SPEAKER CONNECTIONS 9
Speaker-Level Connection Guide
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Before making speaker
connections, be certain that your receiver or
audio power amplifier is turned off and
preferably unplugged from its AC power
source. The SUB-TS12 subwoofer should
not be connected to an AC power source
until all speaker wire connections have been
made.
Speakers and electronics terminals have
corresponding (+) and (–) terminals. Most
manufacturers of speakers and electronics,
including Harman Kardon, use red to denote
the (+) terminal and black for the (–)
terminal.
Newer Harman Kardon receivers conform to
the new CEA standard and therefore use a
color other than red or black for the (+) ter-
minal to indicate some speaker positions:
e.g., surround left. Although the HKTS 12
system has red and black collars on the
individual speaker terminals to denote the
positive and negative connections, your
system includes a colored band on the
positive lead at both ends of every speaker
cable and a matching colored sticker for
each of the four satellite speakers, conforming
to the key on page 7. The center speaker has
a green (+) terminal, and the subwoofer has a
purple SUB input jack. This system is intended
to help you ensure that the speaker in each
location is connected to the correct termi-
nals on your receiver or amplifier.
The (+) lead of the speaker wire is indicated
with a stripe and has the colored band cor-
responding to the speaker’s position. It is
important to connect all speakers identically:
(+) on the speaker to (+) on the amplifier
and (–) on the speaker to (–) on the ampli-
fier. Wiring “out of phase” results in thin
sound, weak bass and a poor stereo image.
With the advent of multichannel surround
sound systems, connecting all of the speakers
in your system with the correct polarity
remains equally important in order to preserve
the proper ambience and directionality of the
program material.
To connect the supplied speaker wires to
the satellite and center speaker terminals,
unscrew the binding-post collar until the
pass-through hole in the center post is visi-
ble under the collar. Insert the bare end of
the wire through this hole; then screw the
collar down until the connection is tight. The
hole in the center of each collar is intended
for use with banana-type connectors.
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS