JBL S4800 Owner's Manual

Contents

SHORTING STRAPSThe S4800 is shipped with shortingstraps installed between its low-frequency and high-frequencyterminals. Please see Figure 8.To prepare the S4800 for bi-wireoperation, these straps must beremoved by completely unscrewingeach binding-post knob, removingthe straps, and replacing the knob.Speaker wires can then be con-nected to each set of terminals(see Figure 9).AMPLIFIERCONNECTIONSIMPORTANT: Turn all amplifiers offbefore connecting or disconnect-ing S4800 loudspeakers. Makingconnections while an amplifier isoperating could seriously damagethe loudspeaker system and voidthe warranty. All amplifiers mustalso be turned off before connect-ing or disconnecting cables at theamplifier or preamplifier inputs.All connections between the amp-lifier(s) and the S4800 loudspeakersystem are made at the terminalslocated on the back of the enclo-sure (see Figures 9 through 12).The left-hand terminals (blackstripe) are negative, and the right-hand terminals (red stripe) arepositive. These correspond to thenegative and positive conductorsin the speaker wire. Each speakerwire contains two conductors, oneof which will have a stripe, colormarkings or a ridge. Assign one ofthe two conductors as the nega-tive conductor and the other asthe positive conductor. Use thesesame designations for all systemwiring. Always connect the con-ductors of the speaker wire appro-priately to the corresponding neg-ative and positive terminals on allsystem components. This willensure that all components willwork together (“in phase”). Con-necting the speakers out of phasewill not damage them but willresult in reduced low-frequencyoutput and impaired stereo effect.Speaker wires may be fastened tothe terminals by several methods.The most positive connection ismade by directly connecting clean,bare connectors (exposed by strip-ping the ends of the wire) to theterminal posts.For this type of connection, loosenthe knobs on the terminals andinsert the exposed (bare) ends ofeach speaker wire into the holeexposed on the terminal shaft( + to +, – to – ) (see Figure 12).Refasten the knob on each termi-nal so that a snug connection isachieved. Do not apply excessiveforce and do not overtighten. Toavoid a short circuit, trim off anyexcess wire that is not in contactwith the binding post contactsurfaces.S4800 terminals are also designedto accept spade or banana-typeconnectors, which are fastened tothe ends of the wires and, in turn,are attached to the terminal posts.WIRINGCONFIGURATIONSAs mentioned earlier, the S4800speakers may be connected to theamplifier(s) by one of these meth-ods: passive or bi-wire. Eachmethod (described on page 13)has its own advantages, and theloudspeaker system will deliversuperb performance with bothmethods.Each speaker is shipped withexternal shorting straps in place(see Figure 8), connecting theupper and lower terminal postson the left and right sides. Thesestraps must remain in place forpassive connections but must beremoved for all bi-wire connec-tions.IMPORTANT: If the amplifiers areconnected to the S4800 loudspeak-ers in the bi-wire mode with theshorting straps still on, the amplifi-er outputs will be shorted, whichcould result in costly amplifierdamage when the power isswitched on.12Model S4800HF - UHFHF - TRIMLFINPUTJBL Incorporated, Northridge, California USA+1dB+0dB–1dB––Figure 9.Removing shorting straps.(Bi-Wire Connection Method)