Gato Audio FM-50 User manual
FM-50
User Manual
Gato Audio FM-50
Page 2
Contents
Don’t be a stranger 3
Package contents 3
A few words on your new speakers 4
Installation 5
Mounting the plinth 5
Using spikes 5
Mounting the driver grilles 6
Connecting your speakers 7
Bi-wiring and bi-amping 7
How not to connector your speakers! 7
Placing the speakers 8
Adjusting the sound 9
Make it last! 10
If all else fails… 10
Technical specications 11
User Manual
Page 3
Don’t be a stranger
Thank you for purchasing the Gato Audio FM-50 high end oor standing loudspeakers. We are absolutely condent that it will bring you
many hours of listening pleasure.
We hereby cordially invite you to join the Gato Audio family by registering your product online. You may also consider signing up for our
newsletter to receive information about exciting new products, events and technical updates. We are also present on several social media
like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn.
All this and more on www.gato-audio.com
Our very best,
Gato Audio
Package contents
Please check that the following is included in the two packages:
• 2 Gato Audio FM-50 speakers
• 2 front grille sets
• 8 spike sets
• 2 metal plinths
• 10 screws for plinth mounting
• 1 hex screw driver
• This manual - which you should be reading now
Gato Audio FM-50
Page 4
A few words on your new speakers
A good cabinet is the essential foundation of any loudspeaker. The FusedMass cabinets in the Gato Audio FM series incorporate several
noteworthy details. The cabinets are made from high-density breboard and a layer of vibration dampening material. Parts of the cabinets
are made of up to six layers of mixed materials that together with heavy internal bracing, secures a very ecient resonance dampening
construction.
Excellent drivers are the foundation of true-to-life sound. The drivers’ capability to react instantly to the provided signal together with total
control of mechanical resonance is crucial. The drivers in the FM speaker series are carefully constructed to comply with our high demands
for technical quality. The midrange reproduction of any speaker is without discussion the most important, whether it is the reproduction
of vocals, a high-hat or drums, since all have important tonal information based in this frequency area. The bass/midranges are specially
designed for mid- and high frequency response providing a clean and dynamic impulse response second to none.
The unique state-of-the-art ring radiator tweeter not only yields a useful output far beyond the capability of the human ear, thereby
providing instruments with their natural harmonic structure, but it also adds the crucial benets of extremely low distortion and coloration
of the reproduced material.
The heart of any Gato Audio FM speaker is an advanced PurePhase crossover adorned with high quality components: Heavy gauge coils,
low-resonance capacitors and non-inductive resistors mounted on a high-quality berglass PCB.
Hundreds of hours have been spent designing the network to comply with the drivers’frequency response and impedance, while carefully
considering phase, resonance and impulse response. Finally, we trimmed the sound, not only providing a at frequency response but
providing a tantalizingly lifelike sound.
All of the above is draped in a beautiful exterior design, as small as possible and perfectly nished in handcrafted veneer or paint.
The supplied magnetic cloth grilles are designed to produce a minimum of coloration and distortion to the sound when mounted. Using
a small and close-tting frame clad in sound-transparent fabric ensures that any loss of audio detail is kept at a minimum, and that
diractions are well out of the critical midrange area. In addition, it oers protection for the drivers while enhancing both the beautiful
nish and the elegant, simple lines in the design even further.
User Manual
Page 5
Installation
Mounting the plinth
Before using the FM-50 loudspeaker the metal plinth has to be mounted. Start by removing the speakers from the carton boxes:
WARNING: Please note that using spikes under your speakers will invariably leave marks on your oor or any other surface that you place
the speakers on. Gato Audio cannot accept any responsibility for any type of damage to oor, furniture surfaces, marriage or anything
else resulting from the use of spikes. It is up to you and your family to consider carefully beforehand whether the improvements in sound
quality and performance will outweigh the possibility of any inconvenience caused.
Using spikes
1.Place the 4 spikes in
the holes of the plinth
by screwing them in
clockwise
1.Leaving the foam pieces on, turn
the speakers upside down. Then
remove the two foam pieces from
the bottom of the speaker.
2.Turn the spikes up or down
to adjust the speaker height
from the oor, so all spikes
are touching the oor at the
same time
2.Mount a plinth on each speaker
with 5 cylinder screws with the
supplied hex screw driver.
3.Turn the fastener clockwise
until it is positioned tightly
against the plinth. Make
sure the spike does not
turn during the process by
grasping the top with your
other hand if necessary
3.You can now turn the speaker
upright again.
4.The spike feet can be
applied to protect the
surface underneath the
spikes
Gato Audio FM-50
Page 6
Mounting the driver grilles
The grilles are easily fastened to the speakers magnetically when the small magnets on the grille are aligned on top of the driver screws.
1.Place and hold the grille lightly on top of the driver as
shown below
2.Turn it clockwise or counter-clockwise until you can
feel the magnets attach to the screws below.
To detach the grille from the speaker simply turn the grille clockwise or counter-clockwise and remove it.
User Manual
Page 7
Connecting your speakers
Connecting your speakers to your amplier must only be performed with the amplier
turned o. Otherwise damage may occur. Connect the red speaker terminal (+) to the
positive speaker output on your amplier. Now connect the white speaker terminal (-)
to the negative speaker output terminal on your amplier.
Bi-wiring and bi-amping
The FM-50 features a double set of high-quality gold plated copper binding posts
that can accommodate separate cables and/or ampliers for high and low frequency
reproduction respectively.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Permanent damage
may occur to your audio system if the copper shorting plates are not removed
before connecting more than one amplier to your speakers!
There are many theories about bi-wiring and bi-amping. Our best advice is to
experiment with dierent cables, ampliers and methods of connection. Whatever
performs best in your system might not work equally well in another setup or in a
dierent room. In general, our advice would be to use the same kind of cable both for
bi-wiring and bi-amping, and also to use identical ampliers when bi-amping. This is
simply due to the fact that both methods will add more headroom and clarity to the
sound reproduction. The introduction of dierent ampliers and/or dierent cables
may cause issues with sound integration and cohesive performance.
How not to connector your speakers!
Please follow above instruction carefully in order to protect your connected amplier
and equipment. Here is a few details you should avoid during setup of your speakers:
1.If you are NOT using bi-wire cable and have installed the shorting plates – please
make sure these are mounted one from each side of the row of terminals. Double
check that it is according to top drawing. Otherwise you risk to short circuit the
connected amplier and cause damage to it.
2.If you are using the shorting plates together with spade plug mounted speaker
cable, please make sure that the spade plugs do not touch any of shorting plates
and risk a short circuit of the connected amplier.
FM-50
Mid/High
++
Bass
Focus
Detail
Neutral
++
Low
Low
FM-50
Mid/High
++
Bass
Focus
Detail
Neutral
++
Low
Low
+
+
Low-frequency terminals
High-frequency terminals
When bi-wiring and bi-amping; remember to remove the copper shorting plates.
Gato Audio FM-50
Page 8
Placing the speakers
Just like with real estate, location is the most important factor when setting up a high-end audio system. It is impossible to give you an
exact instruction via this manual to set up your specic system perfectly in your listening room. However, we can oer you some thumb
rules:
• Place your speakers at least 0.5m from the rear and side walls. Placing
a speaker close to the rear wall will provide an extension in level of
bass and coloration in the midrange.
• Basic setup should be an even-sided triangle with equal distance
between each speaker as well as the listening position.
• The FM-50 speakers are developed to play partially direct to the
listening position. A good starting point for a setup is to angle them
towards the end of your shoulders. If your listening room is very small
and the speakers must be placed closely to the side walls, then more
toe-in may be useful to get a more precise and clear image.
• Hard surfaces like glass, stone and wooden oors create many
reections which can make midrange reproduction sound harsh and
with a blurry soundstage. These reections can be dampened with
curtains and carpets.
• Many soft surfaces, thick carpets and furniture may on the other
hand provide too much dampening. This may cause the midrange
reproduction to become“thin”and lacking in musical timing and
energy. In such cases, it is advised to remove some of the dampening
items.
In any case, time spent setting up your speakers is by far the most important adjustment parameter for your system. Room acoustics is a
complex eld with an almost innite number of variables. Please note that while a setup might work well in your listening room, it may not
be the perfect solution in other locations.
For the best results, place the FM-50 on a solid oor. If the oor in covered with carpets we strongly recommend to use the spikes to
penetrate the carpet and make direct mechanical connection to the oor underneath. Make sure that the speaker is resting equally on all
four spikes by adjusting each spike individually so that the speaker is not able to make any movements or vibrations.
Min. 50 cm
Min. 50 cm
User Manual
Page 9
Adjusting the sound
A loudspeaker is only as good as your listening room allows it to be. First of all is the room acoustics which is inuenced by dimensions and
build materials. Secondly is the amount freedom it oers for the best possible placement of your speakers inside the room.
To accommodate some of the above compromises and to make installation and sound tuning of your new FM speaker easier and with
a better result, we have designed sound adjustments on the back of the speaker. The FM-50 oers three levels of each setting options;
“Bass”, “Focus”and “Detail”. Make sure that all options are set to “Neutral” before you start adjusting the positioning of the speakers in your
listening room.
• Step 1: Initial setup:
Set up the speakers according to your wanted listening position,
following the basic rules of the previous chapter “Placing the speakers”.
• Step 2: Adjusting the setup:
The basic setup might not give you the best possible sound quality.
Select a few but well known pieces of your favourite music that can
help you determine when it sounds just right. Depending on how the
speaker interacts with your room the sound will be dierent. Here is a
basic guide to better positioning and sound tuning:
Bass: Moving the speaker away from rear wall and/or a corner will
clear out the bass and make the sound leaner and less involving. If you
are experiencing to have not enough bass, moving your speaker closer
to the rear wall and/or corner might help.
Soundstage: If your soundstage is unclear, the singer might be a bit
vague, woolly and too far behind the rest of the instruments in the
band – try to angle the speakers more directly towards you listening
position. If the sounds stage and instruments are a bit compressed in
the middle of the speakers, try a little less toe-in and let the speakers
play more straight into you listening room. Please note that even a
small adjustment of a few centimetres may make a huge dierence.
• Step 3: Adjusting the speaker:
When the optimum speaker position has been found, you still have
a way to adjusting the speaker a bit more. The three setting of each
“Bass”,“Focus” and “Detail” on the backside of the speaker may be
applied to get the last bit of performance from the setup.
“Bass” setting: This adjustment will allow you to change the richness
of the lower notes of the music. “Low” setting will make the bass
response more lean and precise, the “High” setting will add more
richness and warmth to the sound.
“Focus” settings: If you lack a bit of “focus” in the soundstage set this
to “High”and set it to “Low” if voices and high pitched instruments are
too much and creates listening fatigue over longer periods.
“Detail” setting: This adjusts the level of high frequencies and overtones of any instrument. A natural level of overtones will enhance
the listening experience, pleasantly and relaxed. Too much will draw the minds focus from the main part of the music to some high
frequency details that eventually. Test each option to nd the most suitable setting for your specic setup.
Bass
Focus
Detail
Neutral
Low
Bass
Focus
Detail
Neutral
Low
Bass
Focus
Detail
Neutral
Low
Neutral settings High settingsLow settings
Gato Audio FM-50
Page 10
Make it last!
Please apply simple common sense to maintain the sound quality and lifespan of your Gato Audio speakers. Here are a few guidelines:
• Regular care: wipe the surfaces carefully by using a clean soft dry cloth
• Cleaning: if necessary, wipe the hard surfaces clean using a soft cloth dampened only with clean water.
• Grease stains or nger marks on the cabinets can be removed carefully with a clean soft cloth lightly dampened in a mix of clean
lukewarm water and a single drop of household washing-up liquid. Then wipe the surfaces dry using a soft dry cloth
• Be careful never to use hot water or any type of concentrated detergent, solvent, thinner, or any other volatile substance on the surfaces,
or you may cause permanent damage to the surface coating
• Keep the cabinets away from prolonged contact with rubber or PVC materials
• Do not expose the speakers to direct sunlight or other heat sources
If all else fails…
…don’t panic! Every Gato Audio product comes with a minimum 2-year warranty. See our website for details.
This warranty does not cover damage or wear directly or indirectly caused by improper use, violence, tampering with or unauthorized
access to or servicing of any part of the product.
If you are in need of service or repair, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]om or visit our website www.gato-audio.com
for more information.
User Manual
Page 11
Technical specifications
Frequency response
Sensitivity (2.83 V)
Recommended amplier output
Nominal impedance
Connectors
Cabinet
Crossover
Drivers
High-Frequency
Mid-Frequency
Low-Frequency
Weight & Dimensions
Weight 42 Kg. / 92.6 lbs.
Dimensions See illustration
32 Hz – 35 kHz
88 dB
50 to 300 W
4 Ω
Gold plated binding post / 4mm plugs, bi-wire
Laminated FusedMass cabinet
Advanced PurePhase crossover technology
38mm ring radiator, powerful ferrite motor and optimised chamber
150mm mineral cone, low loss suspension, motor with shorting rings and optimised voice coil
2x 170mm mineral cone, low loss suspension, motor with shorting rings and long lineare throw
1075 mm
235 mm
405 mm
330 mm
Gato Audio
Marielundvej 28
DK-2730 Herlev
Denmark
Phone: +45 4095 2205
www.gato-audio.com
510023 GA FM-50 MAN 1.1 XXXX
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