Connecting up
Before connecting up the speakers to your hi-fi or surround sound system, please ensure that
the amplifier/receiver is switched off and its pilot light is not on.
For connection, you will need a twin-core loudspeaker cable for each speaker cabinet. Make
sure these cables are sufficiently long and cut them to a length that will subsequently enable
you to lay them behind furniture or under the carpet where necessary. For cables more than
5 m in length we recommend a cross-section area of at least 2.5 mm 2 per core in order to
avoid any unnecessary loss of output.
To enable optimum contact, about 10 mm of the cores at each end of the cable must be
isolated, and thus bare. The red "+" terminal of the amplifier must be wired to the red "+"
input terminal of the speaker cabinet; the amplifier's black "-"terminal must be wired to
the black "-"terminal of the speaker cabinet. The "+" line is always coloured red or marked
accordingly on speaker cables.
To ensure a firm and lasting connection, loosen the respective screw terminals on the
loudspeaker and amplifier, then pass the core ends through the holes now exposed in the
screw threads. Then firmly re-tighten the screw terminals.
Having connected up the first cable, repeat the procedure with the second cable to connect
the other speaker output on the amplifier with the second speaker.
Please take particular care to ensure that the cables are connected up with the correct
polarity, i.e. the red "+" terminals of the speakers connected to the red "+" terminals of the
amplifier/receiver, the black "-"terminals connected to each other likewise. By doing so, you
Screw terminal
Loudspeaker cable
will avoid considerable impairment of the sound as a result of incorrect polarity.
Besides conventional wiring with one cable per speaker, you can also drive the woofer and
midrange/ tweeter sections of the AURUM speakers
(except the AURUM
BASE and PHASE units) via
separate and possibly completely
different cables
(bi-wiring). A third option is to feed the bass and
midrange/tweeter sections with signals via separate
output amps (bi-amping).
In these special cases, the jumpers between the "+"
and "-" screw terminals must he removed before
the cables are connected up. In bi-wiring and bi-
ampingmode the woofer section is driven via the
two lower screw terminals and the midrange/tweeter
section via the two upper screw terminals.
Beware of clipping!
Even if an amplifier´s nominal output is significantly
lower than the rated power-handling capacity of the
speakers connected to it, there is still every possibility
that the speakers might be damaged if not used
correctly. The nominal output quoted merely indicates
the number of watts the amplifier is capable of
delivering to the speakers with low distortion. If an
amplifier is overloaded it delivers far more power on
the one hand while adding destructive direct current
as well as high-frequency oscillation on the other. This process is known as clipping and
negatively affects the sound through severe distortion in loud passages of music. When
distortion becomes audible you should turn the volume down straight away to avoid
damaging the speakers.
Amp-clipping is a typical indication of overloading and always occurs when the volume and/
or tone controls is/are is turned up too high. Even when the tone controls are set in neutral
(12 o'clock) position, conventional amps already reach their limits when subject to loud
impulses as soon as the volume control is turned well beyond the 12 o'clock position. For
Jumper cable
Amplifier/
output stage
Conventional mode
Amplifier/
output stage
Bi-wiring mode
Tweeter/midrange
Amplifier/
output stage
Woofer
Amplifier/
output stage
Bi-amping mode