Niles Audio RS5 User Manual

INSTALLATION & OPERATION GUIDE

MODELS

RS5

GRANITE

RS5

SANDSTONE

RS5

CORAL

Weatherproof Rock Loudspeaker

B LENDING H IGH F IDELITY

AND A RCHITECTURE

CONGRATULATIONS

Thank you for choosing a Rock Loudspeaker from Niles. With proper installation and operation, you’ll enjoy years of trouble free use.

Niles’ manufacturers the industry’s most complete line of custom installation components and accessories for audio/video systems. For a free full line catalog write to: our website at

Niles, Catalog Request, P.O. Box 160818, Miami, Fl 33116-0818 or check

www.nilesaudio.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

FEATURES & BENEFITS 3

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS 5

INSTALLATION 10

OPERATION 17

SPECIFICATIONS 18

WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD 21

LIMITED WARRANTY 22

© without notice. Niles, the Niles logo and Blending Technology and Architecture are registered trademarks of Niles Audio Corporation. ConeForward, GeoRealistic and MicroPerf are trademarks of Niles Audio Corporation.

INTRODUCTION

The RS5 series of weatherproof rock loudspeakers are designed to provide unparalleled listening satisfaction and GeoRealistic™ styling. The extraordinary sonic performance of the proprietary technology with advances in cabinet assembly techniques. They are designed and built to withstand the environmental stresses placed on an outdoor loudspeaker. They will sound good and look good no matter what Mother Nature does to them.

RS5 series loudspeaker is a two-way loudspeaker in an acoustic suspension

The enclosure. The cabinet is styled to look like a rock. It is supplied with a security bracket and cable to insure it stays where it is placed, reducing the chance of theft and unauthorized movement of the loudspeaker. For the first time, serious listeners will be able to enjoy the music in their backyard as much as their living room and the speakers will blend into the landscaping.

RS5 was achieved by harmonizing Niles' unique and

INTRODUCTION

FEATURES & BENEFITS

GeoRealistic™ Styling

Traditionally, rock speakers have looked like ornaments and not like rocks. Each RS5 style has unique textures and colors that are fashioned after natural rocks. Shaped grilles match the features on the front of the rock, making them blend into the cabinet. All of this extra attention to detail leads to a GeoRealistic™ style that enables the noticed is the great sound not the loudspeaker.

Weather Proof Construction

The cabinet is made from fiberglass, it utilizes double seals on the tweeter, woofer and enclosure cover, the woofer drains water away from it, the grilles are painted aluminum and the drivers are made from weather resistant materials. The RS5 has passed the most stringent environmental tests devised. Surviving over 5 years worth of temperature cycling and still having seals that pass a 24-hour submersion test. It has passed the test requirements for Salt Fog, Operating Temperature, Storage Temperature, UV Exposure and Humidity per military standard 883. Whether you are considered about salt-air, rain, freezing rain, snow, extreme temperatures, high humidity, direct sunlight or combinations of these conditions, the itself to withstand the harshest conditions Mother Nature can throw at it.

5-1/4" Talc Filled Polypropylene Woofer

The unusually stiff talc filled polypropylene cone, the butyl rubber surround, and the substantial magnet and motor structure are optimized for large excursions of the woofer. In this way, the 5-1/4" woofer can create outstanding bass output. In the end, the woofer design provides deep rich bass and outstanding weather resistance capabilities.

RS5 to blend in with other landscaping and disappear. All that will be

RS5 has proven

1/2" Kaladex™ Tweeter

In the past, rock speakers have used a co-axial tweeter design that has disappointed listeners with a fatiguing and harsh treble sound caused by tweeter ringing. The RS5's 1/2" Kaladex™ tweeter employs DuPont's latest material technology to produce a dome tweeter with exceptional frequency response and low distortion. The result is a transparent clear, sweet, natural sounding tweeter, which still maintains its extended frequency response and is completely weatherproof.

Tweeter Placement Improves Coverage and Dispersion

The tweeter is angled twenty degrees up from the woofer. This means that it is “aimed” at the listener and not at the ground. This improves the high frequency coverage of the loudspeaker and ensures that all the benefits of the tweeter are heard and not lost in the surroundings.

Precision Crossover

A customized electronic dividing network inside the cabinet precisely distributes the music to the woofer and the tweeter. The three-pole two-way design of the crossover provides excellent stereo imaging, low distortion and superior sonic performance.

ConeForward™ Design

Most competitive rock speaker manufacturers mount their drivers from inside the cabinet. This moves the front of the driver inside the cabinet creating a tunnel for the driver to play through. This tunnel adversely affects the sound quality of the loudspeaker by making the loudspeaker sound “narrow” and “far away”. Niles’ engineers have used a patent-pending ConeForward™ design technique that moves the woofer and tweeter as close to the grille as possible. Combining the ConeForward™ design technique with tight quality control leads to unparalleled sonic performance and imaging from an outdoor rock loudspeaker.

Rigid Acoustically Inert Cabinet Construction

Niles’ utilizes a unique 4-layer cabinet construction to achieve superior non-resonance of the loudspeaker cabinet. This insures that all you hear is the music not the cabinet ringing.

Low Diffraction Microperf™ Aluminum Grilles

The aluminum Microperf™ grille on the RS5 has hundreds of precisely sized perforations, creating an acoustically transparent grille. The aluminum construction resists oxidation enabling years of trouble-free operation in the harshest conditions. We paint both sides of the grille for added protection.

RS5

FEATURES & BENEFITS

Connection Cable with Water Resistant Wire Nuts

Connecting the loudspeaker’s cable to the cable running from the house is always a point of concern for the installer. If this connection is not done right, the cable will corrode and the connection will fail. To make sure this connection is trouble-free, we provide a three-foot connection cable rated for burial underground and specialized waterproof wire nuts. Our wire nuts are filled with a waterproof sealant. Just insert the wires and twist them together. Then bury the cable. The connection will be protected from the elements.

Security Bracket and Cable

Using the security bracket and cable supplied with the loudspeaker provides a simple but effective method to protect the loudspeaker from theft or unapproved movement. You can easily upgrade our standard security mounting method to provided even greater security, if you require it.

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

20 Feet

(6.1 mm)

8 Feet

(2.4 mm)

8 Feet

(2.4 mm)

12 Feet

(3.7 mm)

D=16 Feet

(4.9 mm)

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

Tools and Materials Required

• A wire stripper

• 1/2" PVC conduit (optional)

• PVC conduit glue and cleaner (optional)

• PVC cutting tool

• Trench digger or shovel

• Tube of silicon sealant (optional)

• Cable (length and type determined by installation site – see “

Speaker Cable”

)

Choosing the

Selecting the number and location for your speakers

The RS5 loudspeaker can be installed directly on the ground, in a flowerbed, on a wood deck or on a concrete/stone patio. There are two considerations for placing the loudspeaker, ease of running the cable to the loudspeaker and coverage of the loudspeaker. The

RS5 loudspeaker will cover an area of a circle with a 16-foot

diameter, in front of the speakers.

If you are using stereo outputs from the amplifier, alternate the speakers to provide the best imaging. You should place speakers less than 8 feet from the sides of the listening area and 12 feet from each other. The row spacing should not be greater than 20 feet. These loudspeaker spacing rules are the recommended maximums; placing speakers at a greater distance apart will negatively affect sound coverage and reduce their stereo effect. Placing speakers closer together will improve sound coverage and produce more stereo coverage.

Figure 1 Stereo Coverage 4 speakers

Figure 1 shows how this would work for a square area of 28 feet by 20 feet and

20 Feet

(6.1 mm)

4.4 Feet

(1.3 mm)

9.6 Feet

(2.9 mm)

9.6 Feet

(2.9 mm)

4.4 Feet

(1.3 mm)

D=16 Feet

(4.9 mm)

20 Feet

(6.1 mm)

D=16 Feet

(4.9 mm)

using stereo signals. Using our spacing rules as shown in

Table 1, leads to the need

for four speakers. The loudspeaker coverage pattern is shown in the diagram.

Figure 2 Stereo Coverage 6 speakers

Figure 2 shows the same area as Figure 1, however the number of speakers has

increased by 2. You can see a greater area of stereo coverage and this would also have a more even sound level across the listening area. This illustrates the fact that not using the maximum spacing allowed leads to improved sound quality.

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

Achieving high quality stereo coverage in a large area is costly. You need to use more speakers and more amplifier power or separate amplifiers. If a large area needs to be covered, consider using a summed stereo or mono signal for each speaker. If summing the stereo inputs into the amplifier or setting the amplifier to play in mono is acceptable, the loudspeakers can be spaced 8 feet from the sides and 16 feet from each other. The row spacing between speakers should be less than 30 feet. This will increase the area your loudspeakers will cover.

Sources Spacing Spacing Between Spacing

Stereo

Mono 8 ft 16 ft 30 ft

Note: These are maximun recomended distances, sound quality is improved if you use smaller spacings.

from Sides Speakers within a row Between Rows

8 ft 12 ft 20 ft

2.4m 3.7m 6.1m

2.4m 4.9m 9.1m

Table 1 Spacing Rules

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

8 Feet

(2.4 mm)

30 Feet

(9.1 mm)

D=16 Feet

(4.9 mm)

16 Feet

(4.9 mm)

8 Feet

(2.4 mm)

Figure 3 Mono Coverage 4 speakers

Figure 3 shows the difference in coverage area using the spacing rules for mono

signals. Using the same four speakers as we did in Figure 1, we can increase our coverage area from 560 square feet (52 sq. meters) to 960 square feet (88.3 sq. meters), simply by using a mono source.

The trade off in sound quality between mono sources and stereo sources is sonic imaging. If you are concerned with keeping the instruments and vocals sonically separated, then stereo setup must be used.

When choosing the location for the loudspeaker, take into consideration the slope of the land in the area the speakers are going to be placed. The flatter and more level the area, the better. The woofer should be straight up and down or tilted forward a bit to assist in drawing water away from it. Never chose a place where an automatic sprinkler will be aimed on or near the loudspeaker. While the loudspeaker is weatherproof, continuous streaming water will shorten the product’s life.

Choosing the Speaker Cable

In order to choose the proper speaker cable, please follow these steps:

• Unless you are using a Niles’ WVC100 or WMVC100 series weatherproof impedance matching volume controls or equivalent, only two (2) loudspeakers can be safely attached to a typical amplifier channel, if that amplifier is rated to drive 4 ohms. You can do this by running wires from each loudspeaker to the amplifier or you can connect one loudspeaker to another. Make sure this is taken into account when calculating cable length and number of amplifier channels needed. If you are unsure about these calculations, consult an audio/video installer.

RS5

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