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NHT
iC4 ARC In-Ceiling Loudspeaker Installation Guide
Placement
NHT
ARC
series of in-ceiling speakers are designed for installation in sheetrock, plaster and lath, wood and material combination ceil-
ings up to 2 /4” thick almost always between standard wood joists. Their moisture resistant drive units, ARC frames and stainless steel
hardware allow them to be installed in moisture prone interiors and protected exterior environments like bathrooms, indoor swimming
pool rooms, covered porches, sauna rooms and under eave structures. Exposed outdoor use is not recommended. We make really great
specific “All-Weather” Outdoor speakers for this application.
Spend some time considering placement prior to installing the speakers. Once they are installed, they are more or less permanent, so
the locations should be selected carefully. When possible, locate the speakers at least 3 feet from adjacent sidewalls and at least 2 feet
from front or rear walls to allow them to radiate over the widest possible area. The speakers must be mounted on a dead flat surface to
ensure a good seal between the baffle and the ceiling because the speaker’s frame is rigid and will not flex! For the best stereo effect,
position the speakers so that they are equidistant from the most likely listening area. If the NHT in-ceiling speakers are going to serve
as rear (surround or back) channels in a home theater system, make sure to install them behind the listeners for best results. For best
results don’t mount the speakers directly over listeners heads. Position the NHT in-ceiling speakers 15˚ to 60˚ off-axis from the listen
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ing position. If you wish to get an idea how they will look, try taping the supplied cutout templates to the ceiling or print to scale one
of the grill images from our website full-size and tape it to the ceiling (maybe Kinko’s will do this for you). For more information about
home theater speaker placement, try Dolby Labs website at: www.dolby.com/us/en/consumer/setup/connection-guide/home-theater-
speaker-guide/index.html
Wiring (Retrofit Installations or New Construction)
How you wire is an important subject. If you are just wiring for 2 or 4 speakers for the surround and/or back channels of a home theater
system within the same room, it a fairly simple wiring task. Be sure to always leave yourself some extra length on the ends for working
room and terminate the speaker wires to wall plates when possible (leave yourself some extra wire to work with and stuff the excess
in the wall). All this will make your life easier. Don’t nail the wire down in place unless building codes require it - you may want to pull
additional or different cables later, if you must, use large staples to “guide” the wire. At this point you once again may consider hiring
a professional installer and have a few beers with your friends instead.
Multi-room audio, where you will use multiple pairs of speakers in different rooms, is a completely different wiring situation and the
methods for doing so are too numerous to cover here. Consider what device you will amplify them with, if you will have local controls
to wire to, if you need to pull control cables like CAT6, or will the speaker wires home run to the head-end? Lots of questions need
answers beforehand. Home runs to a single location are the safest but controlling the volume remotely in a room will then require a
wireless command and control system that are typically pricy. If all this sounds foreign to you, stop everything now and consult a pro-
fessional to learn more about your options and at least consider having a pro wire your house for the command and control system you
decide to use.
