the speaker
through our mail order catalog
service, call a Cambridge
SoundWorks Audio/Video Con­sultant at 1-877-YES-HIFI, who
will help you track down the
problem, which could be in some
other component in your system.
If together you agree that there is
something wrong, we will supply
you with a Return Authorization
Number. Please do not return the
Model Six loudspeakers, or any of
their parts, to the factory without
prior authorization.

email:

7

About The Model Six

More than 30 years ago, Henry
Kloss designed the now-legendary

™

KLH

Model Six, the first speaker
system to exploit the potential of
two-way design to provide
extraordinary performance at a
moderate cost. A decade later, he
took the two-way concept still
further with The Advent

™

Loud­speaker, one of the best-selling
speaker models of all time.

Today Henry Kloss has come full
circle to yet again exploit the cost/
performance advantages of a
properly conceived two-way
loudspeaker. The result is Cam­bridge SoundWorks’ Model Six, a
basic two-way system named in
honor of his first ground-breaking
two-way system.

Not An “Extension Speaker”

Henry is adamant that Model Six
not be considered just as an
“extension speaker,” or a surround
speaker, as often happens today
with moderate-cost models. “Model
Six is a serious main speaker with
sufficient frequency range and
power-handling to satisfy serious
music listeners. I’ve worked as hard
on this speaker as any I’ve ever
designed, including those costing a
lot more.” The result, he points out,

is that Model Six speakers, when
combined with a good AM/FM
receiver and CD player comprise a
complete music system for $500­$600 that seriously outperforms
typical pre-packaged “shelf” or
“rack” systems.

Costly Components

At the heart of Model Six are its
drivers, a 1
center
designed 8" acoustic suspension
woofer. While classic in their
simplicity, these drivers and their
configuration differ significantly

3

/4" cone tweeter with

5

/8" dome, and a newly-

from other two-way, moderate­cost systems.

First of all, Model Six’s crossover
frequency is 2,000 Hz, much lower
than many other two-way designs.
This lower crossover makes it
possible to ensure a smooth,

uncolored upper midrange with
wide dispersion. It would be
impractical to use this low a
crossover frequency with conven­tional tweeters that can’t handle
sufficient power in the 2,000 Hz
region. But Model Six’s tweeter (the
same as used in our Ensemble

systems) uses a compliant butyl
rubber suspension that allows the
“long-throws” necessary to
reproduce music in this range.

The 8" woofer cone is larger than
those found in other speakers of
Model Six’s size and price, enabling
it to move substantial amounts of
air at low frequencies. The woofer’s
magnet and voice coil are also
larger and costlier than usual. The
result is that Model Six’s bass is
both more accurate and more
extended than similar systems.

Thanks to proper design and
materials, no individual frequencies
predominate, or are missing. But as
with all Henry Kloss designs, that is
only the beginning. He then goes on
to “voice” the system – painstak­ingly fine-tuning octave-to-octave
balance. The care with which this
process has been carried out with
Model Six, more than any other
single factor, accounts for Henry’s
statement that he worked as hard
on this speaker as any other he’s
ever designed.

Cabinet Design

“Listeners who don’t have a lot to
spend need not be shortchanged by
a product’s appearance any more
than by its performance” says

8

Henry Kloss. As a result, he has
devoted considerable time and
effort to making Model Six as
appealing visually as it is
sonically.

Especially convincing simulated
wood-grain finishes were chosen –
in oak, teak and black ash. A
subtly rounded-in “bullnose”
molding frames a black grille
fabric. The goal was for Model Six
to look, as well as sound, more
expensive than it is.

Long-Term Satisfaction

With response extending down
to the lowest octave and out
beyond audibility, excellent power
handling and a smooth, “open”
sound, Model Six will provide
unparalleled satisfaction for its
modest cost. Henry says “Model Six
is the least expensive speaker
system that will satisfy you for the
rest of your life.”

® Ensemble is a registered trademark of Cambridge SoundWorks Incorporated

9

311 Needham Street, Newton MA 02464

1-877-937-4434 Fax: [phone]

www.cambridgesoundworks.com

Email: [e-mail]

P81-0461 0400 A Company