Gradient Helsinki 1.5 User manual

OWNER’S MANUAL

GRADIENT HELSINKI 1.5
Thank you for choosing a unique, limited edition pair of
Gradient Helsinki loudspeakers.
This product is a state-of-the-art loudspeaker, handcrafted
and individually tested in Finland using the best possible
materials available. Gradient loudspeakers are built to
last and when used with care, they will provide you with
enjoyable musical experiences for years to come.
Gradient Helsinki is a versatile loudspeaker and has very na-
tural and dynamic sound reproduction. They can be used in
all kinds of listening rooms and placements. However, there
are certain simple principles for placing these loudspeakers
right.
They are presented in this booklet and will help you to get
most out of your new Gradient Helsinki.

PLACEMENT IN A ROOM
As a rule of thumb, Gradient Helsinki sounds the best in a
position where it also looks the best. So start from that.
Place loudspeakers around 45 degrees sideways towards
to backwall. In this placement magnet side of the woofers
should point towards the backwall, i.e. inwards
(Room placement 1.)
Tilting has a noticable effect on bass reproduction. The more
you toe-in, the stronger bass you will get. Also the further
away from the wall you use them, more sideways towards
the wall they can be positioned.
Room placement 1
PLACEMENT IN A ROOM
As a rule of thumb, Gradient Helsinki sounds the best in a
position where it also looks the best. So start from that.
Place loudspeakers around 45 degrees sideways towards
to backwall. In this placement magnet side of the woofers
should point towards the backwall, i.e. inwards
(Room placement 1.)
Tilting has a noticable effect on bass reproduction. The more
you toe-in, the stronger bass you will get. Also the further
away from the wall you use them, more sideways towards
the wall they can be positioned.
Room placement 1
MAINTENANCE
Once you have found the best possible placement for
Gradient Helsinki speakers, there is little need to move
them anymore. If you have to carry speakers, use the upper
part of the woofer hole in loudspeaker frame for lifting and
carrying.
Oiled plywood surface will slightly change its color during
the years. Direct sunlight makes this darkening faster. This
aging is normal for real wood and will give your Gradient
Helsinki a unique look and feel. It does not affect the louds-
peaker performance or the structure of the wooden frame.
However, it is advisable to apply small amount of furniture
oil with cloth to wooden surface regulary once a year. This
treatment protects loudspeakers against aging and the
effect of sunlight.

PLACEMENT IN A ROOM
In a small listening room or with rather wide backwall,
you can also experiment with very different placement than
previously described.
By positioning Gradient Helsinki’s backglass straight against
the backwall you’ll get very open and dynamic soundstage
without much of a space for loudspeaker placement. In this
position woofers should face magnets outwards. However,
avoid direct corner positioning, where speakers are less than
1m from sidewalls (Room placement 2.).
Room placement 2
PLACEMENT IN A ROOM
In a small listening room or with rather wide backwall,
you can also experiment with very different placement than
previously described.
By positioning Gradient Helsinki’s backglass straight against
the backwall you’ll get very open and dynamic soundstage
without much of a space for loudspeaker placement. In this
position woofers should face magnets outwards. However,
avoid direct corner positioning, where speakers are less than
1m from sidewalls (Room placement 2.).
Room placement 2
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
A good quality solid state amplifier, able to give minimum
25W into 8 ohms load per channel, is a good choice for Gra-
dient Helsinki and will satisfy most of the music listeners.
Most modern and vintage tube amplifiers will also work well
with Gradient Helsinki. Though some of them have high
source impedance at lowest frequencies and thus reproduc-
tion of bass is quite round and not as tight as it could be. But
this is also worth of experimenting and heavily depends on a
listening room and personal taste of a listener.
We at Gradient are proud that you have chosen our unique
product and want to wish you enjoyable and relaxing liste-
ning moments with Gradient Helsinki for years to come.

For fast, easy and high quality connecting, Gradient
Helsinki is equipped with a professional four-pole Speakon
connector and cable housing. Speakon is very durable and
easy to connect and lasts hudreds of plug-in and plug-out
connections.
If you are not using dedicated Gradient cables, follow simple
instructions below to prepare your cables with Speakon con-
nectors to work with Gradient Helsinki. (Picture 3. Speakon
SPX series instructions)
CONNECTING TO THE AMPLIFIER
For bi-amping, connect the amplier driving woofers to
the poles +1 and -1, and the amplier driving midrange &
treble drivers to poles +2 and -2.
For single wiring, the plus wire from amplier should be
connected to the both plus poles (+1 and +2) and the
minus wire similarly to the both minus poles (-1 and -2).
This goes easiest with a four pole cable (like Supra Rondo).
If a two pole cable is used, please connect +1 and +2 poles
together with a short piece of insulated wire to avoid short
circuit (-1 and -2 poles similarly).
In Both cases we recommend you to use high quality louds-
peaker cable of 1,5 - 4 square millimeters (12-16 Gauge).

Picture 3. Speakon SPX series instructions
CONNECTING TO THE AMPLIFIER

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
A good quality solid state amplier, able to give minimum
25W into 8 ohms load per channel, is a good choice for Gra-
dient Helsinki and will satisfy most of the music listeners.
Most modern and vintage tube ampliers will also work well
with Gradient Helsinki. Though some of them have high
source impedance at lowest frequencies and thus reproduc-
tion of bass is quite round and not as tight as it could be. But
this is also worth of experimenting and heavily depends on a
listening room and personal taste of a listener.
We at Gradient are proud that you have chosen our unique
product and want to wish you enjoyable and relaxing liste-
ning moments with Gradient Helsinki for years to come.

MAINTENANCE
Once you have found the best possible placement for
Gradient Helsinki speakers, there is little need to move
them anymore. If you have to carry speakers, use the upper
part of the woofer hole in loudspeaker frame for lifting and
carrying.
Oiled plywood surface will slightly change its color during
the years. Direct sunlight makes this darkening faster. This
aging is normal for real wood and will give your Gradient
Helsinki a unique look and feel. It does not affect the louds-
peaker performance or the structure of the wooden frame.
However, it is advisable to apply small amount of furniture
oil with cloth to wooden surface regulary once a year. This
treatment protects loudspeakers against aging and the
effect of sunlight.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Height 96 cm
Weight 23 kg
Functioning principle Controlled directivity
Sensitivity 85dB/2.83V/1m
Impedance Nominal 6 ohms, min. higher than 4 ohms
Frequency response Freeeld 200-20000Hz +/-1dB, -6dB cut
off at 40Hz depending on room and place
ment
Radiation patterns Bass dipole, midrange & treble cardioid
Directivity index ~5dB
Crossover frequencies 200-300Hz (depends on the angle of obser
vation) and 2.2kHz
Features Professional Speakon Connector or binding
posts
Bi-wiring (Speakon only)
Bi-amping ready (Speakon only)
Recommended
amplier power 25-250 W