Owner's Manual - Bowers & Wilkins 600 Serie Manuel Du Propriétaire

English

Owner's manual

Dear customer,
Thank you for choosing B&W. Please read this manual
fully before unpacking and installing the product. It will
help you to optimise its performance. B&W maintains
a network of dedicated distributors in over 60 countries
who will be able to help you should you have any
problems your dealer cannot resolve.
Environmental Information
B&W products are designed to comply with
international directives on the Restriction of
Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and
electronic equipment and the disposal of Waste
Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The
crossed wheelie bin symbol indicates compliance and
that the products must be appropriately recycled or
processed in accordance with these directives.
Carton Contents
Check in the carton for:
1 Foam plug.
4 Self-adhesive rubber pads.
Positioning
If using a projection television with an acoustically
transparent screen, place the speaker behind the
centre of the screen. Otherwise position it directly
above or below the screen, whichever is closest to ear
level. Align the front of the speaker approximately level
with the screen. The speaker is best used mounted on
a rigid shelf or wall bracket or on a rigid floor stand. If
the speaker is to be placed either directly on top of a
television or in a rack shared with other AV equipment
fix the 4 self-adhesive pads to the base of the speaker.
They provide a degree of vibration isolation. The flat
area on top of the television may be smaller than the
base of the speaker, so position the feet accordingly.
Stray Magnetic Fields
The speaker drive units are magnetically shielded such
that the stray magnetic field strength outside the
boundaries of the cabinet, except the front, is too low
to cause distortion of CRT television pictures in the
vast majority of cases. LCD and plasma screens are
not affected by magnetic fields.
There are, however, some extremely sensitive CRT
televisions – some that even have to be adjusted
according to their alignment with the earth's magnetic
field. If you have a problem, first de-magnetise the
television set with the speaker in place. Some have a
button especially for this purpose. If such feature is not
fitted, switch off the set at the mains for 15 minutes and
switch on again – again with the speaker in place. Merely
putting the set into standby mode will not be sufficient.
If you still have a problem, try moving the speaker
either forwards or backwards a little to get a more
favourable alignment, or space the speaker further
from the CRT television until the distortion disappears.
2
Because of the higher magnetic field in front of the
speakers, magnetically sensitive articles (computer
discs, audio and video tapes, swipe cards, etc) should
be kept at least 0.2m (8 in) from the speaker.
Connections
All connections should be made with the equipment
switched off.
There are 2 linked pairs of terminals on the back of the
speaker. For conventional connection the terminal links
should remain in place (as delivered) and just one pair
of terminals connected to the amplifier. For bi-wire
connection the terminal links should be removed and
each pair of terminals connected to the amplifier
independently. Bi-wiring can improve the resolution of
low-frequency detail. Figures 1a and 1b illustrate
conventional and bi-wire connection.
Ensure that positive terminals on the speaker (marked
+ and coloured red) are connected to the positive
output terminal on the amplifier and that negative
terminals on the speaker (marked – and coloured
black) are connected to the negative output terminal
on the amplifier. Incorrect connection can result in
poor imaging and loss of bass.
Ask your dealer for advice when selecting speaker
cable. Keep its total impedance below the maximum
recommended in the speaker specification and use a
low inductance cable to avoid attenuation of high
frequencies.
Fine Tuning
Before fine tuning, make sure that all the connections
in the installation are correct and secure.
For greatest realism in home theatre installations it is
important to balance the speakers and adjust the
acoustic image to match the size of the screen. With
smaller screens it may be more realistic to have the
left and right speakers closer together than you might
for audio alone.
Adjust the levels of the three front speakers to get a
smooth transition of sounds as they pan across the
screen. Adjust the level of the surround speakers so
that, except for special effects, your attention is not
unduly attracted to them. Listen from a variety of
probable listening positions when deciding on the
optimum levels.
Moving the speaker further from the wall will generally
reduce the volume of bass. Conversely, moving the
speaker closer to the walls will increase the volume of
bass. If you want to reduce the volume of bass
without moving the speaker further from the wall, fit
the foam plug in the port tube as illustrated in
Figure 2.
If the bass seems uneven with frequency this will most
probably be due to resonance modes in the listening
room. Even small changes in the position of the
speakers or the listening position can have a profound
effect on how these resonances affect the sound. Try
moving the listening position a little backwards or
forwards. The presence and position of large pieces of
furniture can also influence resonance modes.