Owner’s Manual
Insight Series P2i
Planar Magnetic Hybrid
Loudspeaker
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................... 4
About this manual ..................................................................................................4
Registering your warranty.......................................................................................4
Description .....................................................................................................5
Planar magnetic drivers ..........................................................................................5
Free from compression....................................................................................5
More reliable ..................................................................................................5
Easy on ampliers ...........................................................................................6
Dynamic woofers...................................................................................................6
Extraordinary drivers .......................................................................................6
Optimized for subwoofers...............................................................................6
Friendly to Room Correction ..................................................................................7
Unpacking & Installing the P2i ........................................................................8
Simple installation instructions ...............................................................................8
Maximum wall thickness .................................................................................8
Room Correction ............................................................................................9
No room correction ...............................................................................................9
Systems with room correction ................................................................................9
Your P2i and Subwoofers ..............................................................................11
Using with subs ................................................................................................... 11
Using full range .................................................................................................... 11
Care & Maintenance .....................................................................................12
North American Warranty ............................................................................ 13
Standard Warranty ............................................................................................... 13
Harsh Conditions Use .......................................................................................... 13
Obtaining Service ......................................................................................... 14
Specications ................................................................................................15
P2i Dimensions .............................................................................................16
Notes ............................................................................................................. 17
Introduction
Congratulations on purchasing your Wisdom Audio loudspeakers. They incorporate many design features designed to give you decades of pleasure and
performance. Many of these design choices are uncommon among loudspeaker
manufacturers, and bear some explanation. See the following section entitled
“Description” for more information.
About this manual While we expect your local Wisdom Audio dealer to take care of the setup and
calibration of the system, we still recommend that you at least briey review this
and your other manuals in order to better understand your system’s full capabilities.
Registering your warranty You do not have to do anything to register your warranty for your Wisdom
Audio products. (Isn’t that a pleasant surprise?)
In the unlikely event that your loudspeakers ever require service, please contact
the dealer from whom you purchased them. Between their records and ours,
you should be all set.
However, please keep your sales receipt in a safe and easily found place. Should
you move or lose touch with your original dealer, it will serve as your proof of
purchase for warranty purposes.
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Description
Your Insight Series P2i loudspeakers take advantage of
several critical technologies to deliver a level of performance that has never been available in a loudspeaker
that intruded so modestly on your living space. In fact,
this level of performance has rarely been attained, regardless of the space and budget at one’s disposal.
Since several of these technologies cannot readily be
found elsewhere, we will take the time to describe them
in more detail than would be necessary for more conventional designs.
Planar magnetic drivers Our planar magnetic drivers use an advanced, thin lm
membrane to move the air. This lm can respond instantly to the smallest detail in the signal. It has vastly
less inertia than traditional “cone & dome” drivers, so
the signal is never blurred in any way.
The motive force is provided by a “voice
coil” that is printed on the lm, which is
suspended in a strong magnetic eld pro-
vided by powerful magnets behind and in
front of the lm. The ratio of available force
to the moving mass is huge, which means
that the diaphragm does exactly what it is
told: nothing more, nothing less.
Free from compression One of the most remarkable things about the sound of well-designed planar
magnetic speakers is their lack of thermal or dynamic compression. There are
several reasons for this:
• The lightweight diaphragm responds quickly to even the smallest
signals, yet is robust enough to handle a great deal of power.
• The voice coil is laid out at and is exposed to the air on both
sides; the large resulting surface area dissipates heat extremely
quickly and efciently.
• Since heat does not build up in the voice coil (as it does in conventional dynamic drivers), the load seen by the amplier does
not change at high power levels.
When you become accustomed to the sound of your new Insight Series P2i
speakers, conventional speakers sound a bit bland and lifeless. You may also
discover yourself hearing details at even modest levels on the P2i that were previously inaudible even at loud volumes on more conventional speakers.
More reliable The “voice coil” in the planar magnetic driver is spread out over a large, at area
that is exposed to the open air. As such, when a huge transient comes along,
any heat that is generated is immediately dissipated. This compares quite favor-
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ably to other designs in which the voice coil is buried inside a massive piece of
metal, where the heat has effectively no place to go.
The excellent heat dissipation of these drivers makes them remarkably reliable.
Planar magnetic speakers can handle a great deal of power without undue stress
or audible strain. In fact, for a given size, they can handle many times the power
of a traditional dynamic driver.
Easy on ampliers Because the conductor of a planar magnetic driver is essentially a long, thin
wire, it presents a purely resistive load to the amplier. This is comparable to the
simple test loads that amplier companies use when measuring their ampliers
to show how terric they are. As such, you can be assured that your ampliers
will sound and work their best.
Dynamic woofers Authoritative, deep bass requires that you move a lot of air. We have chosen to
use dynamic woofers for the bass because they can provide excellent performance at lower frequencies.
In order to get comparable bass performance from a planar magnetic design,
you would need to have a huge speaker that would be impractical in most
domestic living spaces. It simply makes more sense to use the best transducer
technology in each area of the reproduced spectrum. One of Wisdom Audio’s
strengths is in seamlessly blending these technologies — particularly important
given the high standards set by our planar magnetic drivers.
Extraordinary drivers Of course, the dynamic woofers themselves must be rather extraordinary in
order to “keep up” with the planar magnetic drivers right up to the crossover
frequency.
Our woofers are different because they must be in order to do their job. Spe-
cically, we need highly dynamic, uncompressed bass (to keep up with the
planar magnetic drivers) that does not depend on a critical amount of enclosure
volume (since these speakers are mounted in your wall, and use the space inside
the wall as their “enclosure”). These two design goals require rather extraordinary attention to myriad details.
The motor and suspension system of these woofers therefore includes all the
critical damping required for optimal operation. (In most speakers, the woofers
depend on the air trapped inside their enclosures as an additional “spring” to
help them behave properly.) Technically, this approach is known as an “innite
bafe” design. In practice, the volume of air behind the speaker does not have
to be innite, of course. It just needs to be large enough to not act like an acous-
tic “spring.” Recommended and minimum enclosure volumes for the speaker are
listed in the Specications section, and repeated on the Dimensions page.
Optimized for subwoofers Many speakers include a mid-bass “bump” in their response to give the illusion
of going deeper in the bass than they actually do. Unfortunately, this “bump”
make blending them seamlessly with a high quality subwoofer almost impossible.
All Insight Series speakers have been designed for optimally at response to 80
Hz, which is the most-common crossover frequency used with subwoofers.
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Friendly to Room Correction It is impossible to separate the performance of a speaker from the room it is in.
No matter how well designed, a speaker will sound quite different in a carpeted
library with lots of bookcases, heavy drapes, and overstuffed furniture than it
would in a stone-and-glass great room.
Fortunately, even mid-priced receivers today have basic room correction capabilities. Some of these auto-equalization systems work better than others,
but they all measure the response of the speaker in the room, and give you the
option of trying to make the sound “at.” Which is to say, all frequencies are
reproduced at an equal volume when equal energy is put into the speaker.
Unfortunately, there are important differences between how our ears hear “at”
and how the microphone measures “at.” Specically, our hearing is quite adept
at separating the direct sound from early reections, and from subsequent rever-
beration in the room. The measurement systems commonly used in room correction do not make this sort of distinction. If you do not make an allowance for
this difference, you often end up with worse sound, not better.
Your Insight loudspeaker addresses this important difference. See “Room Correction” for more detailed information.
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Unpacking & Installing the P2i
Your new Wisdom Audio Insight Series P2i in-wall speaker is relative compact,
but surprisingly massive compared to most in-wall speakers. Please exercise
caution when unpacking your P2i to ensure that you do not strain yourself from
its (perhaps unexpected) weight.
Simple installation instructions 1. Use the included cardboard template to trace the outline of the
hole for the speaker and carefully cut to the line.
2. Carefully remove the magnetic grille, tipping it off from one side
to the other (not from one end to the other), so as to avoid damag-
ing the grille. Set it aside, laying it at.
3. Unscrew and remove the speaker module itself (bafe plate, driv-
ers, crossover) from the UniGrip™ mounting system and carefully
set it aside.
4. Remove one long clamping rail from the Uni-Grip™ mounting
system, and loosen the other side. Angle the Uni-Grip into the
cutout so the remaining clamping rail is sandwiching the wall, and
snug it down lightly. Insert the removed clamping rail through the
wall opening, and reattach it to the Uni-Grip. Check everything
for plumb, and snug both rails down.
5. Push any insulation in the wall to the side. If there is no insula-
tion in the wall, loosely ll the stud bay with insulation to reduce
cavity resonances and improve performance.
6. Using assistance to hold the speaker away from the wall, connect
the speaker cable to the + and – connectors on the rear of the
speaker, paying attention to proper polarity.
7. Screw the speaker module into the Uni-Grip frame.
8. Place the grille on the front of the speaker, registering it around
the edges of the bafe. It is held magnetically and will gently snap
into place.
Maximum wall thickness The Uni-Grip system on the P2i can handle wall thicknesses of up to 1.25” (1
or 3.175cm). If you are planning a double-wall construction, you may use two
5
⁄8” layers. You may also consider using MDO (medium density overlay) ply-
wood, which is quite strong and has a smooth paper surface like gypsum board.
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1
⁄4”
Room Correction
At Wisdom Audio, we recognize that you cannot separate the performance of
a speaker from the room in which it operates. As such, we are big believers in
both room treatment (to whatever degree it is practical) and room correction
(equalization) to mitigate the sonic damage that even good rooms can cause. In
fact, we include an extremely sophisticated room correction system in all our
Sage Series and Wisdom Series systems.
Fortunately, effective room correction is widely available today in even midlevel AV receivers. Unfortunately, the target curves employed and functionality
of these systems vary widely.
A solution to this problem is built into your Insight Series P2i in the form of the
Response switch on the front of the speaker (near the bottom).
No room correction If your system does not include any form of room correction (or you choose not
to use it), we suggest listening to the system for some time with all the switches
in the Target position. Once you are accustomed to the sound of the system,
switch them all to Flat. In most (but not all) rooms, Flat will actually sound a bit
too bright.
Decide which position you prefer (which is room-dependant) and settle in to
enjoy the system.
Systems with room correction Most room correction systems have the option of compensating for room acous-
tics in such as way as to create a nominally “Flat” response. While one would
think that this would be the most desirable, in most rooms it sounds subjectively
bright and fatiguing. The reason is simple: we hear sound differently than the
microphone measures it, and we must make an allowance for that difference in
order to achieve the best results.
Specically, our ear/brain system is extremely good at sorting out the direct
sound from early reections, and from subsequent reverberation. Most measure-
ment systems lump all of these things together, creating something of an average
of all three.
If you do not allow for this disparity, the direct sound (which should be at)
ends up being tilted up at high frequencies in an effort to restore energy that has
been absorbed by the room. The result may measure at, but we perceive it as
too bright (because the direct sound is, in fact, too bright.)
Thus, the most reliable way to calibrate the system is as follows:
1. Set all speakers to the Flat position.
2. Use your room correction system to calibrate to a Flat response in
the room.
3. When the correction is complete and saved, listen to the system
with all speakers in the Target position (which makes an appropriate allowance for the absorption found in typical residential
rooms). As before, you can compare Flat to Target. But in most
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rooms, the Target position will sound less fatiguing, without giving
up any detail.
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Your P2i and Subwoofers
Using with subs All Insight Series loudspeakers are optimized for use with subwoofers, with a
crossover of 80 Hz. (This is the most common frequency below which subwoofers are used.)
When properly installed in the wall, your P2i has inherently at response to 80
Hz, without the common “bass bump” that characterizes most in-wall speakers
and is placed there to yield the impression of “more bass” than there really is.
This makes it easy to blend seamlessly with a high quality subwoofer such as
one of Wisdom Audio’s Regenerative Transmission Line™ (RTL™) subwoofers.
You should set up your surround processor for a crossover of 80 Hz and dene
all your Insight speakers as “Small” in the speaker setup portion of your proces-
sor’s menu system. Doing so ensures that all content below 80 Hz is directed to
the subwoofer(s) for reproduction.
Using full range In some installations, the Insight Series speakers may be used full-range rather
than with a subwoofer. If so, we recommend using a two-pronged approach to
get the lowest distortion and best performance from your Insight Series speakers.
1. Purchase and install 70 Hz in-line lters such as the ones found
here, at Parts Express:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=266-
272
2. Optionally, if your system has some basic EQ capabilities, boost
the range around 60 Hz by perhaps 3 dB
The combination of these two lters will yield full-sounding natural bass, while
attenuating the lowest frequencies that normally would be reserved for a subwoofer.
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Care & Maintenance
To remove dust from the front of your P2i, use a feather duster or a lint-free soft
cloth.
To remove stubborn dirt and ngerprints from the grille, we recommend
isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. Lightly dampen the cloth with alcohol rst
and then clean the grille of the P2i with the cloth. Do not use excessive amounts
of alcohol—there is no need for the cloth to be wet; merely damp is better.
Never attempt to clean the drivers themselves.
Caution! Do not touch the surface of the planar magnetic drivers, under any
circumstances. The thin lm has been carefully pre-tensioned at the
factory; any subsequent contact can only damage it.
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North American Warranty
Standard Warranty When purchased from and installed by an authorized Wisdom Audio dealer,
Wisdom Audio® loudspeakers are warranted to be free from defects in material
and workmanship under normal use for a period of ve years from the original
date of purchase.
Furthermore, the transducers (“drivers”) in your Wisdom Audio speakers are
warranted to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal
use for a period of twenty years from the original date of purchase.
Harsh Conditions Use The Insight Series loudspeakers are designed for installation and operation in
environmentally controlled conditions, such as are found in normal residential
environments. When used in harsh conditions such as outdoors or in marine
applications, the warranty is three years from the original date of purchase.
During the warranty period, any Wisdom Audio loudspeaker exhibiting defects
in materials and/or workmanship will be repaired or replaced, at our option,
without charge for either parts or labor, at our factory. The warranty will not
apply to any Wisdom Audio loudspeaker that has been misused, abused,
altered, or installed and calibrated by anyone other than an authorized Wisdom
Audio dealer.
Any Wisdom Audio loudspeaker not performing satisfactorily may be returned
to the factory for evaluation. Return authorization must rst be obtained by
either calling or writing the factory prior to shipping the component. The factory will pay for return shipping charges only in the event that the loudspeaker is
found to be defective as mentioned above. There are other stipulations that may
apply to shipping charges.
There is no other express warranty on this loudspeaker. Neither this warranty
nor any other warranty, express or implied, including any implied warranties of
merchantability or tness, shall extend beyond the warranty period. No responsibility is assumed for any incidental or consequential damages. Some states do
not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts and other states do
not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so
the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
This warranty gives you specic legal rights, and you may also have other rights
which vary from state to state. This warranty is applicable in North America
only. Outside of North America, please contact your local, authorized Wisdom
Audio distributor for warranty and service information.
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Obtaining Service
We take great pride in our dealers. Experience, dedication, and integrity make
these professionals ideally suited to assist with our customers’ service needs.
If your Wisdom Audio loudspeaker must be serviced, please contact your
dealer. Your dealer will then decide whether the problem can be remedied
locally, or whether to contact Wisdom Audio for further service information
or parts, or to obtain a Return Authorization. The Wisdom Audio Service
Department works closely with your dealer to solve your service needs
expediently.
Important! Return authorization must be obtained from Wisdom Audio’s Service
Department BEFORE a unit is shipped for service.
It is extremely important that information about a problem be explicit and com-
plete. A specic, comprehensive description of the problem helps your dealer
and the Wisdom Audio Service Department locate and repair the difculty as
quickly as possible.
A copy of the original bill of sale will serve to verify warranty status. Please include it with the unit when it is brought in for warranty service.
Warning! All returned units must be packaged in their original packaging,
and the proper return authorization numbers must be marked on
the outer carton for identication. Shipping the unit in improper
packaging may void the warranty, as Wisdom Audio cannot be
responsible for the resulting shipping damage.
Your dealer can order a new set of shipping materials for you if you need to
ship your loudspeaker and no longer have the original materials. There will be a
charge for this service. We strongly recommend saving all packing materials in
case you need to ship your unit some day.
If the packaging to protect the unit is, in our opinion or that of our dealer, inadequate to protect the unit, we reserve the right to repackage it for return shipment
at the owner’s expense. Neither Wisdom Audio nor your dealer can be responsible for shipping damage due to improper (that is, non-original) packaging.
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Specications
All specications are subject to change at any time, in order to improve the
product.
■ Frequency response: 80Hz – 20 kHz ± 2dB relative to the target curve
■ Crossover frequency: 650 Hz
■ Nominal Impedance: 6Ω
■ Minimum Impedance: 3.75Ω
■ Sensitivity: 86 dB/2.83V/1m
■ Power handling, peak: 140w
■ Maximum SPL: 106 dB @ 1m
■ Dimensions: see appropriate Dimensions drawings on next page
■ Recommended Enclosure Volume: 0.65 cubic feet (18.3 litres) or more
■ Minimum Enclosure Volume: 0.36 cubic feet (10.2 litres)
■ Maximum Wall Thickness: 1
■ Shipping weight, each: 14 lbs. (6.4 kg)
For more information, see your Wisdom Audio dealer, or contact:
1
⁄4" (3.175cm)
Wisdom Audio
1572 College Parkway, Suite 164
Carson City, NV 89706
www.wisdomaudio.com
information@wisdomaudio.com
Ph: 775.887.8850
Fax: 775.887.8820
15
P2i Dimensions
16
Notes
17
WISDOM and the stylized W are registered trademarks of Wisdom Audio.
1572 College Parkway, Suite 164
Carson City, Nevada 89706 USA
Wisdom Audio
Telephone: 775.887.8850
Fax: 775.887.8820
http://www.wisdomaudio.com
P2iOM-1.0 © 05/2013 Wisdom Audio, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
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