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INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
speakers! Proprietary
technology and high quality manufacturing will allow you to enjoy the most natural and
accurate music reproduction for many years. The advice offered in this manual is aimed
at helping you maximize and maintain peak performance, and therefore, your listening
satisfaction. Please take the time to read all of the instructions contained in this manual
to make certain your system is properly installed and functioning correctly.
BREAK-IN PERIOD
We strongly advise that you resist the temptation to play the athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
speakers to their full capabilities or experiment with critical placement and listening until
they have been properly broken in. This process should last approximately 50 to 100
hours of music playback. This can be easily be done by putting your compact disc player
on Repeat mode, while playing a CD with a wide dynamic range at normal listening
levels.
athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
COMPANY
BACKGROUND
athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
is the newest division of Audio Products International Corp., known
throughout the industry as "API". A Canadian company founded in 1975, The API factory
is a modern 165,000 square foot research, development and manufacturing facility
located in Toronto, Canada. API is one of the largest speaker manufacturers in the world,
distributing products to over 60 countries worldwide. A talented research and
development team utilizes advanced computer-based design and sophisticated
measurement techniques in its ongoing quest for new and better acoustic technologies.
This research is based upon the years of pioneering psycho-acoustic research developed
in conjunction with the Canadian "National Research Council" (NRC), to create speakers
that achieve high performance in typical home listening environments. Extensive research
into every aspect of the speaker is analyzed and evaluated before the design stage
begins, a concept that we refer to as a holistic design approach. This method guarantees
that the finest components and materials are made and tested with sophisticated
manufacturing and quality control techniques to ensure exceptional performance that is
superior to speakers costing several times their price.
AMPLIFIER REQUIREMENTS
The athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
Audition series was designed to be extremely efficient and
therefore very undemanding of the connected amplifier. The entire series is designed to
be 8 ohm compatible allowing playback on almost any amplifier or receiver on the
market. Most amplifiers with a power rating of 20-100 watts per channel will efficiently
drive athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
Audition speakers. If more than one pair of speakers are being
used on the same amplifier channel, (an additional pair of speakers for another room, for
example) check with the amplifier manufacturer to confirm that the amplifier can handle
loads under 8 ohms.
Warning: If an amplifier is over-driven, the resulting distortion is actually many
times greater than its rated power. Over-driven amplifier distortion is called
"Clipping", easily identified by its fuzzy, distorted sound, and can damage any
speaker. The volume control of most amplifiers and receivers is a logarithmic
type, which means that full power may be reached with the volume control set
at as little as the halfway point. Operating the loudness, treble, or bass
controls increases power output well beyond rated levels. The warranty on
your speakers is therefore void if the voice coils are burned or damaged as a
result of overpowering or clipping.
CABINET CARE
Great care and craftsmanship have gone into the construction and finish of the cabinet.
Periodically use a soft, dry cloth to remove dust or fingerprints. Do not use paper towel or
other abrasive materials as it may damage the finish.
NOTE: Please retain the carton and packing material for the athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
speakers to protect them in the event of a move or if they need to be shipped to
a service center. Product received damaged by a service center that has been
shipped by the end user in other than the original packaging will be repaired,
refurbished and properly packaged for return shipment at the end user's
expense.
SPEAKER PLACEMENT
Surround Speaker placement
The surround speakers can be positioned in a variety of locations. The most popular
places used for surround speaker placement are the following:
Side walls: To maximize the ambient field for side wall mounting, position the speakers
adjacent to and slightly behind the primary listening area at a height of approximately 6
feet.
Rear walls: To maximize the ambient field for rear wall mounting, position the speakers
so they flank the main listening area and point towards the front of the room. They
should be raised to a height of approximately 6 feet and should ideally have a space of at
least 6 feet between them.
Stand mount: Place the stand mounted speakers slightly behind and on each side of the
main listening area. They can be anywhere from 1-6 feet behind or to the side of the
main listening area.
If you have followed these guidelines, then there should be speakers surrounding your
listening area, which will result in the encompassing surround sound feeling. These
are basic guidelines and can be tailored to suit the décor of your room. See Diagrams
3 and 4.
SPEAKER MOUNTING
Please see Diagram 5.
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS
Caution:
* Turn off all power in your audio/video system before proceeding with your
installation. Not doing so could result in potential damage to the system.
Connecting the Speakers
On the rear of your athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
speakers are two binding posts, one marked
red, the other black. Using standard speaker wire, connect the system one channel at a
time, and start your process at the Receiver. Connect the speaker wire from the positive
(RED +) terminal on the receiver to the positive (RED+) terminal on the speaker. Connect
the negative (BLACK-) terminal on the receiver to the negative (BLACK-) terminal on the
speaker. Do this one channel at a time until all of your speakers are connected properly.
Be careful to correctly match positive and negative, as well as the correct speaker to the
correct channel. See Diagrams 1 and 2.
NOTE: If you inadvertently reverse one of the connections (i.e, red to black), you
will notice a severe lack of bass from your system. This is called wiring the
system "Out of Phase". If this occurs, check the wiring and re-connect as
necessary.
A Note about Speaker Wire
Contrary to popular belief, not all speaker wire is the same. The speaker wire is the only
contact the speaker has with the amplifier. If thin, low quality cable, such as "lamp cord"
is used, then the overall sound quality will suffer, particularly in lengths of 10 feet or
more. We strongly recommend the use of high quality speaker cable to obtain the best
performance from your speakers.
WARRANTY OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED
STATES AND CANADA
Outside of North America the warranty may be changed to comply with local regulations.
Ask your local athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
retailer for details of the limited warranty applicable
in your country.
Warranty for United States and Canada
(SEE BACK COVER)
athena TECHNOLOGIES
®
, SCT
™
, and Create Your Sound
™
, are trademarks of Audio Products
International Corp. "Dolby", "Dolby Pro-Logic", and "Dolby Digital" are trademarks of Dolby
Laboratories Licensing. "DTS" is a trademark of Digital Theater Systems Inc.
owners manual
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