How To

This article mostly pertains to car audio but can also be used when setting the crossover for a home theater system.

When setting up full-range speakers (2-way, 3-way, etc.), it is not necessary to use a HPF.  If a speaker’s frequency response is 40Hz-20kHz, this means that it naturally rolls off at 40Hz on the low end, and 20kHz on the high end.  So even if it is asked to reproduce 30Hz, it won’t, and all is good.

However, why make the speaker try to reproduce frequencies it can’t, or make the amp work any harder than it needs to.  For this reason, it is good practice to set your HPF at the lowest frequency listed in the speaker’s frequency response. So, if the speaker’s frequency response is 35Hz-20kHz you would set it to 35Hz.

Of course, there is no harm in setting it higher than 35Hz, if you’d like, or if you have a subwoofer handling the lower frequencies.  Another reason you might set it higher, if you have a car system with 4” speakers in the rear door, but 6x9’s in the front door.  You can let the 6x9’s handle all of the low frequencies while the 4” speakers take everything above 100Hz (for example), even though the speaker's frequency response may go down to 55Hz.

There are two other methods for setting the HPF on your speaker.
 

1. If your speaker plays fine without using the HPF:  Begin playing music and slowly turn up the HPF until you notice that the bass response is diminishing, then slightly turn it back until you get full response again.  This now guarantees that you have filtered out the bass that the speaker cannot reproduce without sacrificing any low frequency reproduction of the speaker.
2. If your speaker is popping or crackling on really deep bass notes:  This may be due to installation location, or simply pushing too much bass to the speaker.  In this case, turn up the HPF until the popping stops.  This is not something that is normally suggested, but if you have a full system up and running and are happy with the results except for some popping in particularly small speakers, adjusting the HPF up a little may help.

 We strongly recommend that you use the original packaging with the existing shock-absorbing packaging material.

Don’t have the original packaging?

Please follow these important guidelines to ensure that you pack the device safely and avoid shipping damage.
 

• Never use bubble-wrap only.
• Choose a sturdy cardboard box that permits at least 10cm of packaging materials between the device and the walls of the box. Putting the device into a cardboard box without proper shock-absorbing packaging materials will result in damage to the device.
   Air-bubble isolation and foam beans is advisable only for very light-weight items.
• Use packaging materials that cannot move around, and cannot be damaged by the device moving around and being shaken about.

1. For most speakers, quickly press and release the speaker’s BT button.  However, with some speakers you may have to press and hold the BT button for a few seconds.  Most speakers make a noise or have a blinking LED to let you know they are in pairing mode. 
   
   If this does not get you into pairing mode, check your owner’s manual or look for an article pertaining to your specific speaker.
2. Go into BT settings on your phone.  Search or scan for available devices.
3. A list of available or discoverable devices will appear on your phone.  Select your speaker.
4. Two things have just occurred:
   • Your phone and speaker are now paired.
   • Your phone and speaker are now connected so that you can listen to music.

• Some phones may not work like this.
• Someone else may have connected to the speaker.
• Perhaps you connected to a different speaker while outside of your home.

• Go into Bluetooth settings on your phone and make sure BT is on.
• Select your speaker to re-connect and play music.

• Go into the other phone’s BT settings and disconnect the speaker or turn off BT.
• Then follow the steps above to manually re-connect your phone to the speaker.

Many Harman Kardon, JBL and AKG products run on rechargeable batteries. In most cases, these batteries will provide years of excellent service and keep the music playing for many hours.

WARNING – the rechargeable batteries inside our products are not user-serviceable. Please do not attempt to open the product or replace the battery. Doing so will void your warranty.

Battery issues fall into three categories:

• Your speaker or headphones run out of power after only a short time.

• The speaker will not play at all because the battery will not hold a charge.

• When you plug in the cable to charge your speaker, sometimes it charges and sometimes it does not- the red charging LED or other indicator might not come on.

  Here are some things to try that often fix these issues.

1. It could be as simple as a bad USB charging cable. If you have other charging cables, give them a try. (Be sure that the cable has the same type of connector as the original one that came with your product.)

2. Same for the charger- if your product charges by USB, try a different USB charger. Be sure that it is rated at least 2.0a (2 amps) output.

3. Try other electrical outlets at your location to be certain it is not a local wiring issue.

4. Charge the product overnight for at least 8 hours.

5. When you plug the charging cable into the speaker or headphones, is the connector stable, or can it be wiggled around? If it can be wiggled, this could indicate that the charging port has been damaged or come loose. Sometimes wiggling the connection restores charging power.

IMPORTANT: Some products such as Xtreme, Xtreme 2, Boombox, Partybox 100 & 300, GO+Play and the Onyx Studio series do not use USB charging. Instead, they have a specialized charger. Do not attempt to charge these products with other cables or chargers.

If none of these fixes the issue, it could be that the battery has died or is losing its capacity, or that the charging connector on your speaker is damaged. Please contact us so we can assist you. Be sure to mention that you have tried the steps in this Battery & Charging FAQ so that our agents do not ask you to repeat these steps.