Ray Sub Series RS15 Subwoofer User Manual RS15 Subwoofer User Manual V1.
Page 2/58 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING GOING ONE STEP FURTHER IN LOW FREQUENCY CONTROL: RAY SUB TECHNOLOGY Radiation control of low frequencies is hard to achieve due to wavelength being larger than cabinet size. Consequently, most of current subwoofers available on the audioprofessional market are omnidirectional.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING Page 3/58 With RAY SUB patented technology, NEXO is again moving one step forward. RAY SUB technology is about optimizing positioning and phase relationship of radiating surfaces in vented enclosures, so that acoustic distance from rear to front sections always increases as frequency decreases; consequently, rear and front section always sum up efficiently – typically 5 dB gain from rear section in the forward direction – and cancel in the rearward direction.
Page 4/58 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING BASIC PRECAUTIONS Do not open the speaker system or attempt to disassemble the internal parts or modify them in any way. The speaker system contains no user-serviceable parts. If it should appear to be malfunctioning or damaged, discontinue use immediately and have it inspected by qualified NEXO service personnel.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING Page 5/58 SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEXO TD CONTROLLERS NEXO ANALOGUE TDCONTROLLERS, NX242 DIGITAL CONTROLLER, NXAMP4x1 AND NXAMP4x4 POWERED CONTROLLERS ARE CLASS 1 APPARATUS AND MUST BE EARTHED. THE GREEN AND YELLOW WIRE OF THE MAINS CORD MUST ALWAYS BE CONNECTED TO AN INSTALLATION SAFETY EARTH OR GROUND. THE EARTH IS ESSENTIAL FOR PERSONAL SAFETY AS WELL AS THE CORRECT OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM, AND IS INTERNALLY CONNECTED TO ALL EXPOSED METAL SURFACES.
Page 6/58 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING HIGH SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS Exposure to extremely high noise levels may cause permanent hearing loss. Individuals vary considerably in susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss but nearly everyone will lose some hearing if exposed to sufficiently intense noise for a sufficient period of time. The U.S.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 7/58 TABLE OF CONTENTS PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING .................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 7 1 2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................
Page 8/58 7 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6.3 Testing and Maintenance of the RS15 flying system ........................................................................ 32 General guidelines for subwoofer design ............................................................................................. 33 7.1 Low Frequency Issues ...................................................................................................................... 33 7.2 Gradient Subwoofers benefits...........................
TABLE OF CONTENTS 10.5.1 Specifications ........................................................................................................................... 53 10.5.2 Front and Rear Panel view....................................................................................................... 53 10.6 NX242 Digital TDController with NX-Tension Card ........................................................................... 54 10.6.1 Specifications ............................................
Page 10/58 1 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Thank you for selecting a NEXO RS15 Subwoofer System.
INTRODUCTION Page 11/58 As for all NEXO systems, the RS15 is controlled, powered and monitored by dedicated NEXO TDControllers: • GEO S12 TDController is based on PS analogue TDController design, and provides full control for RS15 in omnidirectional mode associated to Geo S12.
Page 12/58 2 RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 2.1 “RS15 Left” and “RS15 Right” NEXO RS15 Subwoofer is delivered with a pair of skids to be mounted on the cabinet. NEXO recommends to create pairs of “RS15 LEFT” and “RS15 RIGHT” for optimized flexibility. Benefits of such recommendation are related to directional use in array configurations, where RS15s are to be positioned back to back, face to face or in vertical columns alternating speaker side.
RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 2.2 Page 13/58 Mounting Optional Accessories IMPORTANT IN ORDER TO PREVENT SCREWS FROM GETTING LOOSE, USE BLOCKING LIQUID LOCTITETM 243 OR EQUIVALENT FOR ALL SCREWS USED WITH RS15 ACCESSORIES. 2.2.
Page 14/58 RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS INSTALLING RS15 FLYING PLATES AND HANDLES Holes to be filled with Loctite 243 Link Bars going upwards opposite to skids Vertical Openings opposite to loudspeakers 2.2.3 RS15 Wheels • Tools: HEXE #13 • Remove the four screws on RS15 back panel; • Fill each screw hole with Loctite 243 or equivalent; • Position wheels according to below drawing; • Insert the 8 washers and 4 screws provided with the RS15-WHEEL kit (see detail in below drawing) and tight them.
RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 2.2.4 Page 15/58 RS15 Dolly IMPORTANT 12- TRANSPORTING RS15 ON DOLLY REQUIRES THAT FLYING PLATES ARE INSTALLED ON ALL CABINETS SO THAT RS15’S CAN BE SECURED TOGETHER: RS15 DOLLY IS DESIGNED FOR UP TO 3 RS15’S AND BUMPER; NEVER EXCEED THESE QUANTITIES.
Page 16/58 2.3 RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Speaker connection 2.3.1 Configuring Connector and Owner plates Owner and Connector plates can be exchanged depending on chosen directional configuration Please note that the connector plate can pass through the holes, no unsoldering is therefore required.
RS15 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Page 17/58 DIRECTIONAL MODE LEFT (FRONT) 2-/2+ RIGHT (REAR) 1-/1+ OMNI MODE 2.3.3 Cabling NEXO recommends the exclusive use of multi-conductor cables to connect the system: the cable kit is compatible with all the cabinets, and there is no possible confusion between Front and Rear drivers. Cable choice consists mainly of selecting cables of the correct sectional dimension (size) in relation to the load resistance and the cable length.
Page 18/58 3 AMPLIFIER SELECTION FOR USE WITH RS15 AMPLIFIER SELECTION FOR USE WITH RS15 NEXO recommends high power amplifiers in all cases. Budget constraints are the only reason to select lower power amplifiers. A lower power amplifier will not reduce the chances of driver damage due to over-excursion, and may actually increase the risk of thermal damage due to sustained clipping.
AMPLIFIER SELECTION FOR USE WITH RS15 • Page 19/58 In cases where you don't know the gain of your amplifier (or want to check it) please follow this procedure: 1) Unplug any loudspeakers from the amplifier outputs 2) With a signal generator, feed a sine wave at 1000Hz at a known voltage (say 0.5V) to the input of the amplifier under test 3) Measure the voltage at the output of the amplifier 4) Calculate the gain using the formula Gain = 20 * LOG10(Vout/Vin). Some examples: Vin / Gain 0.
Page 20/58 AMPLIFIER SELECTION FOR USE WITH RS15 NEXO do not advise using other protection systems in conjunction with the NX242 and they should be disabled. IMPORTANT For proper system protection, no latency time or non-linear devices should be inserted between the output of GEO S12 TDController or NX242 TDController and the input of loudspeakers through use of DSP modules such as internal amplifier signal processing. 3.
RS15 SETUPS ON NEXO TD CONTROLLERS 4 4.1 Page 21/58 RS15 SETUPS ON NEXO TD CONTROLLERS Analogue GEOS12 TDController GEO S12 TDController parameters have been optimized for 1 x RS15 (omni mode, mono) used in conjunction with 2 x GEO S1210’s or 2 Geo x S1230’s (mono or stereo). 4.2 Digital NX242-ES4 and NXAMP TDControllers At RS15 release time (November 2007), 46 setups combining RS15 with NEXO speakers are available in NX242 / NXAMP load 2.43. Please consult www.nexo-sa.com for upgrade releases.
Page 22/58 5 5.1 CONNECTION DIAGRAMS CONNECTION DIAGRAMS RS15 with GEOS12 TDController (Mono Omni Mode) FROM AMPLIFIERS CAUTION ! Sense must be connected for speaker protection SEE USER MANUAL TO AMPLIFIERS BALANC ED IN PUT S BALANC ED OUT PUT S SEN SE IN PUT EARTH LIFT OUT PUT LEVEL LEFT 0dB -12dB -6dB GEOS12 LEFT RIGHT SUB OUT SUB L+R GEOS12 RIGHT (from amp terminals) GEOS12 LEFT GEOS12 RIGHT SUB + 3- + 2 - + 1 - Speakon 4 1 (+) / 1 (-) VLF 2 (+) / 2 (-) N.C.
CONNECTION DIAGRAMS RS15 with NX242-ES4 TD Controller (Stereo Omni or Directional Mode) FROM AMPLIFIERS TO AMPLIFIERS LEFT REAR LEFT FRONT RIGHT REAR +4- +3- +2- +1RIGHT FRONT 5.
Page 24/58 5.
RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS 6 Page 25/58 RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS Before proceeding with assembly of RS15 arrays, please ensure that the components are present and undamaged. A component list is appended to this manual. In the event of any shortage, please contact your supplier. For maximum efficiency the RS15 rigging system requires three experienced persons for set-up: typically one motor hoist operator, and one RS15 operator per side of the array.
Page 26/58 6.1.2 RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS • Secondary safety steels must be installed once the system has been flown to the operating height. Secondary steels must be fitted irrespective of requirements of the local safety standards applicable to the territory. • Ensure that the system is secure and prevented from pivoting around the motor hoist. • Avoid any form of excessive dynamic loading to the assembly (structural computations on RS15 Rigging System are based on a 1/1.
RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS - 6.1.3 Page 27/58 IMPORTANT specifically rated All RS15 Accessories are in agreement with structural computations. Never use other accessories – including push-pins - when assembling RS15 cabinets than the ones provided by NEXO: NEXO will decline responsibility over the entire RS15 accessory range if any component is purchased from a different supplier. Contacts Correct training is fundamental to safe practise when working with loudspeaker flying systems.
Page 28/58 6.2 RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS Flying RS15 arrays - IMPORTANT Maximum allowed RS15 quantity to be flown is 12; RS15 bumper rigging point must be adjusted so that bumper always remains horizontal; RS15 flying system forbids angles between adjacent cabinets. IMPORTANT RS15 bumper is designed to be flown from one rigging point only. Motor hoist must be rated to support entire cluster weight. Required items 6.2.
RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS 6.2.3 Page 29/58 Adjusting rigging point for horizontality Before connecting a second cabinet, bumper angle has to be adjusted for perfect horizontality. This requires that the rigging point is adjusted in the two horizontal directions so that the bumper remains horizontal within +/-1°. Adding cabinets will reduce this tolerance.
Page 30/58 RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS Adjusting 0° along the cabinet width Adjusting horizontality along cabinet depth is done by properly adjusting the bumper axis as described in drawings below: Do not forget to secure the axis with “R” clips once horizontality is achieved. Assembly is now ready for second RS15 connection. 6.2.
RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS 6.2.5 Page 31/58 Flying subsequent RS15’s • Repeat above steps for subsequent RS15’s • Lift cluster defined rigging height, secure cluster horizontally to prevent it from rotating; IMPORTANT Do not attempt to make any change to the bumper rigging point once the cluster is lifted • Secure bumper with secondary safety steel. IMPORTANT The requirements for secondary safety systems vary with territories.
Page 32/58 6.3 RS15 RIGGING INSTRUCTIONS Testing and Maintenance of the RS15 flying system • General: please keep regular maintenance attention to the RS15 flying system in order to provide long and reliable service. NEXO recommends regular testing of loudspeaker rigging components, preferably using a suitable test rig coupled with a visual inspection.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBWOOFER DESIGN 7 7.1 Page 33/58 GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBWOOFER DESIGN Low Frequency Issues Even low frequency coverage is amongst the toughest issues in sound system design.
Page 34/58 7.2 GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBWOOFER DESIGN Gradient Subwoofers benefits Gradient subwoofers can provide up to 15 dB front to rear average attenuation (Please refer to Ray Sub technical note for in-detail explanation on gradient subwoofers). Low frequency level on stage is therefore significantly reduced on stage, and in the neighbouring environment in open air venues. Because of their directional pattern, Gradient subwoofer are also less sensitive to room eigen modes. 7.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBWOOFER DESIGN Page 35/58 Main drawback of monophonic designs as the ones described above is inconsistent phase relationship between subwoofer arrays and main systems over the audience area (lack of impact in the 80Hz-125Hz bandwidth). 7.4 Stereo Design If stereophonic implementation has to be maintained, then Left and Right array coverage patterns have to be as independent as possible – ie coverage overlap from Left to Right has to be minimized.
Page 36/58 8 RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION 8.1 Omnidirectional Mode 8.1.1 Single RS15 Omnidirectional Mode implementation should be favoured in configurations where: - sufficient depth is not available for directional implementation (proscenium, front stage etc…); - strong rear radiation is not critical. Although wide in both cases, coverage is slightly narrower along RS15’s width than height (see drawings below). HORIZONTAL COVERAGE IN OMNI MODE (100 HZ) 8.1.
RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION HORIZONTAL COVERAGE IN DIRECTIONAL MODE (100 HZ) Page 37/58 VERTICAL COVERAGE IN DIRECTIONAL MODE (100 HZ) IMPORTANT So that directional behaviour and acoustic load are not altered, no reflecting surface should be at less than 50cm (20”) from the RS15 side walls and drivers.
Page 38/58 RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION “BACK TO BACK” CONFIGURATION AT 100 HZ “FACE TO FACE” CONFIGURATION AT 100 HZ
RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION 8.2.3 Page 39/58 RS15s arrays IMPORTANT RS15s arrays must be installed with bumper set horizontally and all cabinets at 0°. Flying RS15s columns can significantly improve low frequency coverage in the vertical plane, and therefore over audience depth provided height is sufficient. A 12 RS15 cluster flown at 10m/30ft will provide a +/- 3dB pressure level deviation at 100Hz over an audience area 75m/200ft deep while maintaining 15 to 20dB attenuation on stage (see figure below).
Page 40/58 RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION θ θ θ t t t GROUP OF 2 RS15S STEERING GROUP OF 3 RS15S STEERING GROUP OF 4 RS15S STEERING “Steering” delays values for the pairs can easily be computed according to following formula: τ = h*sin(θ)/C (metric) τ is the value to be applied to the second pair h is the height of tilted elements ( 0.91m for 2 RS15s, 1.365m for 3 RS15s, 1.82m for 4 RS15s) C is the speed of sound ( = 343m/s ) 8.3.
RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION 8.3.3 Page 41/58 Coverage result Below figure shows coverage control over distance with a “steering” delay sequence corresponding to a 15° tilt down. 12 RS15 CLUSTER OVER 75M/200FT, STEERED 15° DOWN 8.4 Aligning RS15s with main system 8.4.1 NEXO systems acoustic reference point The NX TDControllers factory presets are optimised to provide the best possible crossover between the RS15’as and PS8/PS10/PS15, GeoS8/Geo12 systems.
Page 42/58 8.4.2 RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION Precautions It is common to use the AUX send of a mixing desk to drive the Sub section of a PA system. This gives the mixing engineer more flexibility to set the level of the subbass relative to the main PA, apply special effects, or to use a different EQ on the Sub. However, it also raises some serious issues for the performance & safety of the system (mostly time alignment).
RAY SUBS IMPLEMENTATION 8.4.4 Page 43/58 Alignment with phase measurement Phase measurement with real time FFT analyzer can also provide reliable measurements, provided: • measurement microphone is set on the ground to avoid floor interference in the reading; • floor is perfectly rigid (concrete); • measurement microphone is set far from any walls / ceiling, or inside angles / corners; • coherence values are high (typically above 75%).
Page 44/58 9 RS15 SYSTEM CHECK LIST RS15 SYSTEM CHECK LIST It is essential to execute all these check steps prior to a sound check on the “front end” to the system. Following this checklist step by step will prevent many troubles and will save time in the end. 9.1 Are the NX Digital TDcontrollers properly configured? IMPORTANT If you must change any of the parameters listed below, make sure that you use the same values on all NX’s. 9.1.
RS15 SYSTEM CHECK LIST 9.5 Page 45/58 - when listening from behind the system, switch the front drivers in and out. You should hear a reduction in the LF range when the both front and rear drivers are on as compared to when the rear drivers only are on; - When listening from the front, you should hear a strong increase in the LF range when connecting the rear drivers. • Raise the bumper, attach the next series of modules and repeat the above checks.
Page 46/58 RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 10 RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 10.1 System specifications RS15 PRODUCT FEATURES Components 2 x 15” (38cm) long excursion neodynium 8Ω drivers Height x Width x Depth 454 x 564 x 1074mm (17.9” x 22.2” x 42.
RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Page 47/58 17.71" 454 mm 10.2 Dimensions 22.2" 564 mm 42.28" 1074 mm 10.3 Diagrams 10.3.1 Frequency Response and Impedance (dB) Level, Sound pressure 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 10 20 50 100 200 500 1k Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz) OC : Response C urve for 2.
Page 48/58 10.3.
RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Directional Mode (2xRS15 face to face – 50cm – 20”) Directional Mode (2xRS15 back to back) Page 49/58
Page 50/58 RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 10.4 RS15 Accessories 10.4.1 RS15-BUMPER Dimensions 21.85" 555 mm 4.86" 124 mm 43.8" 1113 mm 10.4.2 RS15-FPLATES 17.28" 439 mm Dimensions 19.49" 495 mm 2.24" 57 mm 10.4.
Page 51/58 13.94" 354 mm RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 19.49" 495 mm 2.13" 54 mm 10.4.4 RS15-WHEELS 5.66" 144 mm Dimensions 16.77" 426 mm 3.
Page 52/58 RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 10.4.5 RS15-DOLLY Dimensions 22.44" 570 mm 7.87" 200 mm 43.22" 1098 mm 10.4.
RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Page 53/58 10.5 GEO S12 Analogue TDController 10.5.1 Specifications SPECIFICATIONS Output Section Input Section THD+N Noisefloor Dynamic Range Crosstalk Filtering & EQ. +22 /+16/+10 dBm typ. into 600 Ohm load. Back Panel switch on +6/0/-6dB respectively. Maximum input Level : 22dBu. CMRR 80dB @ 1kHz typ. 0.1% @ 1kHz Typ. for +10dBm Output S12TD -100 dBV for 0dB switch position (22 Hz - 22 kHz, Unweighted) 111 dB Unweighted (THD+N at-60dBr sine wave @1kHz rel.max.
Page 54/58 RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 10.6 NX242 Digital TDController with NX-Tension Card 10.6.1 Specifications SPECIFICATIONS Output Level +28 dBu Max. into 600 Ohm load Dynamic Range 110 dBu THD + Noise < 0.002% flat setup (for output at 27.5dBu) Latency time 1.7ms on a flat setup Power Supply 90V-260V PRODUCT FEATURES Audio Inputs 2 Audio Inputs 24 bit converters Electronically Balanced, 50k Ohm. 2 XLR-3F Connectors.
RS15 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Page 55/58 10.7 NXAMP4x1 & NXAMP4x4 Powered Digital TDControllers 10.7.
Page 56/58 10.7.
RS15 PARTS & ACCESSORIES LIST Page 57/58 11 RS15 PARTS & ACCESSORIES LIST 11.1 Modules & Control Electronics List MODEL DRAWING DESCRIPTION RS15 RS15 Subwoofer GEOS12TD Analogue GEOS12 TDController NX242ES4 GeoD Passive mode Crossover 80Hz NXAMP4x1 Digital TDController with NXtension Card Power Digital TDController 4x1300W/2Ω NXAMP4x4 Power Digital TDController 4x4000W/2Ω 11.
Page 58/58 USER NOTES 12 USER NOTES France Nexo S.A. Parc d’Activité de la Dame Jeanne F-60128 PLAILLY Tel: +33 3 44 99 00 70 Fax: +33 3 44 99 00 30 E-mail: info@nexo.fr www.nexo-sa.
