Niles Audio DS8500AT, DS8300AT Owner's Manual
INSTALLATION & OPERATION GUIDE
MODELS
DS8300AT
DIRECTED SOUNDFIELD
DS8500AT
DIRECTED SOUNDFIELD
B LENDING H IGH F IDELITY
AND A RCHITECTURE
®
®
Congratulations!
Thank you for choosing a Directed Soundfield Ceiling Mount Loudspeaker from Niles.
With proper installation and operation, you'll enjoy years of trouble-free use.
Niles manufactures the industry's most complete line of custom installation
components and accessories for audio/video systems. For a free full line catalog
Niles, Catalog Request, P.O. Box 160818, Miami, Florida 33116-0818
write:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 2
FEATURES AND BENEFITS 2
INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS 4
SPEAKER PLACEMENT 6
INSTALLATION FUNDAMENTALS 9
INSTALLATION IN NEW CONSTRUCTION 13
INSTALLATION IN EXISTING CONSTRUCTION 14
FINAL INSTALLATION IN NEW OR EXISTING CONSTRUCTION 15
OPERATION 17
SPECIFICATIONS 18
LIMITED
WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD 21
WARRANTY 19
Introduction
Niles DS Directed Soundfield loudspeakers feature a patented, fully adjustable,
independently pivoting, woofer and
tweeter that enables the loudspeakers to
accurately recreate high fidelity sound
Features and Benefits
Fully pivoting woofer and tweeter
A pivoting woofer assembly can adjust up
to 15° focusing bass and midrange tones
directly at the listening area for superb
imaging and unparalleled clarity. Within
the woofer assembly, the tweeter is housed
in its own low-diffraction pivoting assembly
that can adjust up to 17° in any direction to
create direct or diffused sound fields. The
independently pivoting woofer’s and tweeter’s superior design is patented, (U.S. patent
number 6,683,963).
12 AWG Push Terminal
The DS8300AT and DS8500AT loudspeakers are manufactured with high quality gold plated push terminals that insure
that the connection to the speaker cable is
of the highest quality available.
Moisture and UV Resistant
Construction
The DS8300AT and DS8500AT loudspeakers are suitable for use in high moisture environments. The drivers are resistant to moisture and UV exposure; the
grille is made of powder-coated aluminum. However, the speakers are not
waterproof and direct contact with water
should be avoided.
Engineered for Ceiling Placement
The increased popularity of cathedral and
vaulted ceilings pose a distinct sonic
challenge for conventional ceiling
loudspeakers. That is because convention
al ceiling speakers radiate sound perpen-
-
regardless of where they are located in
the ceiling — preserving interior design
integrity and delivering life-like sonic
quality that is not available from conventional ceiling speakers.
dicular to their mounting surface, which
usually is not where the listening area is.
DS Directed Soundfield Loudspeakers
patented, independent pivoting woofer
and tweeter overcome this challenge and
allow sound to be directed into the listening area regardless of ceiling angle.
Installer Selectable Acoustic
Fine Tuning
Installers can select to fine tune the bass or
treble to accommodate reflective surfaces
and corner loading. This selection is
accomplished via the baffle-mounted
treble control (-1.5dB, flat and +1.5dB)
and PC board mounted bass jumper
(flat, -1dB, and -2dB).
4 or 8 ohm Selectable Impedance
The DS8300AT and DS8500AT give the
installer flexibility to select the speaker’s
impedance — 4 ohms for systems where
maximum current transfer and output
level is desired; 8 ohms for systems utilizing multiple speaker pairs where amplifier
loading is a consideration.
MicroPerf™Grilles
The DS8300AT and DS8500AT employ
Niles exclusive MicroPerf grille construction. The exceptionally tight hole pattern
provides acoustic transparency at all audio
frequencies and enables the speaker
elements to remain invisible. MicroPerf
grilles can also be painted to blend seem
lessly with the surrounding decor.
Features and Benefits
-
2
Features and Benefits
Easy Installation
The DS8300AT and DS8500AT employ a
bracketless mounting system in existing
ceilings. Simply cut a hole in the mounting surface, install the frame by tightening
the four mounting “dogs” via the front
panel screws. The dogs first swivel 90°,
then clamp the speaker frame to the
drywall as you tighten the screws.
Twist & Lock Baffle
Patented, (U.S. patent number 6,683,963).
two-piece twist and lock baffle frame
mechanism facilitates quick installations.
Moreover, it allows trouble-free upgrades
or repairs.
Hole Saving Bracket
Available as an optional accessory, DS8
Series New Construction Brackets can be
installed as a “hole-saver” before the
drywall goes up. The drywall contractor
cuts the holes as the drywall is installed,
reducing installation time and minimizing
the chance for lost wires.
3
Installation Considerations
Recommended Amplifier Power
For satisfactory performance, we recommend an amplifier with a power rating of
10 to 200 watts for the DS8300AT and 10
to 250 watts for the DS8500AT. Curiously,
most speakers are not damaged by large
amplifiers but by small amplifiers. If your
system is playing loudly, a small amplifier
Figure 1
The illustration shows how a typical DS loudspeaker mounts into
a ceiling.
New Construction Bracket serves as a
“hole saver” when drywall has not been
applied. It is not necessary when retrofitting to existing ceilings.
will run out of power very quickly. When
an amplifier runs out of power it creates
damaging “clipping” distortion. A large
amplifier will play at the same volume
without distorting. See the section on
operating the speakers for more information about clipping distortion.
Knockout wire tie allows the wire to be
secured to the bracket throughout the
new construction process. It knocks out
cleanly when the speaker is installed.
New construction wings
instantly snap into the
bracket without screws.
Installation Considerations
Dogs swivel 90°, then
clamp the speaker
frame to the drywall.
Frames are molded with a
slight texture to assure good
paint adhesion.
Mounting screws tighten the
“dogs”, clamping the speaker
to the drywall.
Rust-proof aluminum grilles make the DS
series perfect for moist environments.
Brackets and wings attach
to the ceiling joists with
nails or screws.
Figure 2 Connect the wires and place the speaker in the frame, twist and lock.
Wings are scored for easy
size trimming.
4
Installation Considerations
Incorporating a Local Volume Control
In a multiroom system there is one indispensible device for true convenience—a
local volume control. It enables you to
adjust the volume of the speakers without
leaving the room.
Plan to wire the system so that each pair
of speakers has its own volume control
built into the wall (think of a volume control as a dimmer switch for sound).
Niles makes a wide range of high performance indoor and outdoor volume controls. They are available in Standard or
®
Decora
style cover plates (just like your
light switches and dimmers). Volume controls are connected in line with the speaker, so you must connect the wire from the
amplifier to the volume control and then
from the volume control to the speaker.
Speaker Wire
Use 2-conductor speaker wire when connecting DS8300AT and DS8500AT
speakers to your receiver or amplifier. For
most applications, we recommend you
use 16 or 18 gauge stranded wire. For
wiring runs longer than 80 feet we recommend 14 gauge stranded wire. The terminals of the DS speakers will accommodate
12 to 18 gauge wire.
When you run wire inside walls, special
jacketing (CL-2 or CL-3) is required to
both protect the wire and for fire prevention. In some areas conduit is required.
For a trouble-free installation, low voltage
wire such as speaker wire must be run in
accordance with the National Electrical
Code and any applicable provisions of the
local building code. If you are unsure of
the correct installation techniques, wire
jacket or type of conduit to use, consult a
TIP
H
TEC
ize is expressed by
s
e
r
i
W
its AWG (American Wire
Gauge) number. The lower
the number, the larger the
re, i.e. 12 AWG is physi-
i
w
cally larger than 14 AWG.
professional audio/video installer, your
building contractor, or the local building
and inspection department.
Incorporating Remote Control
If your stereo system operates with a wireless Infrared (IR) remote control, consider
the advantages of installing a Niles Infrared
Extender System. Niles manufactures a
number of concealable IR sensors and wall
mounted keypads which send a copy of
your hand-held remote command via a
wire to your main equipment location,
where it is repeated to your stereo system.
The wire is typically installed with the
speaker wire, since the speaker signal and
the IR signal will not interfere with each
other. This makes almost no difference to
the installation time, and the cost of the
recommended IR control cable (West Penn
D291 or equivalent) is reasonable.
The correct routing for IR control cable is
to home run an IR control cable from the
main equipment location beside the
speaker wire to the planned volume control location; and then on to the proposed
sensor location. The combination of IR
control cable and speaker wire enables a
programmable Niles IntelliPad
®
to be
installed at a later date (the IntelliPad has a
convenient speaker mute feature in addition to automating and controlling your
stereo system). An IR sensor is best placed
where it is convenient for you to point the
hand-held remote. Both an IntelliPad and
an IR sensor can be connected in one
room with one home run IR control cable.
Insulation Behind The Speaker
For best performance from your speakers
lay a batten of fiberglass insulation
(example: R-19 un-batted insulation) on
top of the speaker. Try to keep the same
amount of insulation for each speaker,
particularly in the same room, for consistent bass response.
5
10'
5' 10'
Speaker Placement
Introduction
Although the DS8300AT and DS8500AT
have extensive ability to compensate for
unusual placements with their unique pivoting woofers, tweeters and acoustic finetuning switches, placement is still the primary tool for satisfying your particular listening needs. In this section, we discuss
how speakers should be placed and how
woofers and tweeters should be directed
and how the acoustic fine-tuning switches
should be set for different purposes.
Placement for Critical Listening
If you like to imagine that the band or
orchestra is playing in front of you as you
listen to music, or you are very conscious
of clarity, detail and the textures of the
individual instruments, or you listen critically to movie soundtracks or music
videos in your home theater, you will
need your speakers placed so that they are
optimized for critical listening. Here are
some guidelines to make the process of
placement quick and easy.
Make sure the sound will not be blocked
or reflected off of furniture or other
objects. You should have a direct line of
sight with the front of the speaker. To
determine the best position, measure the
“listening” distance between the ideal listening position (your favorite chair or
couch) and the location in which you plan
to install the speakers. Try to place the
speakers so that they are equally distant
from your listening spot and at least one
half of the listening distance apart (this
maintains a large pleasant stereo “image”).
In home theater applications where there
is a center channel you may choose to
space the left and right main speakers farther apart for a “bigger than life” sound
with Dolby
®
encoded movies and TV
shows. However, for combined music and
movie usage stay within the
ment zone
for music. For example; if you
good place-
are ten feet back from the speakers, the
speakers should be between five and ten
feet apart
(See Figure 4).
Woofers and tweeters should be directed
at the listening position.
Speaker Placement
Critical
Listening
Position
Placement for Varying
Direct woofer and
tweeter towards
listener
Direct woofer and
tweeter towards
listener
Figure 4
In this example,
the speakers
could be placed
from five to 10
feet apart, since
the listener is 10
feet back from
the speakers
6
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