Von Schweikert Audio VR-4SR MK2 - Manual (Page 9)

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omnidirectional sound, and your ear/brain hearing mechanism will clearly know this. The VR Virtual
Reality design will simulate this huge soundfield, with it’s involving depth and dimension. However,
correct placement is required to achieve the best possible sound quality. Amazingly, moving the
speaker only a few inches can make the difference between good sound and great sound due to the
reflective properties of your room! Note that this fact is true with most high quality speaker systems.
FOCAL POINT OF ARRAY:
The VR-4SR Mk2 is Time Aligned by use of mechanically displaced
voice coils achieved by the tilt-back M/T module and the specialized Global Axis Integration Network
TM
crossover circuit, which achieves the desired phase-consistent sound field over a wide listening
area. If you must situate the speakers close together, with a close listening position for near field
applications (such as in a recording studio), you may not need to toe the speakers in towards you, but
you will need to sit with your ears on the tweeter’s vertical axis for flattest frequency response. The
treble response and depth of field will be differentiated when you compare zero toe in with full toe in,
please experiment. Note that recording studio near-field monitoring will require substantial
absorption or diffusion of the boundaries closest to the M/T modules.
In an average room situation, where the distance between the speakers is equal or lesser than the
seating distance, use the following Pink Noise Listening Test to determine the best location for image
focus:
PINK NOISE LISTENING TEST
Play a pink noise source such as a CD with test tones or an FM tuner set between stations (with
muting turned off). The goal of this test is to determine whether the room’s reflection patterns are
interfering with the image focus built into the VR-4SR Mk2 design. You will notice one of two sonic
effects when listening to pink noise, and #1 is what you want:
#1. If the speakers are placed properly and the room is neutral in reflective properties, your next step
is to find the correct listening distance, where the focal point of the combined sound from the two
speaker systems exists. In the correct seating area, you should hear a “ball” of noise that appears to
float between the speakers. Although noise will appear to emanate from the speakers themselves, the
center image will be strong: this is the so-called phantom center image. The sound from the speakers
themselves will seem slightly detached from the pink noise ball, and slightly softer in volume level.
The center ball of sound will be very strong, and you will be able to detect that the “ball” of sound is
round, with depth to the image. This is a “locked in” image with correct focus.
#2. If you are not sitting in the desired focal point, the noise will be diffuse, without a center image.
Although you will hear noise coming from the center, it will sound as diffuse as the sound coming
from the speakers themselves. This is not the desired result! Even though the speakers may image
music when set up like this, the imaging will be weak and lack depth and focus. There won’t be
enough “body” to the images and it will be hard to hear space between the instruments.
In the event that you hear two separated sources of noise, from the speakers themselves, without a