Connecting to loudspeakers – Arcam P1000 User Manual

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P1000

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P1000

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Connecting to loudspeakers

Wiring strategies

There are three different wiring strategies that can be employed to connect your P1000 to your
speakers. Your choice will be limited by what your speakers can support.

Single wiring

Single wiring is the conventional wiring system of running a single cable per channel
between the amplifi er and the speaker.

Bi-wiring

Bi-wiring is running two separate cables between the amplifi er and each speaker, with
one cable carrying the low-frequency information, the other the higher-frequency signals.
Any amplifi er can support bi-wiring, but speakers support it only if separate connection
terminals are provided for the two cables (the speaker will have two pairs of terminals
on the back, one pair labelled HF or High Frequency, the other pair labelled LF or Low
Frequency). Bi-wiring improves the sound of your system because the separation of high
and low frequency signal currents into separate speaker cables avoids distortions caused
by the different currents interacting with one-another within a single cable, as occurs in
conventionally wired systems.
Note that some speakers have three pairs of terminals on the back, extending the bi-
wiring principle to tri-wiring.

Bi-amping

The performance of your system can be enhanced further by extending the signal-separation
principle to include separate amplifi cation for the low- and high-frequency drivers in each speaker.
You will require two amplifi ers to do this.

Single wiring

The speaker terminals for any given channel are labelled clearly on the
rear of the P1000. For each channel, connect the positive terminal of
the speaker connection on the P1000 for that channel (coloured red and
labelled with ‘+’) to the positive terminal of your speaker for the channel
(connect, for example, the positive terminal of the centre channel of the
P1000 to the positive channel of your centre speaker). Similarly, connect
the negative terminal of the amplifi er (coloured black and labelled with
‘–’) to the negative terminal of your speaker. If your speaker supports
bi-wiring (i.e., it has more than one set of connecting terminals), but
you do not wish to use bi-wiring, connect the P1000 to the terminals
labelled LF or Low Frequency. There should be a strip of metal on the
speakers connecting the low-frequency terminals to those for the higher-
frequencies; this must not be removed in a single-wired system.
Follow the above instructions for each speaker in your system, ensuring
that the speakers are connected to the correct output of the P1000. You do
not have to connect speakers to all the channels of the P1000 (e.g., if you
don’t have a centre speaker, it doesn’t matter).

Bi-wiring

Bi-wiring is performed in the same way as single wiring except that, for
each speaker, a pair of cables is used to connect the positive terminal of
the amplifi er to the speaker. One of the cables must be connected to the
lower of the two positive terminals on Alto, with the other cable connected
to the higher positive terminal. The negative terminals must be connected
in a similar manner. The connecting strip of metal on the speakers
connecting the lower terminals to the upper terminals must be removed for
bi-wiring.

Before you start!

Ensure that your

P1000 is switched

off and disconnected

from the mains supply

before attempting to

connect speakers.

Failure to do this may

result in both speaker

and amplifi er damage.

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P1000 bi-wiring illustration (just one

channel shown, for clarity).

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P1000 single wiring illustration (just one

channel shown, for clarity).