User manual NILES CS525

[. . . ] INSTALLATION & OPERATION GUIDE ® M O D EE LL S S CS525 CS650 CONTRACTOR SERIES ® B LENDING H IGH F IDELITY AND A R C H I T E C T U R E® Congratulations! Thank you for choosing a Blueprint Series In-Wall Loudspeaker® from Niles. With proper installation and operation, you'll enjoy years of trouble-free use. Niles manufactures the industry's most complete line of custom installation components and accessories for audio/video systems. For a free full line catalog write: Niles, Catalog Request, P. O. Box 160818, Miami, Florida 33116-0818 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION FEATURES AND BENEFITS INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS SPEAKER PLACEMENT INSTALLATION FUNDAMENTALS INSTALLATION OF SPEAKERS OPERATION SPECIFICATIONS WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD LIMITED WARRANTY 2 3 4 6 9 13 16 17 19 20 Introduction The CS or Contractor Series group of Blueprint Series In-Wall Loudspeakers ® offers speakers expressly designed for flexibility of use. [. . . ] Concealing Speaker Wire in Existing Walls This is actually a fairly simple task if you restrict your choice of speaker locations and wire routes to the interior walls or ceilings of your home. Interior walls in almost all North American residences are hollow, so that it is easy to flush mount speakers into them and route new speaker cable around the house. What you see when you look at the painted wall board, plaster, or paneling is only the skin of the wall. Behind the skin is the skeleton; two-by-four wood or metal "studs" running vertically from the floor to the ceiling in walls and two-by-six or larger "joists" running horizontally in the ceilings and floors. In between the studs and the joists is the space for the wiring and plumbing of your home. They must insulate the house from the heat and cold outside, so they are stuffed with insulation. The national building code requires that the hollow wall space in exterior walls be broken by a horizontal stud placed between the vertical studs. This "fire blocking" makes it very difficult to retrofit long lengths of wire. In some areas of the country the exterior walls are constructed of solid masonry, and have no hollow space for speakers or wires. Start by examining all the possible routes you might take to run the speaker wire from the speaker to the volume control and back to the stereo. Use a stud sensor or other device to locate the internal structure of the wall. A typical route would be: from the speaker location up the inside of the wall to a new hole drilled into the top "plate" (horizontal two-byfour at the top of the inside of the wall), into the attic crawl space, then down to the volume control location through another top plate, back up to the attic, across the attic, and finally down another plate to the wall behind the stereo system itself (See Figure 4). The other very common route is through the bottom plate of the wall into an unfinished basement or crawl space. cover plate and switch or receptacle, and shining a penlight into the wall. If you have access to an attic or basement space you can quickly see which part of the wall space the wire is free of obstructions (See Figure 5). 11 Installation Fundamentals Speaker Location Volume Control Location Figure 4 Stereo Location When you don't have access above or below the wall, try to estimate the existing wire and pipe locations from the positions of electrical outlets and plumbed fixtures on both sides of the wall. Take a look at the outside of your house too, sometimes conduit, vents or drain pipe will be visible that give useful information Choose the route with the fewest potential obstacles. Identify where all of your electrical, phone, and TV wiring is likely to be and plan to route around it all. You can accidentally induce 60 Hz hum on your speakers if you run your speaker wire right beside electrical wire for more than a few feet. Try to keep speaker wire running parallel to power cables at least 3 feet away. To find exactly where an electrical cable is routed, try inspecting the inside of the wall by turning off the breaker for a particular power outlet or switch, removing the If your house is built on a slab or you are wiring between two finished floors, look for baseboards which could be removed and replaced with the wire behind them Doorjambs can be removed and often have enough space for speaker wire al the way around the door (See Figure 6). Sometimes, an under-the-carpet run is possible (there are special flat speaker wires made for under-the-rug wire runs) As a last resort, heating and air conditioning vents can be used as wire raceways for Unobstructed space for speaker wiring Figure 5 plenum rated wire (check your local building codes, some municipalities require conduit). In traditional wood stud/drywall construction you can cut the hole for the speaker and utilize the large hole to auger holes across, up or down the wall for as far as your drill bit will take you. If you have matching paint and take reasonable care in patching you can cut a hatch in the drywall at each stud, run your wire, and patch and touch-up the wall (See Figure 7). When you are dealing with the unknown because of the structure of your home, or with difficult to patch wall materials like plaster, lath and plaster, faux finishes, wallpaper etc. , be patient. A careful study of the potential problems before you start the job will pay off. Figure 6 Figure 7 Installation of Speakers IMPORTANT: Before you cut into any wall, review the sections on running wire and speaker placement. [. . . ] t Custom Installer t Electrician t Friend t Myself Which factor(s) influenced the purchase of your Niles product?(Please check all that apply) t Ease of Use t Price/Value t Product Features t Quality/Durability t Reputation t Style/Appearance t Warranty Do you . __________________ t Own a Town House/ Condominium/Coop t Rent an Apartment t Rent a House Are you interested in receiving literature on other Niles products?t Yes t No Are there products/ capabilities that you would like to see introduced? [. . . ]