STA-3180/3190 (310-3027/28) Installation Faxback Doc. # 9680 Preparing Your Receiver Caution: Make all the necessary connections before you plug in or turn on the receiver. Positioning the Speakers Where you place your speakers can make a noticeable difference in your system's sound. The guidelines in this section will help you choose the best locations. After you use your receiver for a while, you might want to try different locations for your speakers. Bass Response depends largely on speaker location. For strong bass, place the speakers in the corners of the room. If you want even stronger bass, place the speakers directly on the floor. If the bass is too strong, move the speakers slightly away from the corners of the room, or raise them 6 to 18 inches off the floor. You can buy speaker stands at your local Radio Shack store. The distance between the speakers should be about the same as the distance between the normal listening point and the point halfway along a line between the speakers. If you place the speakers too close together, you reduce the stereo separation. If you place them too far apart, you reduce the bass effect and create a "hole" in the middle of the sound. Most speakers have a tweeter dispersion angle of about 60 degrees. Ideally, your listening position should be just inside the overlap area of the tweeter dispersion. You can angle the speakers toward you for better stereo effect. Connecting the Speakers Follow these guidelines when you select and connect speakers. Use speakers with an impedance of 8 to 16 ohms. Be sure you properly connect all speakers. Do not connect two pairs of speakers to a single set of terminals (A or B) at the same time. When you use two pairs of speakers, connect one set to the speakers A and one set to the Speakers B terminals. Realistic, Optimus, and other high-quality speakers have color-coded speaker terminals (red for positive polarity and black for negative polarity). Use these color-coded terminals as a guide to help you properly connect the speakers to the receiver. Use 16-gauge (or larger) speaker wire for all speaker connections, and consider possible speaker locations before you decide how much speaker wire you need. Preparing the Speaker Wires Speaker wire consists of two conductors (individual wires) encased in insulation and is usually color-coded or marked with a ridge along one side so you can identify each conductor. Use these markings as a guide to help you properly connect the speakers to your receiver. Follow these steps to prepare the speaker wires. 1. Cut the speaker wires to the necessary length. 2. Separate the wires for about 4 inches on each end of the speaker wire. 3. Using a wire stripper, carefully strip about 3/4 inch of insulation from the end of each conductor. 4. Twist the end of each conductor to secure any loose wire strands. Preparing Your Receiver Notes: Be sure you connect the receiver's right and left positive (+) and negative (-) terminals to the speaker's corresponding right and left positive (+) and negative (-) terminals. Fully insert the speaker wires to ensure a good connection. Leave extra wire at the back of the receiver so you do not disconnect the wires when you move the receiver. Caution: To prevent a short circuit, twist the end of each conductor to be sure that stray speaker wire strands do not touch other speaker terminals or any other receiver terminals. Connecting the A and B Speakers Follow these steps to connect the right speaker to the receiver's right A SPEAKERS terminals. 1. Push up the receiver's A SPEAKERS R (+) red lever and insert the ridged or color-coded conductor's end into the small hole. Push down the lever to secure the conductor. 2. Push up the receiver's A SPEAKERS R (-) black lever and insert the other conductor's end into the small hole. Push down the lever to secure the conductor. 3. Connect the ridged or color-coded conductor's loose end to the right speaker's positive (+) terminal. 4. Connect the remaining loose conductor to the right speaker's negative (-) terminal. Repeat Steps 1 through 4 to connect the left speaker to the A SPEAKERS L terminals. Repeat this entire process to connect a second pair of speakers to the B SPEAKERS terminals. Connecting Program Sources You can connect up to five external program sources to your receiver. Use shielded audio cables with phono connectors for all audio connections. Connecting a Turntable Connect a turntable with a magnetic cartridge only. Some older turntables use a ceramic-type cartridge. These cartridges do not work with this system. Connect the turntable's left and right cables to the receiver's left and right PHONO jacks. Then connect the turntable's ground wire to the receiver's GND terminal. Connecting Cassette Deck(s) You can connect cassette decks to the TAPE 1 DCC and the TAPE 2 MONITOR jacks. Connect the cassette deck's output jacks to the TAPE 1 DCC PLAY or TAPE 2 MONITOR PLAY jacks, and connect the input jacks of your cassette deck to the TAPE 1 DCC REC or TAPE 2 MONITOR REC jacks. Connecting Another Audio Source Connect the audio outputs of another audio source, such as a laser disc player, TV, VCR, or CD player to the LD INPUT L and R jacks. Connecting the Antennas In many cities, the indoor AM loop and FM antennas (included) provide adequate reception. Using One Remote Control for More than One Unit Note: When you plug the cable into a component's CONTROL IN jack, that component's remote sensor does not function. If you also have an Optimus professional series CD player or cassette deck with the OSR mark, you can connect its CONTROL IN/OUT jacks to the receiver so you can control all of your equipment with a single remote control. You can also use the other component's remote control by pointing it at the receiver's front panel. 1. Connect each component to the receiver. 2. Connect the cable supplied with the CD player or cassette deck between the receiver's CONTROL OUT jack and the other component's CONTROL IN jack. 3. When you want to control more than one other component using the receiver's remote control, connect CONTROL OUT and CONTROL IN. Installing the Remote Control's Batteries Cautions: Use only fresh batteries of the recommended size and type. Always remove old or weak batteries. They can leak chemicals that can damage electronic circuits. The remote control uses two AA batteries (not included). For the longest battery life, we recommend Radio Shack's alkaline batteries (Cat. No. 23-552). 1. Press and open the battery compartment cover. 2. Place two fresh AA batteries in the compartment as indicated by the polarity symbols (+ and -) marked in the compartment. 3. Replace the battery compartment cover. Using the AC Power Outlet Your receiver has an AC power outlet that you can use to power another electronic device such as a turntable, cassette deck, VCR, and so on. This outlet turns on and off with the receiver and provides a maximum output of 100 watts (0.8A max). Caution: To reduce the risk of overheating or fire, do not connect high-power appliances such as a heater, iron, monitor, or television to the AC outlet. Doing so could damage the receiver and cause it to malfunction. Connecting to AC Power Warning: To prevent electric shock, do not use this polarized plug with an extension cord, receptacle, or other outlet unless you can fully insert the blades to prevent blade exposure. Before you plug in the receiver's power cord, double check all other connections. To power the receiver, plug the supplied power cord into the receiver's AC INLET and plug the other end into a standard AC outlet. The power cord's plug is polarized and fits only one way. The STAND BY indicator lights whenever you supply power to the receiver and turn it off. (br/all-02/23/95)