Thank you for giving Home Theater Direct the chance to win your business! We are confident you
will find that HTD offers an outstanding combination of performance and value in everything we make.
To ensure you get the most out of your new speakers, please take a moment to read this manual before
you get started. Should you lose this manual, you can always download or print a copy from
www.htd.com.
A Few Words About Stereo and Surround Sound
HTD speakers are designed to accurately reproduce high fidelity music as well as dialog and effects
in movies. Most of us are familiar with the concept of 2-channel audio, commonly known as stereo.
In a home theater environment, recording engineers have the option of recording into additional
channels. A majority of today’s movies are recorded in 5.1 surround sound formats, most often
either Dolby Digital or DTS. When these movies are played with a digital source, such as a DVD
player, audiences at home have the opportunity to hear all of these channels if their system has
been equipped with the appropriate speakers for each channel. When these movies are played
through an analog stereo source, such as a VCR, a 5.1 surround signal is usually available in Dolby
ProLogic, ProLogic II or some other analog matrixed format. ProLogic makes use of the same 5.1
speaker channels, although the back two (surround) speakers will receive identical information and
it is not a full range signal. ProLogic II sends discrete, full-range channels to the back two speakers.
The subwoofer is provided the low frequencies sent to the other channels in a Dolby ProLogic or
ProLogic II recording. By contrast, a true 5.1 digital recording includes a completely unique channel
of both low frequencies and effects (LFE). This channel is most often referred to as the LFE channel
or subwoofer channel and represents the .1 in a 5.1 system. In most of today’s receivers, the five
full frequency channels: front right, front center, front left, rear (surround) right and rear (surround)
left; are “powered” channels, meaning the receiver has built-in amplification for each channel. The
LFE channel however, is most often not powered. And because this channel only includes very low
frequencies, a powered subwoofer is necessary to produce the LFE channel.
Speaker Size
Most of today’s home theater receivers allow you to tell the receiver what type of speakers you are
using. This is important since you don’t want to waste power across a full-frequency signal to a
speaker that can only handle a limited range. Receivers will typically ask whether or not the speaker
is “small” or “large”. In most cases, setting the speaker to “small” will cause only frequencies above
100 Hz to be sent to the speaker. “Large” allows the full frequency range to be passed to the
speaker. Some receivers take this a step further and allow you to set the cut-off frequency, usually
somewhere between 60 and 120 hz. All HTD Level THREE speakers will reproduce signals below
100 Hz, but not as low or with the same authority as the powered subwoofer. Sending the full
frequency to these speakers will not harm them at moderate volumes. However, if you often play
your speakers at very high volumes, it is better to set all but the tower speakers to small. This will
prevent the smaller speakers from peaking out and distorting when strong low frequency information
is present. Therefore, we recommend that you try both settings to see which works best in your
situation and to your listening taste. Never play a speaker so loud that it distorts. In many receivers,
setting a speaker to “small” automatically sends the low frequencies that would otherwise go to that
channel to the subwoofer connected to the LFE channel. Check the “bass management” section of
your receiver’s owner’s manual to be sure. This section should also address the options you have
for utilizing the powered subwoofer in audio-only applications.
If you have any questions, we can be reached at...
[email protected] or toll free 1-866-HTD-AUDIO (483-2834)
© Home Theater Direct, Inc.
Level
THREE
Owner’s Manual
Level THREE
Owner’s Manual
