Owner`s manual

10
Theultimateindedicatedlisteningroomconstructioninvolvesthedesignand
constructionofoatingwalls,ceilingandoor.Thisapproachyieldstheadded
benet(whendoneproperly)ofprovidingoutstandingacousticisolationfrom
adjacentspacesaswellassuperbbassreproduction.Thisapproachgoeswell
beyondthescopeofanowner’smanual;ifyouareinterested,youshouldcon-
tactaprofessionalacousticianwhohasspecializedinthissortofdomesticroom
design.
Speaker Placement Withintheroomitself,placementofthespeakersandthelistenerwillhavea
profoundeffectontheperformanceofthesystem,particularlybelow300Hz
orso.Thereisno“perfect”positionthatwillsolveallproblems,butndingthe
bestcompromisewillmakeiteasiertosolvetheremainingproblemswiththe
SC-1.
YourWisdomAudiodealercanhelpyouwithoptimizingyourspeakerplace-
ment,whichisneverquiteassimpleasitseemsitshouldbe.Thecharacteristics
youshouldlistenforareseveral:
Left & Right Speakers Goal #1: Stable, 3-dimensional stereo imaging
Thisusuallyrequiresreasonablesymmetrywithintheroom,andabitofspace
betweenthespeakersandadjacentsidewalls(tominimizetheadverseeffects
ofearlyrstreections).Mono(correlated)pinknoisecanhelphere,thoughit
doesnotreplacelisteningtomusic.Withpinknoiseplayinginbothspeakers,
youshouldhearatightly-denedlittle“ball”ofpinknoiseoatinginspaceex-
actlyhalfwaybetweenthespeakers.
Goal #2: Smooth, consistent bass
Oft-citedrulesofthumbforsmootherbassreproductionincludeboth“placing
thespeakersatdifferentdistancesfromthesidewallsvs.thewallbehindthem,”
and“placingthemat‘oddfractions’oftheroom’sdimensions”(e.g.,fractions
inwhichthedenominatorisanoddnumber,like
1
⁄3,
2
⁄5,
2
⁄7,etc.).Butnothing
replacesyourexperienceinyourroom,combinedwithyourdealer’sexperi-
enceinavarietyofrooms.Playingpinknoisethroughthewoofersectionsof
yourWisdomAudiospeakers(withthemicrophoneatthelisteningposition,and
priortodoinganyequalization)andwatchingtheresultsonaRealTimeAna-
lyzer(RTA)willletyouseetheresultsofyourlabors.
Center Channel Center channel height
Onceyouhaveasolidstereoimageupfront(whenlisteningonlytotheLeftand
theRightspeakers),youneedacenterchannelspeakerformultichannelrepro-
duction.ItshouldbecenteredbetweentheLeftandRight,andcenteredonthe
screen’slocation,preferablyatthesameheightastheLeftandRightspeakers.
Thispresentsanobviousproblem:youcannotplaceaspeakerinfrontofyour
televisionscreen.
Ideally,acenterchannelspeakerwouldbebehindanacousticallytransparent
frontprojectionscreenandwouldmatchtheLeftandRightspeakers.Doingso
wouldensurethebestpossibleconsistencyoftonalbalance,imageheight,and
dynamiccapabilitiesforthecriticalcenterchannel.
Failinganacousticallytransparentscreenoraphantomcenterchannelap-
proach,theimportantthingistomatchthetonalanddynamiccapabilitiesofthe
LeftandRightspeakerswhileminimizingthechangeinimageheightasasound
ispannedacrossthefrontstage.