MK Sound S-5000THX User Manual

DO NOT REMOVE THE SPECIAL ACOUSTIC FOAM ATTACHED

TO THE FRONT BAFFLE AND/OR GRILLE OF YOUR SPEAKERS.

This foam is a critical part of your loudspeaker system and plays an important role

in its high level of performance. It focuses the radiation of the tweeters, minimizes

cabinet diffraction, and provides the flattest possible frequency response.

operation
manual

S-5000THX

S-150THX

Miller & Kreisel Sound Corporation

9351 Deering Avenue
Chatsworth, CA 91311 USA
[phone] Fax [phone] www.mksound.com

©2001 MILLER & KREISEL SOUND CORP.

THX®front channel satellite speakers

Manufactured under license from Lucasfilm Ltd. U.S.
Patent Numbers 5,043,970; 5,189,703; and 5,222,059.
Foreign patents pending. Lucasfilm and THX are registered
trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd.

S-5000THX & S-150THX satellite speakers

page 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................3

2. THE HOME THX AUDIO SPEAKER SYSTEM............................................................3

3. PLACEMENT OF YOUR M&K THX SPEAKERS.....................................................3

4. SPEAKER HOOK-UP..........................................................................................4

5. OPTIMIZING SPEAKER PLACEMENT...........................................................................5

6. SPEAKER PLACEMENT IN A HOME THX AUDIO SYSTEM..........................................7

7. USE OF THE "NORMAL" / "SPECIAL INPUT SELECTION SWITCH (S-5000)...............8

8. USING THE S-5000 WITHOUT GRILLES.......................................................................9

9. SATELLITE/SUBWOOFER PHASING TEST.................................................................10

10. SPEAKER DAMAGE & HOW TO AVOID IT...................................................................10

11. BIAMPLIFICATION WITH AN M&K HIGH-PASS FILTER................................................11

12. IF YOU NEED SERVICE.................................................................................................11

13. SPECIFICATIONS..................................................................................................12

14. CABINET MAINTENANCE............................................................................................12

DIAGRAMS

FIGURE 1 WIRING..................................................................................................5

FIGURE 2 SEPARATION BETWEEN LEFT & RIGHT SPEAKERS......................................7

FIGURE 3 S-150 & S-150AC SPEAKER ORIENTATION...........................8

FIGURE 4 USING THE S-5000 WITHOUT GRILLES (FOAM PATTERN)..............................9

DO NOT REMOVE THE SPECIAL ACOUSTIC FOAM ATTACHED TO THE

FRONT BAFFLE AND/OR GRILLE OF YOUR SPEAKERS.

This foam is a critical part of your loudspeaker system and plays an important role in its high
level of performance. It focuses the radiation of the tweeters, minimizes cabinet diffraction,
and provides the flattest possible frequency response.

S-5000THX & S-150 THX satellite speakers

page 3

1. INTRODUCTION

Congratulations! Your new M&K THX speaker system will give you years of unmatched enjoyment and

excitement while listening to your favorite musical and audio/video sources.

We encourage you to read this owner’s manual, as there is a great deal of information provided here to help

you get the best possible performance.

If you have any questions about your speaker system, please contact your M&K dealer or call the M&K
factory directly at [phone], from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. We will be
happy to help you with any question, no matter how simple or complex it may be.

This manual gives you basic hook-up instructions first, followed by more detailed technical, installation, and
service information.

When handling the S-5000 speaker (not the S-150), do not lift the cabinet by
gripping the grilles or the white plastic fittings on the speaker's back baffle. They are
not handles! You may damage these parts, affecting the speaker's performance.

2. THE HOME THX AUDIO SPEAKER SYSTEM

Your choice of an M&K Home THX Audio speaker system assures you of achieving the state of the art in
home theatre music and video reproduction. The precise and exacting standards developed by Lucasfilm's Home
THX division, as applied by M&K's engineering team, assure that you will hear every element of film sound - from
the softest brush of an object against an actor's clothing to the awesome impact of effects such as an exploding
planet - with the same sonic quality heard by the film's director and sound designer as they created the final mix
of sound on the studio's dubbing stage.

To do this in a home environment requires different equipment and standards than are found in a THX motion
picture theatre. The standards developed for Home THX Audio are critically important to achieving the following
performance attributes:

- wide frequency range, extending to the limits of audibility

- smooth, naturally balanced overall sound

- excellent dialog intelligibility

- wide dynamic range with extremely low distortion

- well-matched timbre (tonal balance) between front speakers and surrounds

- precise localization of specific sounds (as in special effects)

- envelopment by ambient soundfield (without any localization of individual speakers to distract from the
action on-screen

- superb performance with musical sources

The unsurpassed quality of your M&K Home THX Audio speaker system means that all of the excitement
and emotional involvement of films and music will be brought to life in your home. Turn down the lights, and let
the experience begin!

3. PLACEMENT OF YOUR M&K THX SPEAKERS

Your speakers can be installed in a wide variety of locations. They can be placed on stands, shelves, or
bookcases, or more permanently mounted using brackets, direct attachment to the wall, or a ceiling suspension
system.

Your speakers have threaded mounting hardware permanently mounted into the cabinet in different
locations on the speaker's back baffle. These allow you to mount the speakers in a wide variety of locations, and
to orient them for the best possible sound. This hardware is 1/4 - 20, meaning 1/4 inch in diameter, and 20 threads
per inch.

S-5000THX & S-150THX satellite speakers

There is a four hole mounting pattern on the rear baffle to accommodate either an Omnimount mounting
bracket. The S-5000 uses an Omnimount #100 pattern, and the S-150 uses an Omnimount #75 pattern. This
four hole pattern is also used with the M&K speaker stands and wall brackets.

You can place your speakers virtually anywhere in the room, but certain locations are better than others.
In general, locate them away from obstructions that would interfere with the direct path from the speakers to your
ears (such as walls, furniture, lighting, plants, etc.). They will sound better when they are around ear height, or
when angled towards your favorite listening location.

Unlike most Satellite speakers, the S-5000s are designed to give acceptable performance when they are
sitting directly on the floor. Do not hesitate to do this, especially if you have limited space under a projection
screen. You will need, however, to tilt them back so the tweeters point up towards your ears.

Both the S-150 and S-5000 are magnetically shielded. This means that they can be placed close to a
television monitor without distorting the picture. If you place the speaker directly on top of a large screen direct­view monitor, there is some slight possibility of picture distortion. If that occurs, you may need to move the
speaker a few inches or to separate the speaker from the television by a similar distance. Call the factory if you
have problems.

For more detailed general placement information, see Section 5 on page 5. For detailed Home THX Audio
front channel speaker location, see Section 6 (page 7).

page 4

4. SPEAKER HOOK-UP

The sound quality that you get from your speakers can be affected by the type of speaker wire that you use
to connect them. While it is possible to use speaker wire as thin as 22 gauge to hook your S-5000s up, wire of
less than 16 gauge will compromise their sound quality. We strongly recommend using the heaviest gauge wire
possible. Your special M&K 5-way binding post input terminals will directly accept wire as heavy as 4 gauge!

For wire runs of up to 10 feet, 16 gauge wire is acceptable. For runs up to 20 feet, you should use a minimum
of 14 gauge. For up to 30 feet, use a minimum of 12 gauge, and over 30 feet should use 10 gauge. See the
THX Installation and Operation Manual for more information.

There are a very wide variety of premium speaker cables available from a number of specialist
manufacturers. We do not endorse any specific brand of premium cable, but we do recommend the highest
quality cable that fits your budget. Beware, though — with cables, expensive is not always better. If you have
any questions, contact your M&K Home THX dealer for advice.

The S-5000 and S-150 are not designed for bi-wiring. We do recommend, however, that they be biamplified
with an M&K Powered Subwoofer. If you do not have a THX controller, and you wish to biamplify your speakers
in combination with an M&K Powered Subwoofer, see Section 11 (page 10) for more details.

WIRING

The Positive ( + ) lead from your amplifier or receiver should be connected to the RED ( + ) "INPUT" terminal,
and the Negative ( — ) lead from your amplifier or receiver should be connected to the BLACK ( — ) "INPUT"
terminal. See Figure 1.