Design safety, Loudspeaker & subwoofer positioning – Final Sound S220 User Manual

Page 6

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FINAL SOUND SOLUTIONS S220 SUBWOOFER MANUAL vs. 1.6 -US- c FSS 2006R 6

2. Design Safety


This subwoofer is supplied with a removable IEC power cord. Use only IEC power cords
designed for the power receptacle of your country, and with a minimum current rating of
2.5A.

For 220V operation, a 1.6A fuse is required. For 110V operation, a 3.15A fuse is required.
In both cases the fuse must be rated for 250V operation. Use only the rated sized fuses. Do
not use without the fuse cover in place. If the fuse holder is damaged or worn, see your
dealer for replacement.

3. Loudspeaker & Subwoofer positioning


Loudspeakers

For acoustical reasons it’s not recommendable to locate your loudspeakers following a strict
symmetrical placement. Try to keep the distance from the left loudspeakers (front and rear)
to the wall a little different from the distance the right loudspeakers measures from the wall.
The secret behind a good sounding room is not to get rid of resonances, but to spread them
as evenly as possible across the frequency spectrum. Asymmetrical placement of
loudspeakers will be a little bit helpful to accomplish that situation.

Subwoofers

Coloration, due to resonance, is strongest at bass frequencies between 20 and 200 Hertz.
It’s much easier to obtain high absorption at higher frequencies. So, the placement of a
subwoofer is critical. Theoretically, the smoothest low-frequency response is obtained when
the subwoofer is as close as possible to the listener’s ears. The received sound from the
subwoofer is then dominated by the direct radiation rather than by room resonances.
Practically the subwoofer should be placed on the base line between the front panels. That’s
also advisable from a phase perspective and if the subwoofer outputs frequencies higher
than 100Hz. You cannot locate frequencies below 100Hertz. If the output is above 100Hz,
it’s easy to locate the sound coming from the subwoofer. Then, it’s common wisdom to keep
the sub near the front panels and not along the wall or in the corner.

If you don’t want to put the sub between the front panels and if the output is below 100Hz,
the second best location is nearby the corner of the room, consistent with the acoustic theory
that all the room modes will be excited evenly from this location. But, useful lessons learned
from the real world tells us that the best approach in coping with subwoofers is to use your
ears and play around a little bit.

Because the S220 subwoofer is intended to form a combination with our 400i, 600i and 1000i panels,
it will usually output frequencies lower than 100Hz. Although we recommend a subwoofer position on
the base line between the loudspeaker panels, it’s also possible to locate the subwoofer elsewhere in
the room. For the 400i, a base line position is recommended.


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