Monoprice 10565 User manual

User’s Manual
P/N 10565
Premium 5.1-Ch. Home Theater System with Subwoofer

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SAFETY WARNINGS AND GUIDELINES.......................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................................................................4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT.................................................................................................................................................................................5
PACKAGE CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................................................................5
SPEAKER BREAK-IN ......................................................................................................................................................................................5
SPEAKER PLACEMENT ...............................................................................................................................................................................6
Front Main Speakers.............................................................................................................................................................................6
Center Channel Speaker.................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Surround Speakers..................................................................................................................................................................................8
Subwoofer .....................................................................................................................................................................................................8
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS.........................................................................................................................................................................9
Preparation....................................................................................................................................................................................................9
Connecting the Satellite and Center Speakers...........................................................................................................12
Connecting the Subwoofer.......................................................................................................................................................... 13
SETUP......................................................................................................................................................................................................................15
Amplifier/Receiver Settings.........................................................................................................................................................15
Subwoofer Settings.............................................................................................................................................................................15
TROUBLESHOOTING .................................................................................................................................................................................. 17
TECHNICAL SUPPORT............................................................................................................................................................................... 17
SPECIFICATIONS............................................................................................................................................................................................18
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE..............................................................................................................................................................19
Notice for FCC ..........................................................................................................................................................................................19
Notice for Industry Canada..........................................................................................................................................................20

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SAFETY WARNINGS AND GUIDELINES
For best results, and to avoid personal injury or damage to your valuable equipment,
carefully read and follow these safety warnings.
Do not expose these speakers to moisture of any kind. Do not place items
containing liquids, such as vases or drinking glasses, on or near these speakers.
If operating this speaker system in a humid environment, ensure that no
condensation occurs. Condensation could cause damage to the speaker cones and
could cause a short in the subwoofer's amplifier, which in turn could cause fire or
severe electric shock.
To avoid damage or discoloration of the speaker cabinet, do not place or install
these speakers where they will be exposed to direct sunlight.
Do not place or install these speakers near a heat source, such as a fireplace, stove,
or space heater.
Ensure that there is at least 8" (20cm) of free space in the back of the subwoofer to
allow for heat dissipation from the amplifier.
Do not pick up or carry the subwoofer by the port on the front. Do not stick any
objects inside the port.
When picking up the subwoofer take care not to touch the exposed speaker cone
on the bottom of the unit.
Power off and unplug all Audio/Video components when making wired
connections. Only apply power after all connections have been made.
Double-check all connections prior to applying power to ensure that speaker
polarity is properly made and that there are no stray wire strands, which could short
the connections, either on the back of the speakers or the AV receiver/amplifier.
Do not defeat the purpose of a polarized or grounded power plug by using a
"cheater" plug. If the power cord will not fit in your AC outlet, please contact an
electrician to have the obsolete plug replaced.
Do not allow the power cord to be walked on or pinched. Do not run the power
cord under a rug, as doing so could cause a fire.

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Ensure that your AC power outlet provides voltage within the range specified on
the back panel of the subwoofer.
When removing cords or cables, do not pull on the cable. Always grasp the
connector/plug head when removing cords or cables.
Install the subwoofer in a place where the power plug can be readily accessible, so
that you can quickly unplug the unit in the event that a safety incident occurs.
Do not use full volume until after the speakers have been fully broken-in.
If you hear distortion, reduce the volume until the distortion is no longer audible.
Distortion can sound like a buzzing, scratching, or hammering sound. Distortion can
damage or destroy the delicate speaker coils.
To avoid annoying feedback, ensure that any turntable is isolated from the
vibrations produced by the speakers and subwoofer.
Extreme bass frequencies and volume can distort the image on a nearby television.
If this occurs, move the subwoofer further away from the TV.
Do not use cleaning fluids, solvents, or other chemicals to clean the speaker
cabinets. Do not use paper towels or other abrasive materials or cleaners. Use only a
soft, dry cloth. For best results, use a microfiber cleaning cloth.
Do not use excessive volume when listening to this speaker system. If you
experience pain, discomfort, or dizziness, reduce volume immediately. Prolonged
exposure to excessive volume can cause permanent hearing damage.
Do not disassemble or attempt to service these speakers or the subwoofer.
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of the Premium 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker
System from Monoprice! When setup and used properly, these speakers will give you years
of superior sound reproduction.
For best results, please read this entire manual prior to installation and use. To avoid
personal injury or damage to your valuable equipment you should pay extra attention to
the safety warnings and guidelines. Keep this manual in a safe place for future reference.

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CUSTOMER SUPPORT
The Monoprice Customer Service department is dedicated to ensuring that your ordering,
purchasing, and delivery experience is second to none. If you have any problem with your
order, please give us an opportunity to make it right. You can contact a Monoprice
Customer Service representative through the Live Chat link on our website
www.monoprice.com during normal business hours (Mon-Fri: 5am-7pm PT, Sat-Sun: 9am-
6pm PT) or via email at [email protected]
PACKAGE CONTENTS
After receiving the product, please inventory the contents to ensure you have all the
proper parts, as listed below. If anything is missing or damaged, please contact Monoprice
Customer Service for a replacement.
4x Satellite speakers
1x Center channel speaker
1x Subwoofer
1x User's manual
SPEAKER BREAK-IN
In the same way that a new car requires a break-in period before it can be safely operated
at high engine RPMs, speakers require a break-in period before they can be safely operated
at maximum volume levels. Proper break-in ensures that the moving parts of the speaker
(the cone and cone suspension) are allowed to flex and soften, losing the initial stiffness
and allowing the speaker to move through its full intended range. After the break-in
period, the speakers will produce richer and fatter sounding lows, warmer and smoother
sounding mids, and cleaner and more accurate highs, without any hint of distortion.
The best way to break-in speakers is simply to play normal music or watch movies at
moderate volume levels. The amount of time required for speaker break-in varies based on

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the operating environment, but is typically in the area of 50~80 hours. It will take a bit
longer in a cold or dry environment and a little less time in a warm or humid environment.
Note that the break-in period does not have to be continuous.
SPEAKER PLACEMENT
Before making any connections, you should examine your listening room and decide where
you will place each speaker. Some basic "rules of thumb" for the proper placement of a 5.1
surround speaker system are:
Front Main Speakers
The left and right front main speakers should be the same distance from their
respective side walls.
The left and right front main speakers should be the same distance from the center
of your video screen.
The distance between the left and right front main speakers should be about 2/3
the distance from the front main speakers to your listening area. For example, if you

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sit about 12 feet from the wall on which the front main speakers are mounted, the
left and right front main speakers should be about 8 feet apart.
The minimum distance between the left and right front main speakers is about 6
feet.
The front main speakers should be angled about 30° to point to the center of your
listening location.
The front main speakers should be mounted at about the same height as your ears
when seated in your listening location.
The front main speakers have ports on the rear and will sound best when they can
be placed a few inches away from the wall.
Center Channel Speaker
The center channel speaker should be mounted in the center, at an equal distance
from the left and right front main speakers.
If you have a perforated projection screen that does not muffle sound, place the
center channel speaker exactly in the middle, angling it up or down as necessary to
point directly at ear level in the ideal listening location.
If you do not have a perforate projection screen, place the center channel speaker
above or below the video screen, angling it slightly up or down to point directly at
ear level in the ideal listening location.
If you do not have a video screen to worry about, the center channel speaker
should be mounted at ear height.
The front of the center channel speaker should be even with the front of the video
screen.
The center channel speaker has a port on the rear and will sound best when it can
be placed a few inches away from the wall.

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Surround Speakers
The left and right surround speakers should be mounted in an area slightly behind
(about 110° ~ 150°) the ideal listening location.
The left and right surround speakers should be about 4~6 feet further apart than
the distance between the left and right front main speakers.
The left and right surround speakers should be mounted about 2 feet above ear
level.
The left and right surround speakers should be angled horizontally and vertically to
point to the ideal listening location.
The surround speakers have a port on the rear and will sound best when they can
be placed a few inches away from the wall.
Subwoofer
Do not place the subwoofer in a corner as it will result in a "boomy", unnatural
sounding bass.
Do not place the subwoofer directly against a wall or cabinet. There should be some
room around the subwoofer for the sound to develop and reflect itself around the
room.
Although bass is omnidirectional, a location in the front center is generally ideal.
Tip: One good way to determine the best initial location for the subwoofer is to first
place it at your ideal listening location. While playing music with solid bass content,
walk around the room until the bass sounds best, then move the subwoofer to that
location and fine tune from there.
Using the above guidelines plan the location for each speaker. This should be considered
an initial location, to be adjusted based on listening tests in the ideal listening location
after the speakers have been broken-in. The placement of the subwoofer in particular is
dependent on experimentation and listening tests. If possible, do not make any permanent
mounting choices until after you have had a chance to listen to the speakers in the

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proposed positions and made any fine tuning adjustments necessary to produce the best
sound.
The ideal speaker placement is one in which the left and right are mirror images of each
other. Of course, in the real world such exact symmetry is rarely achieved. Real world
speaker placement is an exercise in compromise between the ideal and the realistic, with
your ears as the final arbiter.
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS
Warning! To prevent possible personal injury and/or damage to your equipment, turn off
and unplug all equipment before making connections!
Preparation
Before attempting to make any connections it is best to look at the situation, get all the
necessary materials together, and then make all the connections at once.
First, look at the back of your amplifier or receiver to determine what options it offers for
making connections. Amplifiers and receivers typically employ either 5-way binding posts,
spring-loaded terminals, or a combination of both for the speaker connections. For
subwoofers, many amplifiers and receivers offer one or two line level RCA connectors.
A 5-way binding post can accept bare speaker wire, spade plugs, pin plugs, and banana
plugs, while spring loaded terminals can accept either bare speaker wire or pin plugs. Refer
to the documentation that came with your
amplifier or receiver to determine the
maximum size/gauge speaker wire the
speaker terminals can accept.
At the speaker end, the satellite and center
channel speakers feature spring loaded
binding posts, which can accept bare speaker
wire (up to 9 AWG) or pin plugs. The
subwoofer offers two types of connections.

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The ideal connection is through the two line level RCA jacks, while spring loaded terminals
can be used to accept speaker level inputs, if line level is not possible. The spring-loaded
terminals can accept bare speaker wire (up to 9 AWG) or pin plugs.
While all the speaker level options work with bare speaker wire, making bare speaker wire
connections is less than ideal. Using banana or pin plugs is highly recommended for several
reasons. Plugs are easier to connect, don't run the risk of stray wire strands shorting the
connections, allow for use of heavier gauge speaker wire in most cases, and it is much
easier to identify the polarity from a color coded ring on a plug then from a subtle
markings along the length of a wire.
Regardless of how you choose to make the connection you will need some speaker wire.
The thickness, or gauge, of the wire needed depends primarily on the distance over which
the signal will be sent. The following table serves as a guideline for determining the
minimum wire gauge to use:
Wire Gauge
Distance (feet)
8 ohms
4 ohms
18 AWG
10
5
16 AWG
20
10
14 AWG
35
18
12 AWG
60
30
10 AWG
100
50
In general you should use the heaviest gauge speaker wire that will fit in the connectors
(remember, the smaller the AWG number, the heavier/thicker the wire). Using banana or
pin plugs can allow for a heavier gauge wire than most binding posts or terminals will
accept.
Rather than using fixed length speaker wires, it is best to get a roll and cut the wires to the
length you will need them. This ensures that there is a minimum amount of excess wire.
However, even if your amplifier is off-center, the lengths of wire used for each speaker pair
(front mains or surrounds) should be identical. This keeps the impedance on each channel