USER’S
ManUaL
BookShELf
CEntER ChannEL
SURRoUnd SoUnd
SpEakERS
Reflections from side walls have a major impact on your sound so try not to place your main speakers
close to them. Try not to place your main speakers so they’re exactly the same distance from the closest
side wall. A bit of asymmetry here is actually preferable.
Surround Speakers
Surround speaker placement is challenging. If you’re using a pair of TSC bookshelf speakers, you
have two options.
When you take the time to properly place your Main speakers, you’ll enjoy better “imaging” (the appar-
ent placement of individual instruments or voices), and more depth.
If you’re primarily a music listener, place them on the back wall of your listening/viewing room but a
bit closer to the side walls than the “Rule of Thirds” indicates. Make sure the tweeters are at approxi-
mately the same height as are the tweeters of your front Left, Center, and Right speakers.
Center Channel Speakers
For a home theater system, place the center channel speaker between your Left and Right speakers as
close to your TV screen as possible. Try to keep the tweeters of all three speakers (Left, Center, and
Right) as close to the same height as possible. Tweeters at – or very close to – your seated ear level are
ideal. (This may pose a challenge if you have to place your Center Channel speaker either above or
below your TV screen but you shouldn’t worry too much.)
Try to place the center channel speaker at exactly the same distance from your listening/viewing posi-
tion as the main Left and Right speakers. This helps create the most convincing image.
If you’re a movie fan, mount the surround speakers on the side walls flanking your primary listening/
viewing position. Make sure they’re slightly behind your couch or chair and at least 1.5 to 2’ above ear
level.
Try not to place furniture between your speakers and your listening/viewing position. Make sure you
can see all your speakers when seated there.
Bookshelf / Center Channel / Surround: PAGE 3
Polarity and Proper Phasing
Don’t let these words scare you. They both refer to making sure you get all the sound your speakers are
capable of giving you.
ConnECting YoUR SpEakERS
Now that you’ve got your speaker placed properly, it’s time to connect them.
Before you begin connecting your speakers, turn your system components OFF. That way, you won’t
run any chance of “shorting” your amplifier and possibly damaging it as you’re hooking up your speak-
ers. And, of course, turn your system back ON when you’re done!
Here are step-by-step instructions for connecting the Left front output from your receiver or amplifier to
the Left front speaker.
1) Locate the Left front speaker output on the receiver or amplifier. Note the two connectors – one marked “+”
(the positive terminal – usually red) and one marked “-“ (the negative terminal – usually black).
2) Connect the “+” conductor of the speaker wire to the “+” terminal on the amplifier.
3) Connect the ”-“ conductor of the speaker wire to the “-“ terminal on the amplifier
4) At the speaker end of the same wire, connect the “+” conductor to the “+’ terminal on the speaker
5) Connect the “-“ conductor to the “-“ speaker terminal.
TSC speakers have two “binding posts” for connecting the
speaker cable from your amplifier. One of the posts is red
(positive or “+”), the other black (negative or “-“). Speaker
wire, in turn, has two conductors, one for the “+” side of the
Speaker Back
signal, one for the “-“.
Note: Some TSC speakers include dual “bi-wire” terminals.
More about them shortly.
Then follow steps 1 through 5 for all other amplifier-speaker connections in your system. Maintain the
same pattern for all amplifier-speaker connections!
Now look at your speaker wire. You’ll see that it has two
conductors separated by insulation and identified by color
(if the insulation is clear) or by differences in the insulation
itself (ridged vs. plain is the most common). Choose one
conductor to carry the “+” signal and the other for the nega-
tive signal. It makes no difference which one you pick – just
maintain that choice for all your connections.
Why are we placing as much emphasis on consistency here? We want you to get all the performance
you’ve paid for!
_
+
When your amplifier-to-speaker connections are consistent (when “+” is always connected to “+” and
“-“ is always connected to “-“), your speakers are connected “in phase.” That means the drivers in each
speaker will push out when they get a common positive signal from an amplifier and pull in when they
get a negative signal.
Prepare the wire by exposing about 3/8” of each conductor
by stripping the insulation with a wire stripper or sharp knife.
Twist all the individual strands of each conductor together
before inserting the end into the hole in the binding post.
Then tighten the end cap down over the
When speakers are connected “out of phase,” the drivers fight each other – some move out while others
move in. The result? You’ll get less bass and blurred imaging. That’s a pretty heavy price to pay for
not taking just a few extra seconds to make sure your connections are correct.
Some Advice On Speaker Wire
wire so that there’s a firm connection.
Please use 16 gauge wire if your amplifier-to-speaker runs are under 50’. For longer runs, we
strongly suggest 14 gauge. For your reference, standard “lamp cord” available at most hardware
stores is 18 gauge. Better to use heavier wire such as 16 or 14 gauge.
Don’t Over-Tighten!
A firm mechanical connection is
obviously better than a loose one.
Just don’t go overboard! If you can
make the speaker wire slip with just
a gentle tug, tighten the connection a
bit. Not too much, though. You can
strip connectors by over-tightening
them.
Bookshelf / Center Channel / Surround: PAGE 4
Bi-WiRing
If you’re making “home-brew” bi-wire cables,
measure two identical lengths of dual conductor
wire. At the amplifier end of each pair, strip
about ¾” of insulation from each conductor.
Then connect the “+” conductors together by
twisting or soldering them. Do the same with
the “-“ conductors.
As we’ve already mentioned, some of our speakers are “bi-wire capable.” This means the speaker
system is designed to allow two runs of speaker wire from the amplifier.
The rear panel of these speakers includes two sets of connections, each with a “+” and a “-“ terminal.
Both “+” terminals are connected with a jumper, as are both “-“ terminals.
Do not do this at the speaker end!
Observing proper polarity, connect both “+”
conductors (now joined) to the “+” amplifier
terminal. Then connect the joined “-“ conduc-
tors to the amplifier’s “-“ terminal.
At the speaker end of each wire run, connect
one length of speaker wire to the Low termi-
nals. Remember to observe proper polarity by
connecting the “+” conductor to the “+” termi-
nal and the “-“ conductor to the “-“ terminal.
If you are using conventional speaker wire and do not wish to bi-wire, do not remove these jumpers.
Simply choose one set of terminals and connect the speaker to the amplifier as previously described .
You can pick either High or Low terminals. Because they’re joined by the jumpers, it doesn’t make a
difference.
Now do the same thing with the other length of
speaker wire but this time connect the conduc-
tors (“+” to “+” and “-“ to “-,“ of course) to the
High terminals.
If you want to bi-wire, first remove the jumpers.
Bookshelf / Center Channel / Surround: PAGE 5
Do this for both speakers.
Although you can use two separate lengths of speaker wire to make this connection, most audiophiles
prefer special “bi-wire” speaker cables. This is both easier (albeit more costly) and less likely to cause
phasing problems as the conductors are already joined at the amplifier end and are plainly marked at the
speaker end. However, it’s your choice.
Some people believe that bi-wiring’s chief benefit is clearer sound. They posit that bi-wiring effec-
tively separates the speaker’s internal crossover into separate filters, thus reducing the passive circuitry
between the amplifier and the drivers connected to it.
BREak-in
Many people believe speakers improve with age.
With TSC speakers, you’ll notice a change in timbre, responsiveness, and sheer musicality as you use
them because the drivers “settle in” with use.
How long should you wait? That depends, for example, on whether you listen AM radio at low volume
or full orchestral music at live concert levels. In general, you’ll begin to hear differences after 20-30
hours of use.
CaRE
Your TSC speakers don’t need much maintenance. Dust them occasionally. And don’t your kids try to
push in the drivers, either!
Above all, enjoy! That’s what your TSC speakers were designed for and why we take such pride in
bringing them to you!
© 2007 The Speaker Company. All rights reserved.
Bookshelf / Center Channel / Surround: PAGE 6
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