Final Sound S220 User Manual

Final S220 Subwoofer User Manual

release 1.6 –US-

Final Sound Solutions B.V. Eisenhowerweg 8D 5466AC Veghel The Netherlands http://www.finalsound.com

Final Sound, L.L.C. 500 West Cummings Park, Suite 2500 Woburn, MA 01801 T:[phone] F:[phone]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. WELCOME ...................................................................................................................................... 5

2. DESIGN SAFETY ............................................................................................................................ 6

3. LOUDSPEAKER & SUBWOOFER POSITIONING ......................................................................... 6

4. FEATURES OF THE S220 SUBWOOFER ..................................................................................... 8

5. SUBWOOFER CONTROLS: GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION ................................................... 9

6. CONNECTING THE S220 TO YOUR SYSTEM............................................................................ 10

7. ADJUSTING THE S220 SUBWOOFER ........................................................................................ 14

PROCEDURE A................................................................................................................................................................... 14

TABLE 1......................................................................................................................................................................... 15

PROCEDURE B................................................................................................................................................................... 15

TABLE 2......................................................................................................................................................................... 16

8. FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... 17

9. PANEL LAYOUT............................................................................................................................ 20

10. OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES ...................................................................................................... 21

11. CABINET CARE ............................................................................................................................ 21

12. SPECIFICATIONS S220................................................................................................................ 22

13. LIMITED WARRANTY REGISTRATION ....................................................................................... 23

14. SUBWOOFER FAQ ....................................................................................................................... 24

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1. Welcome

Thank you for buying the Final Sound S220 subwoofer. The S220 is carefully hand built
using the finest materials available and is designed for maximum performance. This manual
contains important safety information as well as helpful advice and should be carefully
studied before use.

WORLD WIDE WARRANTY

In addition to any local Warranty, Final Sound offers a 1 year conditional Worldwide
Warranty to the end user. Please see your dealer for any warranty service.

< PLEASE FILL IN YOUR WARRANTY TERMS – THIS IS OUR WARRANTY STATEMENT>

In addition to any local Warranty, Final Sound offers a 1 year conditional Worldwide Warranty
to the end user. Please see your dealer for any warranty service.

Final Sound warrants its subwoofers to be free from defects in material and workmanship for
a period of 1 year from the date of purchase. Final Sound and/or its designated
representatives shall have all final determination about the validity of a warranty claim.
This warranty shall not apply to any product that has been subject to misuse, neglect,
accident, or abnormal conditions of operation, including but not limited to use in professional
sound/PA systems. Burnt voice coils and broken tinsel leads are not covered as warrantable
items. This warranty is limited to the original owner, and is not transferable.

Final Sound’s obligation under this warranty is limited to repairing, replacing or refunding the
original purchase price (exclusive of shipping charges), at Final Sound’s option, any product
returned to the factory within 1 year of the date of purchase, provided that Final Sound
determines that the unit is defective and has been used in compliance with the terms of this
warranty.

For products that failed due to manufacturing defects Final Sound will reimburse shipping
costs. Shipping costs will be limited to delivery by UPS Ground. Costs incurred above and
beyond these levels will not be reimbursed.

If the failure has been caused by misuse, neglect, accident, or abnormal conditions of
operation, repair or replacement will be billed at a nominal cost, pursuant to customer
agreement to such repair or replacement. No shipping costs will be reimbursed.
The foregoing warranty is exclusive and in lieu of all other warranties, expressed or implied,
including, but not limited to, any warranty of merchantability or fitness for any particular
purpose. Final Sound shall not be liable for any special, incidental or consequential
damages, whether in contract, tort, or otherwise.

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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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Typical room layout

The following figure 0 represents a typical room set up for stereo and/or home theatre. See
the following chapters for a full set up explanation. The figure shows:

• The subwoofer’s preferred positions, depending on the panels you choose.

• The base line between the front loudspeakers.

• The stereo loudspeaker’s position.

• The full home theatre loudspeaker placement.

• A preferred unequal distance between the side walls and the panels (a, b, c and d).

Figure 0

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4. Features of the S220 SUBWOOFER

PANEL CONTROLS (see figure 7)

The S220 subwoofer has a wide variety of features, including:

- Variable volume (level) control (Min-Max)

- Phase Switch (0-180)

- Variable phase control (Min-Max)

- Variable low pass crossover (40 Hz to 200 Hz)

- Variable Bass Equalizer (Min-Max)

- Switch able high pass filter

- Switch able mid bass EQ

- Auto turn-on

- High and low level inputs

- Low level outputs

- Switch able power supply (110/220V user selectable)

The cabinet of the S220 uses 19mm thick high-density composite walls. The cabinet is
finished in a beautiful black satin finish.

The amplifier is a 220W RMS class D design. It features large storage, oversized power
supply capacitors, and a large external aluminum heat sink to ensure long-term cool
operation.

The driver is a long throw 12 inch driver, heavy gauge cast aluminum basket, epoxy­reinforced paper pulp cone. The linear motor strength curve from this motor ensures
extremely low distortion and compression over the full operating bandwidth, as well as a very
high transient response.

EXPLANATION OF PANEL CONTROLS

The Final Sound S220 subwoofer has some additional features, to make the most optimal
match with the Final electrostatic loudspeakers. The chapter ‘ Connecting the S220 to your
system’, will explain which equipment you need to use these special subwoofer features. The
connection between a regular subwoofer and an electrostatic driver, brings some additional
interface considerations. The Final sub’s build in high pass filtering and other features,
guarantees the best possible integration between a subwoofer and an electrostatic panel.
Connecting and setting up the system using the additional features is a little bit more
demanding. In order to make life easy, we provide you with a quick set up procedure.

Standard Controls

The level control allows setting the gain of the built-in amplifier to match your main
loudspeakers. A total range of 60 dB is provided, allowing integration with nearly any audio
system.

Phase can be switched to 0 or 180, depending on the sub’s position relative to the base line
between the loudspeakers.

The Variable Phase control compensates for the time-delay between the panels and the
subwoofer. The right position depends on the distance from the sub to the base line. If the
subwoofer is located elsewhere in the room, this control compensates for the time delay

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