JBL SS88IWS User Manual

PERFORMANCE

™

SPECIALIST

SS88IWS

OWNER’S GUIDE

®

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING JBL

For more than 60 years, JBL
has been involved in every
aspect of music and film
recording and reproduction,
from live performances to
monitoring the recordings you
play in your home, car or
office.

We’re confident that the
JBL loudspeaker you have
chosen will provide every note
of enjoyment that you expect –
and that when you think about
purchasing additional audio
equipment for your home, car
or office, you will once again
choose JBL.

INCLUDED

SS88IWS

One loudspeaker with grille. Logo to be attached to grille
depending on vertical or horizontal installation.

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

Template and paint shield.

2

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

Low-frequency sounds are
normally omnidirectional,
meaning the listener can’t tell
where they are generated from.
However, frequencies between
75Hz and 150Hz can be local­ized, especially at higher vol­ume levels. Positioning your
subwoofer as recommended
will provide the most natural
soundstage and imaging from
your loudspeaker system.

It is generally recommended
that you install your SS88IWS
in-wall subwoofer along the
same wall as the front loud­speakers. The SS88IWS sub­woofer is not video-shielded
and should not be placed near
a video display. Installing the
SS88IWS near a corner will
tend to maximize low-frequency
output. Be cautious when
installing in a corner, to avoid a
“boomy” sound. Also take into
consideration any unusual fea­tures of the room, such as an
alcove, which may tend to cre­ate a localized node that may
affect bass response in that
area of the room.

It is generally recommended
that the speaker be installed so
that the bottom of the speaker
is approximately 12" from the
floor. This is to help with the
low-frequency loading (bass
reinforcement). This also helps
hide the speaker in a less visi­ble place. In special circum­stances it is acceptable to
install the speaker at any
height on a wall.

Remember that these are just
guidelines. Since every listen­ing room is different, JBL
strongly recommends experi­menting with the positioning of
your subwoofer prior to cutting
the wall to obtain the most
pleasing results in your room.
One technique that can help
you find the ideal subwoofer
location is to temporarily bor­row a stand-alone subwoofer
and place it near the main lis­tening location. Then move
around the room and determine
where you hear the most pleas­ing bass performance. This
would then be the ideal loca­tion for the subwoofer.

When using two SS88IWS in­wall subwoofers, you may need
to be concerned about phase,
as the sound waves may
cancel each other out. If bass
response seems low, try invert­ing the polarity on one sub­woofer – i.e., connect the (+)
terminal on the amplifier to the
(–) terminal on the speaker, and
the (–) terminal on the amplifier
to the (+) terminal on the
speaker.

3

SPEAKER CONNECTIONS

SS88IWS

L 1

L 2

L 3

L 4

BLK

GRN

BLK

ORN

J1

C1

C3

C2

+OUT 2 –

+OUT 1 –

C4

J2

+IN 2 –

+IN 1 –

– +– +

Receiver/Amplifier Speaker Outputs

Connection Method #1, Using One SS88IWS

(Remove Shorting Straps)

Left Right

– +

Front Left Speaker

– +

Front Right Speaker

Rear of SS88IWS

YEL/BLK

YEL

WHT/BLK

WHT

ORG/BLK

ORG

GRE/BLK

GRE

INPUT 1

INPUT 2

OUTPUT 1 OUTPUT 2

– + – + – + – +

– +– +

Receiver/Amplifier Speaker Outputs

Left Right

– +

Front Left Speaker

– +

Front Right Speaker

Connections Panel of
SS88IWSBB Back Box

Connection Method #1, Using One SS88IWS

With Back Box (Remove Shorting Straps)

Connection Tips

speakers in your system with
the correct polarity remains
equally important in order to
preserve the proper ambience
and directionality of the
program material.

If two SS88IWS subwoofers

Speakers and electronics have
corresponding (+) and (–) termi­nals. Most manufacturers of
speakers and electronics,
including JBL, use red to
denote the (+) terminal and
black for the (–) terminal. 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

are used, the wires for both
speakers should be the same
length. If one speaker is
placed closer to the amplifier
than the other, hide the excess
wire behind the wall. If bass
response seems low, there
may be a phase problem, with
the sound waves from the two
subwoofers canceling each
other out. If bass response
seems low, try inverting the
polarity on one subwoofer –
i.e., connect the (+) terminal on
the amplifier to the (–) terminal
on the speaker, and the (–) ter­minal on the amplifier to the (+)
terminal on the speaker.

To use the spring-clip-type ter­minals on the SS88IWS loud­speaker, press the colored tab
and insert the bare end of the
wire into the hole. Release the
tab and gently tug the wire to
ensure that it is secure.

To use the push-type terminals
on the connections panel sup­plied with the optional
SS88IWSBB “back box” enclo­sure, depress the colored cap
until the pass-through hole in
the binding post is revealed.
While holding the cap down,
insert the bare end of the wire,
or a banana plug, into the pass­through hole. Release the cap
and tug gently on the wire to
ensure that it is secure.

Since the SS88IWS is a passive
loudspeaker, only speaker-level
connections are available.
Depending on whether you are

4

Wire Recommended
Length Size

Up to 20 ft. 16-gauge
Up to 30 ft. 12-gauge
Greater than 30 ft. 10-gauge