Owner's Manual
Your
Room
This
is
an area that requires both a little background to
understand
and
some time and experimentation to a
tt
ain
the best performance
from
your sy
stem.
Your room
is
actu-
ally a component and an important part
of
your sy
stem.
This
component
is
a Iorge variable and can dramatically
add
to
or subtract from a
gr
eat sonic experience.
All sound
is
composed
of
waves.
Each
frequency has
its
own wove size, with
the
lower,
or
boss frequencies literal-
ly encompassing from l 0 feet to as
much
as
40
feet. Your
room pa
rti
c
ipat
es in this
wav
e experien
ce
like a sw
im
-
ming pool with waves reflecting and becoming enhanced
depending on the size
and
shape
of
the room
and
the
types
of
surfaces
in
the
room.
Remember
that your audio
system
can actually generate all
of
th
e information required to recreate a
so
ni
c eve
nt
in
time,
space, and tonal balance. A
co
us
ti
cally,
th
e ro
le
of on i
de
al
room would be to ne
ith
er delete nor
co
ntribute to that infor-
mation.
Howe
ver, nearly every room does to some degree.
Terminology
Standing
Waves
Sound coming from a speaker bounces around
in
a ro
om
until a pattern eme
rges-this
is
called a standing w ove.
Typically, this is only a problem w ith frequencies below
l OOHz.
Wh
en this ha
pp
ens
diff
ere
nt
parts
of
yo
ur
r
oo
m
expe
ri
ence e
ith
er an excess or a lack of bo
ss.
Some people believe that having a r
oo
m witho
ut
par
a
ll
el
walls will eliminate
this
effect. The
truth
is
that non-parallel
walls only generate different standing
wove
patterns
th
an
th
os
e
th
at occ
ur
in
rectangular r
oo
m
s.
Usually,
yo
u can excite most of the standing
wa
ves
in
a room
by
putting
th
e su
bwoo
fer
in
a
co
rn
e
r.
Li
sten
in
g
p
os
ition determines w
hi
ch standing waves you will expe-
rience.
For
in
stance, if you sit in a corner you
will
hear
m
os
t
of
th
e stand
in
g waves.
Thi
s can be on overpow ering
experience. Sitting next to a
wall
c
on
also intensify the
levels of
th
e standing wav
es
th
at
ar
e experience
d.
Resonant Surfaces
and
Obiects
A
ll
of
th
e surf
ace
s and objects in
yo
ur
r
oo
m ore subject to
th
e
fr
equenci
es
generated
by
yo
ur
sys
tem.
Mu
ch like an
in
strument,
th
ey w ill vibrate and
"c
arry o
n"
in
sy
n
co
pation
ROOM
ACOUSTICS
with
the
music, and
ma
y contribute in a nega
ti
ve
way
to
the so
un
d. Ringing,
bo
om
in
ess,
and ev
en
brightness can
occur simply because surfaces
and
objects are "singing
along" w i
th
your speakers.
Resonant Cavities
Small alcoves or closet type areas in your room can be
chambers that creole
the
ir own "standing wav
es"
and can
drum
the
ir
own
"one note" sounds.
Solid
Footing
After liv
ing
and
exper
imenting
with
your
subwoofer
,
you may
want
to
use
ETC™ (Energy Transfer Coupler)
Spikes (see figure l l
).
W ith the use of these spikes,
the subwoofer
will
be
co
me m
or
e firmly planted on
th
e
fl
oo
r and ,
co
n
se
que
ntl
y, b
ass
will
tighten. It is b
es
t not
to impl
em
ent the spik
es
, h
owev
e
r,
until you
ar
e secure
in
the posi
ti
oning, as the
sp
i
kes
con
damage
th
e floor if
the
subwoofer
is
moved.
Spike
Installation Instructions:
Car
efully lay
th
e sub
woo
fer on its side to gain access
to the bottom of the
feet.
2
Firml
y pr
ess
the
spikes
int
o
the
feet.
Caution:
Make
sure your h
and
s and any cabling
ar
e
cle
ar
of the spik
es
. Do not slide
th
e subwoofer
as
spikes
are sharp and can dama
ge
your floor
or
carpe
t.
Figure
11.
To
insta
ll
th
e spikes, pr
es
s them into the
fe
e
t.
Room Acous
ti
cs l 3