OPERATION MANUAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................……….................................................. 3 2. PLACEMENT OF YOUR SPEAKERS.......................…… ............................................... 3 3. SPEAKER HOOK-UP..............................................................…...................................... 3 4. OPTIMIZING SPEAKER PLACEMENT....................................…..................................... 4 5. THE TRIPOLE® SURROUND SPEAKER......
page 3 1. INTRODUCTION Congratulations! Your new MK speaker system will give you years of unmatched enjoyment and excitement while listening to your favorite musical and audio/video sources. We encourage you to read this owner’s manual, as there is a great deal of information provided here to help you achieve the best possible performance from your new speakers. If you have any questions about your speaker system, please contact your MK dealer.
page 4 HOOKUP For each speaker, connect the Positive (+) lead from your amplifier or receiver to the RED (+) INPUT terminal and connect the Negative (-) lead from your amplifier or receiver to the BLACK (-) INPUT terminal. See Figure 1. 4. OPTIMIZING SPEAKER PLACEMENT The sound quality produced by your speakers can be significantly enhanced by careful attention to their placement.
page 5 B. LOCATION AWAY FROM REFLECTING SURFACES Your speakers should be located, whenever practical, away from walls, the floor, furniture, or any other reflecting surfaces. Do the best you can. Objects close to the speaker will reflect sound, and this reflected sound arrives at your ear slightly later than the direct sound. This delay is very slight, so instead of hearing an echo, you hear a “blurred” sound with less clarity that is not as sharp and distinct as it should be.
page 6 Try to follow the formula as close as you can. You can fine tune the placement by listening to a source with an image (such as a vocalist) centered between the speakers. When listening in stereo (no Center Channel speaker), move the speakers closer together or farther apart in small increments until you hear the sharpest and most cohesive image in the phantom center. You may also want to angle (or “toe-in”) the speakers slightly.
page 7 If your surround speakers cannot be located exactly to the left and right sides of the seating area, it is better for them to be located slightly towards the back of the room, or on the back/rear wall behind the listening position, rather than in the front of the room. See FIGURE 5 in Appendix A. b. HEIGHT The surround speakers should be located relatively close to the ceiling.
page 8 7. HOME THEATRE USAGE LEVEL-MATCHING The factor most critical to achieving excellent Home Theatre performance is level-matching the three front, two surround channels and subwoofer. This is even more important than timbre-matching. We strongly recommend that you purchase a good Sound Pressure Level meter (In the US, the Radio Shack Sound Level Meter is available for less than about $50.
page 9 If the television is not in the center of the room (or not centered between the Left and Right speakers), the Center channel speaker should still be as close as possible to the screen -- even if it is outside the left and right speakers (such as a TV located in a corner of the room outside the stereo spread of the left and right speakers). Good results can be achieved in unusual configurations when the Center speaker is as close as possible to the screen.
page10 The speakers should be a minimum of a few feet away from the nearest listener. If the speaker is located too close to a listener, its sound will become too directional and may distract that listener. Ideally, the surround speakers should not call attention to themselves and should not be audible as separate sources of sound. If the surrounds must be located close to the listeners, aiming them at the room walls or even the ceiling can help to reduce any directional effect.
page 11 You can do this at the back of both Main speakers, or at the Subwoofer’s TO SPEAKERS terminals, but never at both locations. The lead that was on the Positive (+) terminal should be switched to the Negative (—) terminal, and vice versa. As a safety measure, ALWAYS turn the amplifier off before making the switch. Now listen to the same musical passage as you did earlier, concentrating on the mid-bass region. If you hear less bass, the original connection (or switch position) was correct.
page 12 The best way to avoid speaker damage is to use common sense. Use moderate boosts of tone controls or equalizers, at the very most. Listen carefully for any harshness and break-up, especially at high volume levels, and turn down the volume when needed. If you cannot get enough volume, you may need to consider a higher-powered amplifier. If you have any questions about this, please contact MK, and we will be happy to discuss it with you. 10. MK 5.
page 13 3. Locate the surrounds. Determine the best position in the room. It will probably be the position used for THX speakers, directly to the right and left of the main listening position on the side walls (so that a listener in the center seat is directly between the speakers). If that doesn’t work or is not practical because of the room, try these locations: on the ceiling; on the back wall. 4. Install all wiring and interconnects. 5. Connect the subwoofer.
Appendix A Speaker Placement Diagrams: Figure 3 Figure 4 5.
Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Back Wall Mounted Surrounds Multiple Surrounds Tripole Orientation
Appendix B Special notes on the MK 150 Series: DO NOT REMOVE THE SPECIAL ACOUSTIC FOAM ATTACHED TO THE FRONT BAFFLE OF YOUR SPEAKERS. This foam is a critical part of your loudspeaker system and plays an important role in its high level of performance. It focuses the radiation of the tweeters, minimizes cabinet diffraction, and provides the flattest possible frequency response. Place your S-150 or MP-150 main speakers as shown in figure 1 below around a flat panel TV.
Avoid turning your speakers on their sides (figure 2 below) as this will narrow the high frequency dispersion. The performance of your speakers is dependent on their orientation. By controlling the vertical dispersion, we limit the amount of sound that would otherwise be reflected with a time delay from the floor and ceiling. This means the speakers should always be vertically oriented. The MP-150 is vertically oriented when its tweeters are vertically stacked (not next to each other).
Figure 4 Using flush mount brackets to mount the MP-150 on the wall
MK Sound ApS · Denmark· Tel. +45 8619 8733 · www.mksoundsystem.
