Cambridge soundworks BASSCUBE 6S User Manual

PASSIVE DUAL-COIL SUBWOOFER

B

ASS

C

UBE

6S

™

USER MANUAL

BassCube 6S Manual 5/24/02 1:29 PM Page 1

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing the BassCube 6S. Your new
subwoofer features a high quality driver in a solid cab­inet. The bandpass enclosure design of the BassCube
6S produces plenty of room-filling bass with low distor­tion in an extremely compact package.

The Product Development team at Cambridge
SoundWorks believes that there is no better combina­tion of audiophile-level attention to detail and reason­able cost.

Inspecting for damage

Examine each part carefully for shipping damage. If
there is any, do not install or use the system. Return
the subwoofer to the store or merchant where you
made the purchase or call Cambridge SoundWorks at
1-800-FOR-HIFI (1-800-367-4434) for assistance.

Its a good idea to store the carton and packing mate­rial for future use and transport.

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33

USE AND SATELLITE MATCHING

The BassCube 6S is engineered to complement the
Cambridge SoundWorks Newton Series MC50,
MC100, MC150, and MC200 satellite speakers. The
combination of the BassCube 6S and Newton Series
satellites produces smooth wide-range reproduction
that rivals much larger conventional loudspeakers.

The woofer uses a dual-voice coil that combines both
the left and right channel signals to the single sub­woofer. Both input channels should always be used,
even if you are using a monaural source. Use of only
one input will result in low output and uneven
response.

The design of the BassCube 6S features a high excur­sion 8" passive radiator in a single tuned bandpass
enclosure driven by an internal 6 1/2" woofer. This
results in a compact enclosure with high output and a
response which naturally compliments the mating
satellite loudspeakers.

Placement

The subwoofer should be placed on the floor. Its loca­tion in the room affects its output. The output increases
the closer the subwoofer is placed to the intersection
of walls and floors (see diagrams).

Some Advantages Of Corner Placement: Corner
placement also provides the most consistent output
from deep bass to upper bass. Corner placement
“forces” more of the bass energy toward the center of
the room.

Other locations: Any position in a room can be used,
but a position away from the intersection of two room
surfaces has two drawbacks. The subwoofer will not
achieve as strong an output as near a wall, and the
output across the subwoofer’s range will be less con­sistent.

Maxium Bass Output

Moderate Bass Output

Least Bass Output

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WIRING DIAGRAM

4

The BassCube 6S is designed to connect in parallel
with the satellite speakers to the main Left and Right
speaker outputs of your receiver or amplifier. This par­allel connection may be made at the Receiver,
Subwoofer, or Satellite speaker terminals. Making this
connection at the receiver is recommended since this
usually results in the least overall resistance in the
wiring to all of the loudspeakers. However, in some
installations it may be more convenient to make the
parallel connection at the Subwoofer or Satellite terminals.

No external crossover circuitry is necessary when
using Cambridge SoundWorks satellite loudspeakers
because it is already included within the loudspeak­ers. Due to the action of the crossover components in
the satellites, this connection results in a load that will
be safe for virtually all high-quality receivers.

BassCube 6S

Receiver

Left Speaker

Right Speaker

BassCube 6S Manual 5/24/02 1:29 PM Page 4

+

–

R

+

L

+

+

–

555

CONNECTING THE SYSTEM

The terminals of the BassCube6S will accept bare
wire, individual banana plugs, or spade lugs. Due to
compliance with CE safety guidelines, the terminal
spacing will not accommodate dual banana plugs.

Use at least AWG#18 speaker cable for runs under 15
feet. Use AWG#16 or heavier speaker cable for longer
runs. Speaker cable will have some means of identify­ing the two conductors. This will often be printing, a
ridge or stipe on the insulation, or different color of the
conductors. Determine which conductor you will use
to connect to the positive (+) terminals of the amplifier
and speaker systems.

In most systems, it will be best to connect the sub­woofer and satellite wiring together at the receiver’s
speaker outputs. This will mean that you connect bth
the wire from the satellite speaker, and the same chan­nel of the BassCube 6S together to the same speaker
output terminal. The receiver’s speaker terminals will
determine the maximum wire size that you can
easily use.

1) Determine how long each of the speaker cables
should be. Cut the cable to the appropriate
lengths.

2) Strip approximately 3/4 inch of insulation from the
two individual conductors on both ends of each
speaker cable. Twist the exposed strands of the
bare wire to keep them together.

3) Run the wire to each satellite speaker, and to the
subwoofer. Connect the conductor you have cho­sen as the positive (+) conductor to each satellite
speaker. Repeat for the negative (-) wire.

4) Likewise, connect the positive and negative wires
to the terminals of the subwoofer. Maintain the
same wiring polarity as you did for the satellite
speakers. It does not matter which channel is con­nected to input A or B on the BassCube 6S. The
two inputs are identical.

5) At the receiver, twist the positive wire from the right
satellite speaker together with one of the positive
wires from the BassCube 6S. Connect this pair of
wires to the right channel positive speaker output
terminal. Repeat for the negative wires.

6) Repeat for the remaining left channel wires.

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6

Surround Receiver Speaker Size Settings

• Set the main Left and Right speaker size setting
to “Large”

• Set the Center and Surround to “Small”

• Set Subwoofer to “None” or “off”

The bass management circuitry of the receiver will
then direct all of the bass content from the main, cen­ter, and surround channels to the L and R speaker out­puts, where it will drive the BassCube6S.

Fine Tuning

The room plays an important role in how the bass
propagates, and all rooms are different. With any tone
controls or equalization set “flat” or bypassed, experi­ment with placement as shown on page 2 until you get
the most natural blend of bass output from the system.
When the system is well balanced it should create the
illusion that the bass is coming from the satellite
speakers. You should not hear the subwoofer as a
separate source of sound. Once you achieve the
smoothest blend of the subwoofer output to satellite
make any final adjustments to taste with the receiver’s
tone controls.

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Specifications

Dimensions: 11 1/8"H x 10"W x 10"D (including feet)
Weight: 12 lbs.
Impedance: 8 Ohms each channel
Frequency Response: 45-125Hz +/–3d
Sensitivity with 2.83V input: 93dB @ 1 meter

(60Hz, both channels driven)

The BassCube6S can safely be used with receivers
rated above 25 Watts RMS per channel. There is little
advantage gained in using more power than 100 Watts
per channel, but receivers above this rating may be
used as long as the receiver is not operated at distort­ed levels.

Warning About Excessive Amplifier Distortion

Operating a receiver (of any power rating) beyond its
maximum undistorted output level creates distortion,
which is essentially added signal content not part of
the musical program. Certain types of distortion dra­matically increase the internal operating temperature
of a loudspeaker and will eventually cause the speak­er’s failure due to burned or melted internal parts.
While Cambridge SoundWorks incorporates the most
heat tolerant parts commensurate with good acoustic
design, the speaker’s Limited Warranty against defects
in materials and workmanship does not apply to parts that
fail from long-term operation at very high temperatures.

Enclosure Cleaning

The speaker enclosure may be cleaned with a
window-cleaning product. Use a soft, lint free cloth
only. Avoid spraying cleaner on the passive radiator
diaphragm.

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P81-1930

CAMBRIDGE SOUNDWORKS, INC.

26 Dartmouth Street, Westwood MA, 02090

Telephone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

A Company

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