SURROUND CINEMA

SPEAKERS

SCS136

OWNER’S GUIDE
READ FIRST!
Important Safety Precautions!
is used, use caution when moving the 18. An outside antenna system should
CAUTION cart/apparatus combination to avoid not be located in the vicinity of over-
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK injury from tip-over. head power lines or other electric
DO NOT OPEN 13. Unplug this apparatus during light- light or power circuits, or where it
ning storms or when unused for long can fall into such power lines or cir-
CAUTION: To prevent electric shock, cuits. When installing an outside
do not remove the grounding plug
periods of time.
antenna system, extreme care should
on the power cord, or use any plug 14. Refer all servicing to qualified
or extension cord that does not have be taken to keep from touching such
service personnel. Servicing is
a grounding plug provided. power lines or circuits, as contact
Make certain that the
required when the apparatus has
with them might be fatal.
AC outlet is properly grounded. been damaged in any way, such as
Do not use an adapter plug power-supply cord or plug is dam- 19. Do not overload wall outlets,
with this product. aged, liquid has been spilled or extension cords, or integral conve-
The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, objects have fallen into the appara- nience receptacles, as this can result
within an equilateral triangle, is intended to
alert the user to the presence of uninsulated tus, the apparatus has been exposed in a risk of fire or electric shock.
“dangerous voltage” within the product’s
enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a
to rain or moisture, does not operate 20. Never push objects of any kind
risk of electric shock to persons. normally, or has been dropped. into this product through openings, as
The exclamation point within an equilateral 15. Do not use attachments not they may touch dangerous voltage
triangle is intended to alert the user to the
presence of important operating and recommended by the product points or short-out parts that could
maintenance (servicing) instructions in the
literature accompanying the appliance. manufacturer, as they may cause result in a fire or electric shock.
hazards. Never spill liquid of any kind on the
product.
16. This product should be operated
1. Read these instructions. only from the type of power source 21. Do not attempt to service this
2. Keep these instructions. indicated on the marking label. If you product yourself, as opening or
are not sure of the type of power sup- removing covers may expose you to
3. Heed all warnings.
ply to your home, consult your prod- dangerous voltage or other hazards.
4. Follow all instructions. Refer all servicing to qualified service
uct dealer or local power company.
5. Do not use this apparatus near For products intended to operate from personnel.
water. battery power, or other sources, refer 22. When replacement parts are
6. Clean only with a dry cloth. to the operating instructions. required, be sure the service tech-
7. Do not block any ventilation open- 17. If an outside antenna or cable nician has used replacement parts
ings. Install in accordance with the system is connected to the product, specified by the manufacturer or that
manufacturer’s instructions. be sure the antenna or cable system have the same characteristics as the
8. Do not install near any heat is grounded so as to provide some original part. Unauthorized substitu-
sources such as radiators, heat protection against voltage surges and tions may result in fire, electric shock
registers, stoves or other apparatus built-up static charges. Article 810 of or other hazards.
(including amplifiers) that produce the National Electrical Code, ANSI/ 23. Upon completion of any service or
heat. NFPA 70, provides information with repairs to this product, ask the service
9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of regard to proper grounding of the technician to perform safety checks
the polarized or grounding-type plug. mast and supporting structure, to determine that the product is in
A polarized plug has two blades with grounding of the lead-in wire to an proper operating condition.
one wider than the other. A grounding- antenna discharge unit, size of 24. The product should be mounted
type plug has two blades and a third grounding conductors, location of to a wall or ceiling only as recom-
grounding prong. The wide blade or antenna-discharge unit, connection to mended by the manufacturer.
the third prong are provided for your grounding electrodes, and require-
safety. If the provided plug does not ments for the grounding electrode.
fit into your outlet, consult an electri- See Figure A.
cian for replacement of the obsolete
outlet. Figure A.
10. Protect the power cord from being Example of Antenna
Grounding as per National
walked on or pinched, particularly at Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70
plugs, convenience receptacles and Antenna Lead-In Wire
the point where they exit from the
Ground Clamp
apparatus.
Antenna Discharge Unit (NEC Section 810-20)
11. Only use attachments/accessories
specified by the manufacturer. Grounding Conductors (NEC Section 810-21)

12. Use only with the cart, stand, tri- Electric Service Equipment

pod, bracket or table Ground Clamps

specified by the manu- Power Service Grounding Electrode System
facturer or sold with the (NEC Art 250, Part H)

apparatus. When a cart

2
THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING JBL
For more than 50 years, JBL provide every note of enjoy- Web site at www.jbl.com.
has been involved in every ment that you expected – It enables us to keep you
aspect of music and film and that when you think posted on our latest advance-
recording and reproduction, about purchasing additional ments, and helps us to better
from live performances to audio equipment for your understand our customers
the recordings you play in home, car or office, you will and build products that
your home, car or office. once again choose JBL. meet their needs and
We’re confident that the JBL Please take a moment to expectations.
system you have chosen will register your product on our JBL Consumer Products

INCLUDED
Five satellites for left, right and
surrounds. Wall-mount brackets.

One center channel speaker

with adjustable support leg.

Powered subwoofer.

Two 20' speaker cables for Four 40' speaker cables for
connection from receiver to connection from receiver to
subwoofer. three rear satellites and
center speaker.
Two 15' speaker cables for
connection from subwoofer
to front speakers.
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SPEAKER PLACEMENT
FRONT CENTER CHANNEL
SPEAKERS SPEAKER SUBWOOFER

0-2 ft.

Stands shown are optional.

SURROUND SPEAKERS

5 – 6 ft.

The front speakers should be slightly to angle the speaker placement until you hear
placed the same distance down. a diffuse, ambient sound
from each other as they are Two of the surround speak- accompanying the main-
from the listening position. ers should be placed slightly program material heard in
They should be placed at behind the listening position the front speakers.
about the same height from and, ideally, should face The low-frequency material
the floor as the listeners’ each other and be at a level reproduced by the subwoofer
ears will be, or they may be higher than the listeners’ is mostly omnidirectional,
angled toward the listeners. ears. If that is not possible, and this speaker may be
The center channel speaker they may be placed on a placed in a convenient loca-
should be placed slightly wall behind the listening tion in the room. However,
behind the front left and right position, facing forward. bass reproduction will be
speakers, and no more than The surround back speaker maximized when the sub-
two feet above or below the should be placed on the wall woofer is placed in a corner
tweeters of the left and right behind the listening position, along the same wall as the
speakers. It is often con- facing the center channel front speakers. Experiment
venient to set the center speaker. You may leave the with subwoofer placement
speaker on top of the tele- surround back speaker out by temporarily placing the
vision set, as shown in the of your system altogether if subwoofer in the listening
drawing. Use the supplied your receiver/processor only position and moving around
support leg to aim it toward supports 5.1 channels. The the room until the bass
the listener by screwing the surround speakers should reproduction is best. Place
leg in to angle the speaker not call attention to them- the subwoofer in that location.
up, or unscrewing the leg selves. Experiment with their

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MOUNTING OPTIONS
SATELLITES AND SURROUNDS

On shelves. On the wall. Wall On optional stands (FS300).

brackets are included.

WALL-MOUNTING

Attach plate to wall. The Slide speaker onto support. Place speaker and
brackets should be placed, if support on wall plate.
possible, so that the screws
will fasten into a wooden wall
stud. If that is not possible,
use properly selected wall
anchors.
The customer is responsible
for proper selection and use
of mounting hardware, avail-
able through hardware
stores, to properly and safely
wall-mount the speakers.

5
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS
CONNECTION TIPS
Separate and strip the ends of To connect the supplied
the speaker wire as shown. speaker wires to the
Speakers and electronics speaker terminals, press the
terminals have corresponding red or black plastic tab for
(+) and (–) terminals. Most the desired terminal, insert
manufacturers of speakers the bare end of the wire into
and electronics, including the hole and release the tab.
JBL, use red to denote the Gently tug on the wire to
(+) terminal and black for the make sure that it is fully
(–) terminal. inserted.
The (+) lead of the speaker
wire is noted with a stripe.
It is important to connect
both speakers identically: (+)
on the speaker to (+) on the
amplifier and (–) on the
speaker to (–) on the amplifier.
Wiring “out of phase” results
in thin sound, weak bass and
a poor stereo image.
With the advent of multichan-
nel surround sound systems,
connecting all of the speakers
in your system with the cor-
rect polarity remains equally
important in order to preserve
the proper ambience and
directionality of the program
material.

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DOLBY* PRO LOGIC* (NON-DIGITAL) – SPEAKER LEVEL

Use this installation method

for Dolby Pro Logic applica- Left Front Right Front
Center
tions (not Dolby Digital, DTS® + – + – + –
or other digital processing),
where the receiver/processor
does not have a subwoofer
output, or a volume-controlled
preamp (line-) level output:
Subwoofer
Connect your receiver or HIGH LEVEL
amplifier’s front left and right
speaker terminals to the left + L – – R +
and right terminals on the OUT
subwoofer that are marked
“High Level In.” Connect the
left and right terminals on the IN
subwoofer that are marked
“High Level Out” to the
corresponding terminals on Receiver
the back of your front left
Left Front Center Right Front
and right speakers.
+ – + – + –
Connect your receiver or
amplifier’s center, surround
and surround back speaker
terminals to the correspon-
Left Surround Surround Back Right Surround
ding terminals on the back of
your center and surround + – + – + –
speakers.

Left Surround Surround Back Right Surround

+ – + – + –

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DOLBY PRO LOGIC (NON-DIGITAL) – LINE LEVEL

Use this installation method volume-controlled preamp use the LFE input on the sub-
for Dolby Pro Logic appli- (line-) level output: woofer with Dolby Pro Logic
cations (not Dolby Digital, Use RCA-type patch cords processors. NOTE: If your
DTS or other digital process- to connect the line-level receiver or amplifier only has
ing), where the receiver/ subwoofer outputs on your one subwoofer output jack,
processor is equipped with receiver or amplifier to the then you will need to use a
a subwoofer output, or a line-level inputs on the sub- Y-connector (not included).
woofer. IMPORTANT: Do not Plug the male end of the Y-
connector into your receiver
Left Front Center Right Front or amplifier’s subwoofer out-
+ – + – + – put jack, and connect each
of the two female ends to
separate RCA-type patch
Subwoofer cords. Finally, plug the RCA-
Line- type patch cords into the
Level In
line-level inputs on the sub-
L
woofer.
R
Connect each speaker to
Receiver the corresponding speaker
Left Subwoofer Right terminals on your receiver
Front Out Front
+ – + – or amplifier.
R L Make sure your receiver or
+ –
processor is correctly con-
Center
figured to indicate that the
Left Right subwoofer is “On.”
Surround Surround Back Surround
+ – + – + – Note for advanced users: If
your receiver/processor has
a built-in low-pass crossover
Left Surround Surround Back Right Surround
filter for the subwoofer out-
+ – + – + –
put, you may use the LFE
input to bypass the sub-
woofer’s internal crossover.

DOLBY DIGITAL OR DTS

(OR OTHER DIGITAL SURROUND MODE) CONNECTION
RECEIVER SUBWOOFER
Connect this jack to the LFE ured for 6.1-channel opera-
LINE LEVEL IN output or subwoofer output tion (if available), and the
LFE OUT LFE INPUT
L on your receiver or amplifier. front left, front right, center
R Connect each speaker to the and rear speakers should all
corresponding speaker be set to “Small.” If your
Use this installation method terminals on your receiver receiver allows you to set
for Dolby Digital, DTS or or amplifier. the crossover frequency
other digital surround Make sure that you have between the subwoofer and
processors: configured your surround the main speakers, select
sound processor for either 120Hz or 150Hz, or
Use the line-level input jack select the setting that is the
marked “LFE” for the Low- “Subwoofer On.” The
receiver should be config- closest frequency below
Frequency Effects channel. these.
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 OPERATION
Move the Master Power ™ in the “Auto” position). automatically turn on (LED will
switch (marked “Power” ¡) When your receiver or ampli- be green). If the subwoofer
to the “•” (On) position to use fier is off, or is not sending does not sense a signal after
the subwoofer. The SCS136 program material to the sub- approximately twenty minutes,
subwoofer will automatically woofer, the subwoofer will be it will automatically go back
turn on or go into standby in standby mode (LED will be into standby mode.
(sleep) mode when left in the red). When the subwoofer When the “Auto/On” switch
auto mode (“Auto/On” switch senses an audio signal, it will ™ is switched to the “On”
position, the subwoofer will
HIGH LEVEL SUBWOOFER
™ remain on, whether or not
+ L – – R + LINE LEVEL IN program material is playing.
LEVEL
OUT L If you will be away from home
LFE AUTO ON
£ for an extended period of time,
IN R
GREEN: ON
MIN MAX or if the subwoofer will not
IMPORTANT: CONNECT STRIPED WIRE TO RED ( + ) SPEAKER TERMINAL.
RED: STANDBY
be used, switch the Master
Power switch ¡ to the Off
position.

POWER
SUB 136
¡

CAUTION AC 120V~60Hz
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DO NOT OPEN

VOLUME
Volume may be adjusted
Subwoofer using the Subwoofer Level
Level
control £ as shown.

MIN MAX

Subwoofer
Level

MIN MAX

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TROUBLESHOOTING
If there is no sound from any other speakers that is work- If the system plays at low
of the speakers: ing correctly. Turn every- volumes but shuts off as
• Check that receiver/ampli- thing back on, and deter- volume is increased:
fier is on and a source is mine whether the problem • Check all wires and con-
playing. has followed the speaker, or nections between receiver/
has remained in the same amplifier and speakers. Make
• Check that the powered channel. If the problem is in
subwoofer is plugged in, and sure all wires are connected.
the same channel, the Make sure none of the
that its Power switch ¡ is source of the problem is
switched on (“•” position). speaker wires are frayed,
most likely with your cut or punctured, or touching
• Check all wires and con- receiver or amplifier, and each other.
nections between receiver/ you should consult the
amplifier and speakers. owner’s manual for that • If more than one pair of
Make sure all wires are con- product for further informa- main speakers is being used,
nected. Make sure none of tion. If the problem has fol- check the minimum imped-
the speaker wires are frayed, lowed the speaker, consult ance requirements of your
cut or punctured, or touching your dealer for further assis- receiver/amplifier.
each other. tance or, if that is not possi-
• Review proper operation of ble, visit www.jbl.com for If there is low (or no) bass
your receiver/amplifier. further information. output:
• Make sure the connections
If there is no sound from the to the left and right “Speaker
If there is no sound coming
center speaker: Inputs” have the correct
from one speaker:
• Check all wires and con- polarity (+ and –).
• Check the “Balance” control
nections between receiver/ • Make sure the subwoofer
on your receiver/amplifier.
amplifier and speaker. Make is plugged into an active
• Check all wires and con- sure all wires are connected. electrical outlet, and is
nections between receiver/ Make sure none of the turned on (Power switch ¡
amplifier and speakers. speaker wires are frayed, in the “•” position).
Make sure all wires are con- cut or punctured, or touch-
nected. Make sure none of • In Dolby Digital or DTS
ing each other.
the speaker wires are frayed, modes, make sure your
• If your receiver/processor receiver/processor is config-
cut or punctured, or touching
is set in Dolby Pro Logic mode, ured so that the subwoofer
each other.
make sure the center speaker and LFE output are enabled.
• In Dolby Digital or DTS is not in phantom mode.
modes, make sure that the
• If your receiver/processor
receiver/processor is config-
is set in Dolby Digital or DTS
ured so that the speaker in
modes, make sure the receiver/
question is enabled.
processor is configured so
• Turn off all electronics that the center speaker is
and switch the speaker in enabled.
question with one of the

10
If there is no sound from Staple sales invoice here.
the surround speakers:
• Check all wires and con-
nections between receiver/
amplifier and speakers.
Make sure all wires are con-
nected. Make sure none of
the speaker wires are frayed,
cut or punctured, or touching
each other.
• Review proper operation of
your receiver/amplifier and
its surround sound features.
• Make sure the movie or TV
show you are watching is
recorded in a surround
sound mode. If it is not,
check to see whether your
receiver/amplifier has other
surround modes you may use.
• In Dolby Digital or DTS
modes, make sure your
receiver/processor is config-
ured so that the surround
speakers are enabled. When
all five satellite speakers are
in use, remember to configure
your receiver or processor for
6.1-channel operation.
• Review the operation of
your DVD player and the
jacket of your DVD to make
sure that the DVD features
the desired Dolby Digital or
DTS mode, and that you
have properly selected that
mode using both the DVD
player’s menu and the DVD
disc’s menu.

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SPECIFICATIONS
SCS136 System Subwoofer
Frequency Response Amplifier
35Hz – 20kHz (–6dB) 100 Watts RMS
Bass
Satellites 8" (200mm) Woofer, bass-reflex
enclosure
Recommended Power
Dimensions (H x W x D)
10 – 100 Watts
15" x 13" x 14"
Impedance
381mm x 330mm x 356mm
8 Ohms nominal
Weight
Sensitivity
30 lb/13.6kg
86dB @ 1 Watt/1 meter
Tweeter
One 1/2" (13mm) titanium-laminate dome,
video-shielded
Midrange
One 3" (75mm) driver, video-shielded
Dimensions (H x W x D)
4-3/8" x 3-3/16" x 3-3/4"
111mm x 81mm x 95mm
Weight
1.1 lb/0.5kg
All features and specifications are
Center subject to change without notice.
Recommended Power *Trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.
10 – 100 Watts DTS is a registered trademark of
Impedance Digital Theater Systems, Inc.
8 Ohms nominal
Sensitivity
86dB @ 1 Watt/1 meter
Tweeter
One 1/2" (13mm) titanium-laminate dome,
video-shielded
Midrange
Dual 3" (75mm) drivers, video-shielded
Dimensions (H x W x D)
3-1/4" x 7-5/8" x 3-3/4"
83mm x 194mm x 95mm
Weight
1.89 lb/0.86kg

OWNER’S GUIDE PRO SOUND

COMES HOME™
PRODUCT LINE:

SURROUND CINEMA JBL Consumer Products

SPEAKERS 250 Crossways Park Drive, Woodbury, NY 11797

MODEL: SCS136 8500 Balboa Boulevard, Northridge, CA 91329

800.336.4JBL (4525) (USA only)
DESIGN GOAL: Bring the thrill of live performance and movie sound www.jbl.com
to the home environment by calling on JBL’s professional engineering leadership.

SATELLITE TYPE: Titanium-laminate-dome tweeter, © 2003 Harman International Industries, Incorporated

sealed enclosure
JBL is a registered trademark of
SUBWOOFER TYPE: Bass-reflex enclosure Harman International Industries, Incorporated.

PORT DESIGN: FreeFlow™ flared Part No.406-000-00889

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PROFESSIONAL REFERENCE: Cinema Loudspeaker Series