JBL Consumer Products, Incorporated 240 Crossways Park West Woodbury, NY 11797 8500 Balboa Boulevard Northridge, CA 91329 800-645-7484 A Harman International Company P/N 301227-001
® SYNTHESIS THREE SPEAKERS OWNER’S MANUAL
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................2 SPEAKER PLACEMENT .................................................................................................3 CONNECTING THE SPEAKERS TO THE REST OF YOUR SYSTEM..............................7 FINE TUNING YOUR AUDIO SYSTEM...........................................................................8 TROUBLESHOOTING ...........................................................
INTRODUCTION Congratulations on purchasing this JBL Synthesis Three home theater speaker. This product represents the synthesis of everything that JBL has learned about the emotional power of audio and video in over fifty years of preeminence in the field.
COMMON VOICING: Synthesis Three uses common voicing across the front three channels. Since identical drivers are used, each speaker has the same tonal qualities, thus as a sound is panned from one side to the other, there will be no change in timbre. MAGNETIC SHIELDING: All front speakers are magnetically shielded, allowing you to place them near video monitors without generating interference or distorting the picture.
The speakers have been designed to integrate well with rear projection 35” and 45” television sets. The subwoofers can be placed on both sides of the television set, with the left and right speakers stacked on top. This arrangement lends itself nicely because it places the center of the horns at approximately the desired height with the screen.
right speakers. The horn in the center channel speaker should be no more than two feet higher or lower than the horns in the left and right speakers. This preserves the “localization integrity” of “sound pans”, in which the sound appears to move from left to center to right. Having it also appear to go from high to low to high, or vice versa, can destroy the illusion of such effects and should also be avoided. Use of speaker stands can help achieve this goal.
due to the presence of windows, fabrics, furniture, or other absorption, it may be necessary to turn the ambient speakers sideways, and instead of bracketing them in a vertical orientation, hang or mount them from the ceiling in a horizontal orientation. Although identical drivers are used on both sides of a surround speaker, it is important to have a particular side facing the wall with the screen. Remove both grilles covering the transducers and locate the side that has a port tube on it.
CONNECTING THE SPEAKERS TO THE REST OF YOUR SYSTEM S3M OR S3VC S3VC OR S3HC (-) (+) S3M OR S3VC (-) (+) (-) (+) LEFT AND RIGHT FRONT S3S LEFT (-) (+) S300 S3S LEFT (-) (+) (-) (+) (-) (+) CENTER* LEFT (-) (+) S150 LEFT (-) (+) AMBIENT AMBIENT SUBWOOFER LEFT (-) (+) (-) (+) S300 LEFT (-) (+) AMBIENT LEFT (-) (+) S150 (-) (+) LEFT (-) (+) AMPLIFIERS *When used with a complete Synthesis Three system, the center amplifer (model S150) is operated in the mono bridged mode To connect the
are connected identically. Unscrew the binding post, insert the wire into the hole, and retighten. If you are using banana plug type wire connectors, insert them directly into the posts making sure the lug on the negative (-) side of the banana plug is placed into the black binding post. For each channel, connect the red terminal on the loudspeaker to the red or (+) loudspeaker connection terminal on the amplifier and the black to the black or (-).
ROOM REFLECTIONS The most troublesome room reflections are usually the early reflections of the LCR speakers off the floor, ceiling and side walls. These reflections reach the listener’s ears delayed with respect to direct sounds and blur the perceived image. They can also degrade dialog intelligibility, through the same mechanisms. The design of the THX LCR speakers minimizes the floor and ceiling reflections.
Commercially built diffusers are available but large bookcases and irregularly shaped furniture will also serve the same purpose. They reflect sounds in a highly randomized way which effectively “scatters” the sound in all directions. Place the diffuser where you would otherwise place the absorptive material (using the “mirror trick”), to break up the first early reflections and scatter them randomly throughout the room.
In particular, the surround speakers depend on non-absorptive surfaces for their operation, since they radiate virtually no sound directly at the listeners. The best arrangement of the absorptive and non-absorptive surfaces in the room can be seen in the diagram below. Most of the room surfaces are relatively absorptive, with the notable exception of the rear wall and the highest portions of the other walls, which should be diffusive.
RATTLES Rattles in the room are structural resonances (as opposed to standing waves, which are airborne resonances) which the system may stimulate due to its broad frequency response and wide dynamic range. They are particularly prominent for sounds in the lower frequencies, and can sound like distortion. Sources of rattles include: furniture, loose window frames, walls, lighting, fixtures, ventilation systems, and even knick-knacks on various shelves around the room.
Constant background noise also obscures, or masks, low-level signals which are frequently important in films. Many scenes use subtle ambient noises to set the mood prior to an important event—without the full perception of the whispered secret or the barely-heard creaking of a door, the impact of the following scene is diminished.
• Seal all windows, doors, vents • Seal and caulk all apertures in the wall (electrical outlets, through-wall plumbing, etc.) Finally, transient noises (traffic on the street, dripping faucets, etc.) distract your attention away from the program material, and remind you that you are in your home theatre/living room rather than a participant in the action of a movie. STANDING WAVES A “standing wave” is what causes a pipe of a particular length in a large pipe organ to have its characteristic pitch.
often requires significant adjustment of subwoofer placement. Leave yourself some latitude with regard to subwoofer placement when planning your system—the final adjustment will probably have to be done on something of a trial-and-error basis. STANDING WAVE SOLUTIONS: ABSORPTION In theory, it is possible to damp standing waves with absorptive material.
TROUBLESHOOTING Symptom Probable Cause Solution No sound coming from speaker • Amplifier not turned on • Amplifier gain is low • Correct source not selected or turned on • Defective patchcords to amplifier • Speaker wires not connected to amplifier • Turn on amplifier • Make sure that there is amplifier gain for that channel • Select proper source • Check/replace patch cords • Check speaker wire connection to amplifier Cinema drivers are not turning on in cinema mode • Loose din cables between speake
SPECIFICATIONS S3M-Cinema S3M-Music S3VC S3HC S3S (L+R) S2A Frequency Response 70Hz-18kHz, (-3dB) 70Hz-18kHz, (-3dB) 70Hz-18kHz, (-3dB) 70Hz-18kHz, (-3dB) 32Hz-1kHz, (-3dB) 80Hz-12kHz (-3dB) Power Handling 150 watts 100 watts 150 watts 150 watts 250 watts 100 watts Sensitivity dB/1W 87dB 87dB 87dB 87dB 87dB 87dB Nominal Impedance 8 ohms 8 ohms 8 ohms 8 ohms 8 ohms 6 ohms High Frequency Dome Transducer N/A 1” Titanium N/A N/A N/A N/A High Frequency Compression Driver
