JBL SCS136 User Manual

SCS136

SURROUND CINEMA
SPEAKERS

OWNER’S GUIDE

2

READ FIRST!

Important Safety Precautions!

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this apparatus near

water.

6. Clean only with a dry cloth.

7. Do not block any ventilation open-

ings. Install in accordance with the
manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Do not install near any heat
sources such as radiators, heat
registers, stoves or other apparatus
(including amplifiers) that produce
heat.

9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of
the polarized or grounding-type plug.
A polarized plug has two blades with
one wider than the other. A grounding

­type plug has two blades and a third
grounding prong. The wide blade or
the third prong are provided for your
safety. If the provided plug does not
fit into your outlet, consult an electri­cian for replacement of the obsolete
outlet.

10. Protect the power cord from being
walked on or pinched, particularly at
plugs, convenience receptacles and
the point where they exit from the
apparatus.

11. Only use attachments/accessories
specified by the manufacturer.

12. Use only with the cart, stand, tri­pod, bracket or table
specified by the manu­facturer or sold with the
apparatus. When a cart

is used, use caution when moving the
cart/apparatus combination to avoid
injury from tip-over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during light­ning storms or when unused for long
periods of time.

14. Refer all servicing to qualified
service personnel. Servicing is
required when the apparatus has
been damaged in any way, such as
power-supply cord or plug is dam­aged, liquid has been spilled or
objects have fallen into the appara­tus, the apparatus has been exposed
to rain or moisture, does not operate
normally, or has been dropped.

15. Do not use attachments not
recommended by the product
manufacturer, as they may cause
hazards.

16. This product should be operated
only from the type of power source
indicated on the marking label. If you
are not sure of the type of power sup­ply to your home, consult your prod­uct dealer or local power company.
For products intended to operate from
battery power, or other sources, refer
to the operating instructions.

17. If an outside antenna or cable
system is connected to the product,
be sure the antenna or cable system
is grounded so as to provide some
protection against voltage surges and
built-up static charges. Article 810 of
the National Electrical Code, ANSI/
NFPA 70, provides information with
regard to proper grounding of the
mast and supporting structure,
grounding of the lead-in wire to an
antenna discharge unit, size of
grounding conductors, location of
antenna-discharge unit, connection to
grounding electrodes, and require­ments for the grounding electrode.
See Figure A.

18. An outside antenna system should
not be located in the vicinity of over­head power lines or other electric
light or power circuits, or where it
can fall into such power lines or cir­cuits. When installing an outside
antenna system, extreme care should
be taken to keep from touching such
power lines or circuits, as contact
with them might be fatal.

19. Do not overload wall outlets,
extension cords, or integral conve­nience receptacles, as this can result
in a risk of fire or electric shock.

20. Never push objects of any kind
into this product through openings, as
they may touch dangerous voltage
points or short-out parts that could
result in a fire or electric shock.
Never spill liquid of any kind on the
product.

21. Do not attempt to service this
product yourself, as opening or
removing covers may expose you to
dangerous voltage or other hazards.
Refer all servicing to qualified service
personnel.

22. When replacement parts are
required, be sure the service tech­nician has used replacement parts
specified by the manufacturer or that
have the same characteristics as the
original part. Unauthorized substitu­tions may result in fire, electric shock
or other hazards.

23. Upon completion of any service or
repairs to this product, ask the service
technician to perform safety checks
to determine that the product is in
proper operating condition.

24. The product should be mounted
to a wall or ceiling only as recom­mended by the manufacturer.

Figure A.
Example of Antenna
Grounding as per National
Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70

CAUTION

RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPEN

CAUTION: To prevent electric shock,

do not remove the grounding plug
on the power cord, or use any plug

or extension cord that does not have

a grounding plug provided.

Make certain that the

AC outlet is properly grounded.

Do not use an adapter plug

with this product.

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol,
within an equilateral triangle, is intended to
alert the user to the presence of uninsulated

“dangerous voltage” within the product’s
enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a
risk of electric shock to persons.

The exclamation point within an equilateral

triangle is intended to alert the user to the

presence of important operating and

maintenance (servicing) instructions in the

literature accompanying the appliance.

Antenna Lead-In Wire

Ground Clamp

Antenna Discharge Unit (NEC Section 810-20)

Grounding Conductors (NEC Section 810-21)

Electric Service Equipment

Ground Clamps

Power Service Grounding Electrode System
(NEC Art 250, Part H)

3

INCLUDED

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING JBL

For more than 50 years, JBL
has been involved in every
aspect of music and film
recording and reproduction,
from live performances to
the recordings you play in
your home, car or office.

We’re confident that the JBL
system you have chosen will

provide every note of enjoy­ment that you expected –
and that when you think
about purchasing additional
audio equipment for your
home, car or office, you will
once again choose JBL.

Please take a moment to
register your product on our

Web site at www.jbl.com.
It enables us to keep you
posted on our latest advance­ments, and helps us to better
understand our customers
and build products that
meet their needs and
expectations.

JBL Consumer Products

Five satellites for left, right and
surrounds. Wall-mount brackets.

One center channel speaker
with adjustable support leg.

Powered subwoofer.

Two 20' speaker cables for
connection from receiver to
subwoofer.

Two 15' speaker cables for
connection from subwoofer
to front speakers.

Four 40' speaker cables for
connection from receiver to
three rear satellites and
center speaker.

4

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

SUBWOOFER

SURROUND SPEAKERS

5

– 6 ft.

FRONT
SPEAKERS

0-2 ft.

The front speakers should be
placed the same distance
from each other as they are
from the listening position.
They should be placed at
about the same height from
the floor as the listeners’
ears will be, or they may be
angled toward the listeners.

The center channel speaker
should be placed slightly
behind the front left and right
speakers, and no more than
two feet above or below the
tweeters of the left and right
speakers. It is often con­venient to set the center
speaker on top of the tele­vision set, as shown in the
drawing. Use the supplied
support leg to aim it toward
the listener by screwing the
leg in to angle the speaker
up, or unscrewing the leg

slightly to angle the speaker
down.

Two of the surround speak­ers should be placed slightly
behind the listening position
and, ideally, should face
each other and be at a level
higher than the listeners’
ears. If that is not possible,
they may be placed on a
wall behind the listening
position, facing forward.
The surround back speaker
should be placed on the wall
behind the listening position,
facing the center channel
speaker. You may leave the
surround back speaker out
of your system altogether if
your receiver/processor only
supports 5.1 channels. The
surround speakers should
not call attention to them­selves. Experiment with their

placement until you hear
a diffuse, ambient sound
accompanying the main­program material heard in
the front speakers.

The low-frequency material
reproduced by the subwoofer
is mostly omnidirectional,
and this speaker may be
placed in a convenient loca­tion in the room. However,
bass reproduction will be
maximized when the sub­woofer is placed in a corner
along the same wall as the
front speakers. Experiment
with subwoofer placement
by temporarily placing the
subwoofer in the listening
position and moving around
the room until the bass
reproduction is best. Place
the subwoofer in that location.

CENTER CHANNEL
SPEAKER

Stands shown are optional.

5

MOUNTING OPTIONS

On shelves.

WALL-MOUNTING

On the wall. Wall
brackets are included.

Slide speaker onto support.

On optional stands (FS300).

Place speaker and
support on wall plate.

Attach plate to wall. The
brackets should be placed, if
possible, so that the screws
will fasten into a wooden wall
stud. If that is not possible,
use properly selected wall
anchors.

The customer is responsible
for proper selection and use
of mounting hardware, avail­able through hardware
stores, to properly and safely
wall-mount the speakers.

SATELLITES AND SURROUNDS

6

CONNECTION TIPS

SPEAKER CONNECTIONS

Separate and strip the ends of
the speaker wire as shown.
Speakers and electronics
terminals have corresponding
(+) and (–) terminals. Most
manufacturers of speakers
and electronics, including
JBL, use red to denote the
(+) terminal and black for the
(–) terminal.

The (+) lead of the speaker
wire is noted with a stripe.
It is important to connect
both speakers identically: (+)
on the speaker to (+) on the
amplifier and (–) on the
speaker to (–) on the amplifier.
Wiring “out of phase” results
in thin sound, weak bass and
a poor stereo image.

With the advent of multichan­nel surround sound systems,
connecting all of the speakers
in your system with the cor­rect polarity remains equally
important in order to preserve
the proper ambience and
directionality of the program
material.

To connect the supplied
speaker wires to the
speaker terminals, press the
red or black plastic tab for
the desired terminal, insert
the bare end of the wire into
the hole and release the tab.
Gently tug on the wire to
make sure that it is fully
inserted.

7

DOLBY* PRO LOGIC* (NON-DIGITAL)

–

SPEAKER LEVEL

Use this installation method
for Dolby Pro Logic applica­tions (not Dolby Digital, DTS

®

or other digital processing),
where the receiver/processor
does not have a subwoofer
output, or a volume-controlled
preamp (line-) level output:

Connect your receiver or
amplifier’s front left and right
speaker terminals to the left
and right terminals on the
subwoofer that are marked
“High Level In.” Connect the
left and right terminals on the
subwoofer that are marked
“High Level Out” to the
corresponding terminals on
the back of your front left
and right speakers.

Connect your receiver or
amplifier’s center, surround
and surround back speaker
terminals to the correspon­ding terminals on the back of
your center and surround
speakers.

Right Front

Right Surround

Left Front

Left Surround

Center

+ – + –

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –

Left Front Center

+ –

Left Surround

Right Front

+ –

Right Surround

Surround Back

+ –

+ –

Surround Back

+ –

Subwoofer

Receiver

HIGH LEVEL

+ – – +

L R

OUT

IN

8

DOLBY PRO LOGIC (NON-DIGITAL)

–

LINE LEVEL

Use this installation method
for Dolby Pro Logic appli­cations (not Dolby Digital,
DTS or other digital process­ing), where the receiver/
processor is equipped with
a subwoofer output, or a

volume-controlled preamp
(line-) level output:

Use RCA-type patch cords
to connect the line-level
subwoofer outputs on your
receiver or amplifier to the
line-level inputs on the sub­woofer. IMPORTANT: Do not

use the LFE input on the sub­woofer with Dolby Pro Logic
processors. NOTE: If your
receiver or amplifier only has
one subwoofer output jack,
then you will need to use a
Y-connector (not included).
Plug the male end of the Y­connector into your receiver
or amplifier’s subwoofer out­put jack, and connect each
of the two female ends to
separate RCA-type patch
cords. Finally, plug the RCA­type patch cords into the
line-level inputs on the sub­woofer.

Connect each speaker to
the corresponding speaker
terminals on your receiver
or amplifier.

Make sure your receiver or
processor is correctly con­figured to indicate that the
subwoofer is “On.”

Note for advanced users: If
your receiver/processor has
a built-in low-pass crossover
filter for the subwoofer out­put, you may use the LFE
input to bypass the sub­woofer’s internal crossover.

Use this installation method
for Dolby Digital, DTS or
other digital surround
processors:

Use the line-level input jack
marked “LFE” for the Low­Frequency Effects channel.

Connect this jack to the LFE
output or subwoofer output
on your receiver or amplifier.
Connect each speaker to the
corresponding speaker
terminals on your receiver
or amplifier.

Make sure that you have
configured your surround
sound processor for
“Subwoofer On.” The
receiver should be config-

ured for 6.1-channel opera­tion (if available), and the
front left, front right, center
and rear speakers should all
be set to “Small.” If your
receiver allows you to set
the crossover frequency
between the subwoofer and
the main speakers, select
either 120Hz or 150Hz, or
select the setting that is the
closest frequency below
these.

DOLBY DIGITAL OR DTS
(OR OTHER DIGITAL SURROUND MODE) CONNECTION

LINE LEVEL IN

LFE INPUT

LFE OUT

L

R

SUBWOOFERRECEIVER

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –

+ –+ –

Receiver

Subwoofer

Out

Left

Front

Left

Surround

+ –

Right
Front

Right

Surround

Subwoofer

R L

Center

Surround Back

Line-

Level In

Right Surround

Right Front

Left Surround

Left Front

Center

R

L

+ –

Surround Back

+ –

9

OPERATION

MIN MAX

Subwoofer

Level

MIN MAX

Subwoofer

Level

Move the Master Power
switch (marked “Power” ¡)
to the “•” (On) position to use
the subwoofer. The SCS136
subwoofer will automatically
turn on or go into standby
(sleep) mode when left in the
auto mode (“Auto/On” switch

™ in the “Auto” position).
When your receiver or ampli­fier is off, or is not sending
program material to the sub­woofer, the subwoofer will be
in standby mode (LED will be
red). When the sub

woofer

senses an audio signal,

it will

automatically turn on (LED will
be green). If the subwoofer
does not sense a signal after
approximately twenty minutes,
it will automatically go back
into standby mode.

When the “Auto/On” switch
™ is switched to the “On”
position, the subwoofer will
remain on, whether or not
program material is playing.
If you will be away from home
for an extended period of time,
or if the subwoofer will not
be used, switch the Master
Power switch ¡ to the Off
position.

VOLUME

Volume may be adjusted
using the Subwoofer Level
control

£ as shown.

HIGH LEVEL

+ – – +

L R

OUT

IN

IMPORTANT: CONNECT STRIPED WIRE TO RED ( ) SPEAKER TERMINAL.

+

SUB 136

CAUTION

RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPEN

LINE LEVEL IN

L

LFE

R

AUTO ON

GREEN: ON
RED: STANDBY

POWER

AC 120V~60Hz

SUBWOOFER

LEVEL

MIN MAX

™

£

¡

10

If there is no sound from any
of the speakers:

• Check that receiver/ampli­fier is on and a source is
playing.

• Check that the powered
subwoofer is plugged in, and
that its

Power switch ¡ is

switched on (“•” position).

• Check all wires and con­nections between receiver/
amplifier and speakers.
Make sure all wires are con­nected. Make sure none of
the speaker wires are frayed,
cut or punctured, or touching
each other.

• Review proper operation of
your receiver/amplifier.

If there is no sound coming
from one speaker:

• Check the “Balance” control
on your receiver/amplifier.

• Check all wires and con­nections between receiver/
amplifier and speakers.
Make sure all wires are con­nected. Make sure none of
the speaker wires are frayed,
cut or punctured, or touching
each other.

• In Dolby Digital or DTS
modes, make sure that the
receiver/processor is config­ured so that the speaker in
question is enabled.

• Turn off all electronics
and switch the speaker in
question with one of the

other speakers that is work­ing correctly. Turn every­thing back on, and deter­mine whether the problem
has followed the speaker, or
has remained in the same
channel. If the problem is in
the same channel, the
source of the problem is
most likely with your
receiver or amplifier, and
you should consult the
owner’s manual for that
product for further informa­tion. If the problem has fol­lowed the speaker, consult
your dealer for further assis­tance or, if that is not possi­ble, visit www.jbl.com for
further information.

If there is no sound from the
center speaker:

• Check all wires and con­nections between receiver/
amplifier and speaker. Make
sure all wires are connected.
Make sure none of the
speaker wires are frayed,
cut or punctured, or touch­ing each other.

• If your receiver/processor
is set in Dolby Pro Logic mode,
make sure the center speaker
is not in phantom mode.

• If your receiver/processor
is set in Dolby Digital or DTS
modes, make sure the receiver/
processor is configured so
that the center speaker is
enabled.

If the system plays at low
volumes but shuts off as
volume is increased:

• Check all wires and con­nections between receiver/
amplifier and speakers. Make
sure all wires are connected.
Make sure none of the
speaker wires are frayed,
cut or punctured, or touching
each other.

• If more than one pair of
main speakers is being used,
check the minimum imped­ance requirements of your
receiver/amplifier.

If there is low (or no) bass
output:

• Make sure the connections
to the left and right “Speaker
Inputs” have the correct
polarity (+ and –).

• Make sure the subwoofer
is plugged into an active
electrical outlet

, and is
turned on (Power switch ¡
in the “•” position).

• In Dolby Digital or DTS
modes, make sure your
receiver/processor is config­ured so that the subwoofer
and LFE output are enabled.

TROUBLESHOOTING

11

If there is no sound from
the surround speakers:

• Check all wires and con­nections between receiver/
amplifier and speakers.
Make sure all wires are con­nected. Make sure none of
the speaker wires are frayed,
cut or punctured, or touching
each other.

• Review proper operation of
your receiver/amplifier and
its surround sound features.

• Make sure the movie or TV
show you are watching is
recorded in a surround
sound mode. If it is not,
check to see whether your
receiver/amplifier has other
surround modes you may use.

•

In Dolby Digital or DTS
modes, make sure your
receiver/processor is config­ured so that the surround
speakers are enabled. When
all five satellite speakers are
in use, remember to configure
your receiver or processor for

6.1-channel operation.

• Review the operation of
your DVD player and the
jacket of your DVD to make
sure that the DVD features
the desired Dolby Digital or
DTS mode, and that you
have properly selected that
mode using both the DVD
player’s menu and the DVD
disc’s menu.

Staple sales invoice here.

12

SPECIFICATIONS

All features and specifications are
subject to change without notice.

*Trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.

DTS is a registered trademark of
Digital Theater Systems, Inc.

DESIGN GOAL: Bring the thrill of live performance and movie sound

to

the homeenvironment bycalling on JBL’s professional engineering leadership.

SATELLITE TYPE:

Titanium-laminate-dome tweeter,

sealed enclosure

SUBWOOFER TYPE:

Bass-reflex enclosure

PORT DESIGN: FreeFlow™ flared
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCE:Cinema Loudspeaker Series

OWNER’S GUIDE

PRODUCT LINE:

MODEL:

SCS1 36

SURROUND CINEMA
SPEAKERS

© 2003 Harman International Industries, Incorporated

JBL is a registered trademark of
Harman International Industries, Incorporated.

Part No.406-000-00889

PRO SOUND
COMES HOME

™

JBL Consumer Products
250 Crossways Park Drive, Woodbury, NY11797
8500 Balboa Boulevard, Northridge, CA 91329

800.336.4JBL (4525) (USA only)
www.jbl.com

SCS136 System

Frequency Response

35Hz – 20kHz (–6dB)

Satellites

Recommended Power

10 – 100 Watts

Impedance

8 Ohms nominal

Sensitivity

86dB @ 1 Watt/1 meter

Tweeter

One 1/2"(13mm) titanium-laminate dome,
video-shielded

Midrange

One 3" (75mm) driver, video-shielded

Dimensions (H x W x D)

4-3/8" x 3-3/16" x 3-3/4"
111mm x 81mm x 95mm

Weight

1.1 lb/0.5kg

Center

Recommended Power

10 – 100 Watts

Impedance

8 Ohms nominal

Sensitivity

86dB @ 1 Watt/1 meter

Tweeter

One 1/2"(13mm) titanium-laminate dome,
video-shielded

Midrange

Dual 3" (75mm) drivers, video-shielded

Dimensions (H x W x D)

3-1/4" x 7-5/8" x 3-3/4"
83mm x 194mm x 95mm

Weight

1.89 lb/0.86kg

Subwoofer

Amplifier

100 Watts RMS

Bass

8" (200mm) Woofer, bass-reflex
enclosure

Dimensions (H x W x D)

15" x 13" x 14"
381mm x 330mm x 356mm

Weight

30 lb/13.6kg