Niles Audio PR5 User Manual

B LENDING H IGH F IDELITY

AND

A RCHITECTURE

®

INSTALLATION & OPERATION GUIDE

®

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Congratulations!

Thank you for choosing a Performance In-Wall 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 write:

Niles, Catalog Request, P.O. Box 160818, Miami, Florida 33116-0818

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

FEATURES AND BENEFITS 2

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS 4

SPEAKER PLACEMENT 6

INSTALLATION FUNDAMENTALS 9

INSTALLATION OF BRACKETS, FRAMES AND GRILLES IN NEW CONSTRUCTION 13

INSTALLATION OF BRACKETS, FRAMES AND GRILLES IN EXISTING WALLS 15

INSTALLATION OFTHE SPEAKER, SENSOR AND GRILLE IN NEWOR EXISTING CONSTRUCTION 16

REMOVAL OF SPEAKER AND GRILLE 20

OPERATION 20

SPECIFICATIONS 21

WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD 25

LIMITED WARRANTY 26

©2000 Niles Audio Corporation. All rights reserved. Niles, the Niles logo, Blending High Fidelity and Architecture and Systems
Integration Amplifiers are registered trademarks of Niles Audio Corporation. BumpBack and MicroSensor are trademarks of Niles
Audio Corporation. Kaladex is a registered trademark of DuPont Teijin Films. Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories
Licensing Corporation. Decora is a registered trademark of Leviton Manufacturing Co. Because Niles strives to continuously
improve its products, Niles reserves the right to change product specifications without notice. The technical and other information
contained herein is not intended to set forth all technical and other specifications of Niles products. Additional information can be
obtained on-line at www.nilesaudio.com or by calling Niles at 1-800-289-4434. Printed in Taiwan. 11/00 DS00279ATW

Limited Warranty

Niles Audio Corporation ("NILES") warrants its loudspeaker products to the original purchaser
to be free of manufacturing defects in material and workmanship for a period of five years
from date of purchase.

This Warranty is subject to the following additional conditions and limitations. The Warranty
is void and inapplicable if NILES deems that the product has been used or handled other than
in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer, including but not limited to
damage caused by accident, mishandling, improper installation, abuse, negligence, or normal
wear and tear, or any defect caused by repair to the product by anyone other than NILES or an
authorized NILES dealer.

To obtain warranty service, take the unit to the nearest authorized NILES dealer, who will test
the product and if necessary, forward it to NILES for service. If there are no authorized NILES
dealers in your area, you must write to NILES and include your name, address, model and
serial number of your unit, along with a brief description of the problem. A factory Return
Authorization Number will be sent to you. DO NOT RETURN ANY UNIT WITHOUT FIRST
RECEIVING WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION AND SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS FROM NILES.

If the above conditions are met, the purchaser's sole remedy shall be to return the product to
NILES, in which case NILES will repair or replace, at its sole option, the defective product
without charge for parts or labor. NILES will return a unit repaired or replaced under warranty
by shipping same by its usual shipping method from the factory (only) at its expense within the
United States of America. THERE ARE NO OTHER WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FIT­NESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT.

REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT AS PROVIDED UNDER THIS WARRANTY IS THE EXCLUSIVE
REMEDY OF THE CONSUMER/PURCHASER. NILES SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
ANY INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROVIDED
(OR PROHIBITED) BY APPLICABLE LAW.

Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages,
so the above limitation may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights,
and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state.

For the name of your nearest authorized NILES dealer contact:

NILES AUDIO CORPORATION

P.O. BOX 160818, Miami, Florida 33116-0818.

Please fill in your product information and retain for your records.

Model____________________________________________________________________________________

Serial No._________________________________________________________________________________

Purchase Date_____________________________________________________________________________

26

Limited Warranty

DETACH HERE AND RETURN TO: Niles Audio Corporation Warranty Registration Dept. P.O. Box 160818 Miami, Florida 33116-0818

Model Purchased____________________________________________________________________________________

Serial Number____________________________________________________________________________________

Date Purchased (month/day/year)__________________________________________________________________

Dealer Name and Location________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

❑ Dr. ❑ Miss ❑ Mr. ❑ Mrs. ❑ Ms.

Name____________________________________________________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

City_________________________________________________________State________________Zip______________

Telephone (___________) ___________________________________________________________________________

WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD

Age:

❏

Under 25

❏

25-34

❏

35-44

❏

45-54

❏

55 & over

Income:

❏

Under $24,999

❏

$25,000-$34,999

❏

$35,000-$44,999

❏

$45,000-$59,999

❏

$60,000-$74,999

❏

$75,000-$99,999

❏

Over $99,999

Occupation:

❏

Arts/Entertainment

❏

Business Owner

❏

Engineer

❏

Finance/Accounting

❏

General Office

❏

Management

❏

Professional

❏

Sales/Marketing

❏

Student

❏

Tradesperson

Musical tastes:

(Please check all that
apply)

❏

Alternative

❏

Classical

❏

Country

❏

Jazz

❏

New Age

❏

Popular

❏

R&B

❏

Rock

❏

Other______________

How did you hear
about Niles?

❏

Architect/Developer

❏

Custom Installer

❏

Direct Mail

❏

Friend/Family

❏

In-Store Display

❏

Interior Designer

❏

Magazine Ad

❏

Mail-Order Catalog

❏

Newspaper Ad

❏

Product Brochure

❏

Product Review

❏

Retail Salesperson

What magazines do
you read?

1. ______________________

2. ___________________

3. _____________________

Who will install the
product?

❏

Custom Installer

❏

Electrician

❏

Friend

❏

Myself

Which factor(s) influ­enced the purchase
of your Niles product?

(Please check all that
apply)

❏

Ease of Use

❏

Price/Value

❏

Product Features

❏

Quality/Durability

❏

Reputation

❏

Style/Appearance

❏

Warranty

Do you . . . ?

❏

Own a House. If yes,

how many square feet?
__________________

❏

Own a Town House/
Condominium/Co­op

❏

Rent an Apartment

❏

Rent a House

Are you interested in
receiving literature on
other Niles products?

❏

Yes ❏No

Are there products/
capabilities that you
would like to see
introduced?

____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________

Please take a moment to fill out our warranty registration card. The information helps us to
get to know you better and develop the products you want

Features and Benefits

Talc-Filled Polypropylene Woofer with
Butyl Rubber Surround and Custom
Debris Screens

The Niles PR Performance series loud­speakers employ a high performance
woofer made of vacuum formed
polypropylene with talc added for stiffen­ing. The resulting cone offers low mass,
good damping and superb musicality.
Additionally, the woofer employs a Butyl
Rubber Surround for improved midrange
clarity as well as moisture resistance.
Custom debris screens prevent insulation
from coming in contact with the woofer.

3/4" Kaladex®Tweeter housed in a
Precision Adjustment Mechanism

The PR Performance series Kaladex

®

Tweeter employs DuPont’s latest material
technology to produce a dome tweeter
with exceptional frequency response and
low distortion. Highs are crystal clear and
extended without the harshness often
associated with polycarbonate designs.

The Kaladex

®

tweeter is housed in a preci­sion adjustment mechanism which permits
the tweeter to be accurately positioned after
installation for optimum performance with­out the diffraction distortion endemic to
other speaker brands utilizing traditional
pivoting tweeters.

Antiresonant Wave Bracing

The PR speaker’s baffle design employs
specially molded ribs that increase the
rigidity of the baffle and raise the resonant
frequency so that less “out-of-phase” can­cellation takes place. Equally important,
the ribs are curved and crossed to further
shift vibration modes away from low-bass
canceling frequencies. This keeps bass
tones rich and dynamic.

Front-Mounted Bass & Treble Controls

Niles Performance speaker models
feature baffle-mounted tone controls for
Bass and Treble that enable instant fine
tuning after the speakers are installed. This
feature helps to lessen the effects of less
than perfect placement or other room
acoustics anomalies.

Snap-in Baffle Assembly

This proprietary Niles design enables
installers to attach Niles loudspeaker
assemblies to installed frames without addi­tional hardware or tools. Niles' Snap-in
design makes it easy to upgrade Niles'
speakers after installation without the has­sles associated with removal and re-instal­lation of traditional designs. Snap-in baffles
make installation of Niles speaker baffles
easier and faster than other in-wall brands.

2

Features and Benefits

Introduction

The PR or Performance group of
in-wall loudspeakers offers speakers
expressly designed for an optimum bal­ance of

performance and value. They

employ high

performance components
and materials that make them perfectly
suited as primary speakers in bedrooms,

dens or living rooms; as main or surround
speakers in home theaters.

A PR5/PR6 Speaker Kit; and the cor­responding Bracket Kit (5 or 6) is
required to install one pair of PR5/PR6
in-wall loudspeakers in either new or
existing construction.

No-Strip Speaker Terminal

Niles patented No-Strip terminal enables
speakers to be connected without strip­ping the speaker wire. No-Strip terminals
eliminate fumbling with wire strippers and
input terminals. They are color coded and
simply plug into the crossover circuit
boards on the back of Niles speakers,
resulting in positive in-phase connections
every time.

BumpBack™ Woofer Magnet

Niles engineers have utilized a unique
motor construction enabling far greater
“throw” or voice coil excursion. This
allows a high level of bass performance to
be achieved.

Moisture Resistant Construction

The PR loudspeakers are suitable for use
in high moisture environments. The dri­vers are impervious to moisture; the grille
is made of powder-coated aluminum, and
all exposed hardware is made of stainless
steel. However, the speakers are not
waterproof and direct contact with water
should be avoided.

Absolutely Flush to the Wall
Appearance

The unique mounting system of the PR
loudspeakers powerfully clamps the frame
to the bracket, sandwiching the wall mate­rial between them. Because the clamping
action is totally uniform around the frame,
there are no shadows or gaps between the
wall and the frame. Additionally, the Niles
mounting system is carefully optimized to
stiffen the surrounding drywall and pre­vent it from resonating. You hear only the
music, not the drywall.

Easy Retrofit Installation in your
Existing Home

Designed for ease of installation, the Niles
mounting system makes retrofit installa-

tions simple and fast. A supplied template
assures fast and accurate hole cutting. The
bracket slips behind the drywall and the
screws secure the frame to the bracket,
sandwiching the drywall between them.
The speaker baffle attaches to the frame,
and the grille mounts over the speaker.

Three Stage Installation System for
Remodels or New Construction

You install only the parts you need for a
particular stage of construction. When the
framing and wiring are finished, you install
the

bracket. After the drywall is up, but
before the painter begins to paint, you
install the

frame and provide the rustproof

aluminum

grilles to the painter so that they
can be painted to match the surroundings.
Only when construction is completely fin­ished do you put the valuable

speaker in
the wall. You don’t have to mask or prep
the speaker for painting, and worries about
theft during the final phases of construction
are never an issue!

Low Diffraction, MicroPerf™
Aluminum Grilles

PR speakers include aluminum grilles. The
painted aluminum grille has hundreds of
precisely sized perforations, creating an
acoustically transparent grille.

Infrared Sensor Mount

The speaker baffle has a locator designed
for the Niles MS-1 MicroSensor™,a
miniature infrared sensor. The MS-1
installs discreetly behind the aluminum
grille and therefore minimizes wall clut­ter in your home. When you want to
control your equipment, you simply
point your remote control at the speaker
from up to 15 feet away.

Features and Benefits

3

PLEASE FILL OUT THE
WARRANTY REGISTRATION
CARD ON THE REVERSE SIDE,
DETACH, AND MAIL TO:

Niles Audio Corporation
Warranty Registration Dept.
P.O. Box 160818
Miami, Florida 33116-0818

DETACH HERE

23

Specifications

Installation Considerations

Recommended Amplifier Power

For satisfactory performance, we recom­mend an amplifier with a power rating of
ten to one hundred watts for the PR5; and
ten to one hundred twenty-five watts for
the PR6. Curiously, most speakers are not
damaged by large amplifiers but by small
amplifiers. If your system is playing loudly,
a small amplifier 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.

Incorporating a Local Volume Control

In a multiroom system there is one indis­pensible device for true convenience—a
local volume control. It allows 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 speak-

Installation Considerations

Figure 1

Model HD8 Shown

New Construction Wings

Bracket

Frame

Speaker Baffle

IR Knockout

Grille

4