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HKTS 5

4

HKTS 5

Speaker Placement and Mounting Options 

The HKTS 5 uses the CEA color-coding system to make setting up your home theater 

speaker system as easy as possible. Your system includes a set of colored stickers that 

may be placed near the speaker terminals of each of the four satellite speakers according 

to the key below. It doesn’t matter which satellite speaker is used for any of the front 

or rear positions. (The center speaker and powered subwoofer are already color-coded 

for you.)

Front Left

White

Front Right

Red

Center

Green

Surround Left

Blue

Surround Right

Gray

Subwoofer

Purple

Place the front speakers the same distance from each other as they are from the listening 

position (the place where you'll be when you listen to the HKTS 5). They should be placed 

at about the same height from the floor as the listener’s ears will be. They also can be 

angled toward the listener.

White 

Red

The center speaker should be placed slightly behind (farther away from the listener) the 

front left and right speakers. Its center should be no more than 55 cm (2 feet) above or 

below the tweeters of the front left and right speakers. It is often convenient to set the 

center speaker on top of the television set, as shown in the drawing.

White 

Red

Green

0 – 55cm

The low-frequency sound reproduced by the subwoofer is mostly omnidirectional, and 

this speaker may be placed in a convenient location in the room. However, the best 

reproduction of bass will be heard when the subwoofer is placed in a corner along the 

same wall as the front speakers. Experiment with subwoofer placement by temporarily 

placing the subwoofer in the listening position and moving around the room until the bass 

reproduction is best. Place the subwoofer in that location.

White 

Red

Purple

Place the two surround speakers slightly behind the listening position. Ideally, they should 

face each other and be at a level higher than the listeners’ ears. If that is not possible, 

they may be placed on a wall behind the listening position, facing forward. The surround 

speakers should not call attention to themselves. Experiment with their placement until 

you hear a diffuse, ambient sound accompanying the main program material heard in 

the front speakers.

White 

Blue

Gray

Green

Red

1.5 – 1.85m

You can place the satellite and center speakers on shelves using their built-in 
stands, or you can wall-mount them using the supplied hardware.

1.  Remove the black shelf stand from the bottom of the speaker by unscrewing the bolt. 

Store the shelf stand and bolt in a safe place in case you need them in the future.

1. Remove Bolt

2. Remove Stand

2.  Determine the locations for the speakers. If possible, position the speakers so that 

the mounting screws (not included; use size #8) can be installed directly into a wall 

stud. If that is not possible, use optional wall anchors that are rated to support at 

least 25 lb (11.3kg) and are appropriate for the construction and materials of your 

wall. 

properly and safely. 

HKTS 5

5

Mounting Options

3. Bring the speaker cable through the wall-bracket attachment plate, and mount the 

attachment plate on the wall in the desired location.

Bring Speaker Cable 

Through Opening

4.  Thread the speaker cable through the arc-shaped opening on the top of the mounting 

bracket, not the screw hole.

Cable to 

Speaker

Cable from 

Wall Plate

Side View

Overhead View

Bring Speaker Cable 

Through Arc-Shaped 

Opening

5.  Attach the mounting bracket to the wall plate by inserting the tab at the top of the 

attachment plate into the slot on top of the bracket and snapping the bracket onto 

the attachment plate.

Insert Tab into Slot 

and Snap Bracket 

onto Plate

Feed Cable Through 

Mount and out of 

Opening

6. Fit the terminal cover onto the bracket as shown in the illustration below, then 

connect the speaker leads to the terminals on the underside of the speaker. 

Remember to observe the correct polarity. 

Terminal Cover

Mounting Bracket 

Side View

Connect Cable Leads 

to Speaker Terminals

7.  Fit the terminal cover into the opening on the underside of the speaker so that it is 

flush against the speaker and covers the terminals. Insert the supplied long bracket 

bolt up through the bottom of the bracket and terminal cover, and screw it into the 

threaded insert on the underside of the speaker. The bolt should be snug but not so 

tight as to prevent the speaker from pivoting on the bracket.

Fit Terminal Cover 

into Recess on 

Speaker Bottom

Attach Speaker 

to Bracket Using 

Long Bolt

You can pivot the wall-mounted speaker from side to side; however, attempting to tilt it 

up or down will damage the bracket and possibly the wall, which would not be covered 

by your warranty.

1.  Determine the location for the speaker. If possible, position the speaker so that one 

of the mounting screws (not included; use size #10) can be installed directly into a 

wall stud. If that is not possible, use optional wall anchors that are rated to support 

at least 25 lb (11.3kg) and are appropriate for the construction and materials of your 

wall. 

2. Bring the speaker cable through the wall-bracket attachment plate as shown, and 

mount the attachment plate on the wall in the desired location.

Use Mounting Hardware Appropriate 

for Wall Construction and Materials

Bring Cable Through 

Opening

3.  Remove the rubber pads from the foot rests on the bottom of the center speaker 

and connect the speaker leads to the terminals on the underside of the speaker. 

Remember to observe the correct polarity. 

4.  Use the supplied screws to attach the speaker to the wall-mount bracket. The screws 

thread into the center foot-rest openings that were exposed when you removed the 

rubber pads in the previous step.

Use Supplied Screws 

to Attach Speaker to 

Bracket

Thread Screws into 

Center Openings

Connect 

Cable

Remove Pads

HKTS 5

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IMPORTANT NOTE: Before making speaker connections, be certain that your receiver or 

audio power amplifier is turned off and preferably unplugged from its AC power source. 

Do not connect the HKTS 160SUB subwoofer to an AC power source until you have made 

all speaker-wire connections.
Speakers and other electronics have corresponding (+) and (–) 

terminals. Most makers of electronics, including harman kardon 

engineers, use red to denote the (+) terminal and black for the 

(–) terminal.
Newer harman kardon receivers conform to the CEA standard and 

therefore use a color other than red or black for the (+) terminal to indicate some speaker 

positions: e.g., surround left.
Although the HKTS 5 system has red and black collars on the individual speaker terminals 

to denote the positive and negative connections, your system includes a colored band on 

the positive lead at both ends of every speaker cable and a matching colored sticker for 

each of the four satellite speakers, conforming to the key on page 4. The center speaker 

has a green (+) terminal, and the subwoofer has a purple SUB input jack. This system is 

intended to help you ensure that the speaker in each location is connected to the correct 

terminals on your receiver or amplifier.
The (+) lead of the speaker wire is indicated with a stripe and has the colored band 

corresponding to the speaker’s position. It is important to connect all speakers identically: 

(+) on the speaker to (+) on the amplifier and (–) on the speaker to (–) on the amplifier.
With the advent of multichannel surround-sound systems, connecting all of the speakers 

in your system with the correct polarity remains equally important in order to preserve 

the proper ambience and directionality of the sound.
To connect the supplied speaker wires to the satellite and center speaker terminals 

located on the bottom of each speaker, press the red or black tab, insert the bare end 

of the wire into the hole, and release the tab. Gently tug on the wire to make sure that 

it is fully inserted.

Speaker Connections

Use the LFE (purple) connector to connect the HKTS 160SUB’s Line-Level LFE In 

connector to the dedicated subwoofer output (or LFE output) of your receiver or preamp/

processor. If the receiver or preamp/processor has a low-pass filter on the subwoofer 

output, set the subwoofer's Crossover Control to maximum (150 Hz).
Connect each satellite speaker and the center speaker to the corresponding speaker 

terminals on your receiver or amplifier.

In your receiver or preamp/processor’s setup menu, configure the receiver or preamp/

processor for “Subwoofer ON,” and set the front, center and surround speakers to 

“Small.” After you have made and verified all connections, plug the HKTS 160SUB’s AC 

Power cord into an active AC outlet.

Front Left Speaker Cable 

(White Bands)

Center Speaker Cable 

(Green Bands)

Front Right Speaker Cable 

(Red Bands)

LFE Cable 

(Purple Ends)

Surround Right Speaker Cable 

(Gray Bands)

Surround Left Speaker Cable 

(Blue Bands)

HKTS 5

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Speaker Connections and Operation

Set the HKTS 160SUB’s Power switch to the "ON" position.

 

• If the Power On Mode switch is set to "AUTO", the HKTS 160SUB will automatically 

turn itself on when it receives an audio signal, and it will go into standby mode 

when it has received no audio signal for 15 minutes. The subwoofer’s LED will 

glow white when the subwoofer is on and will not be illuminated when the 

subwoofer is in standby.

 

• If the Power On Mode switch is set to "ON", the HKTS 160SUB will remain on at 

all times. The HKTS 160SUB’s LED will glow white.

If you will be away from home for an extended period of time, or if you will not be using 

the subwoofer for an extended period, switch the Power switch to the "OFF" Position.

Use the Subwoofer Level control to set the HKTS 160SUB’s volume. Turn the knob 

clockwise to increase the subwoofer’s volume; turn the knob counterclockwise to 

decrease the subwoofer’s volume.

The Phase switch determines whether the HKTS 160SUB’s piston-like action moves 

in and out in phase with the satellite speakers. If the subwoofer were to play out of 

phase with the satellite speakers, the sound waves produced by the subwoofer could be 

canceled out, reducing bass performance and sonic impact. This phenomenon depends 

in part on the relative placement of all the speakers in the room.
Although in most cases the Phase switch should be left in the "NORMAL" position, 

there is no absolutely correct setting for the Phase switch. When the HKTS 160SUB 

is properly in phase with the satellite speakers, the sound will be clearer and have 

maximum impact, making percussive sounds like drums, piano and plucked strings 

sound more lifelike. The best way to set the Phase switch is to listen to music that 

you are familiar with and set the switch in the position that gives drums and other 

percussive sounds maximum impact.

The subwoofer’s Crossover control adjusts the subwoofer’s cutoff between 50Hz and 

150Hz. The higher you set the Crossover control, the higher in frequency the subwoofer 

will operate and the more its bass will “overlap” that of the system's other speakers. 

This adjustment helps achieve a smooth transition of bass frequencies between the 

subwoofer and the other speakers for a variety of different rooms and subwoofer 

locations.
To set the Crossover control, listen for the smoothness of the bass. If the bass seems 

too strong at certain frequencies, try a lower Crossover control setting. If the bass 

seems too weak at certain frequencies, try a higher Crossover control setting.