Hsu Research VTF-2 User Manual

MK 2

Subwoofer Manual

Features

Variable Tuning Technology.

“Now you decide how deep to play.” The large flared ports can be re-tuned with the flip of a switch and the
removal of a port plug. In Maximum Output mode, the subwoofer transforms into a different device capable
of playing louder material with less distortion at the expense of some deeper bass.

Custom built woofers.

“The end of featureless boom.” We design our woofers for sound quality, so you will hear clean and detailed
bass not found in lesser subwoofers.

Powerful BASH amplifiers.

Our custom built amplifiers work in concert with the woofer, protecting the subwoofer from damage and
keeping distortion to a minimum.

Flexible room placement.

The unobtrusive finish, rounded corners, and overall design allows for close placement next to listeners or
discreet placement in corners.

Connects to almost any system.

“Integration is easier than ever.” Thanks to modern receivers that use Dolby Digital, DTS, THX, or Bass
Management, you can connect the subwoofer to your system with one cable. If you have invested in a
stereo-only system, integration is also simple thanks to true 24 dB/Oct. crossovers.

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9. Keep the power cord in operable

NO USER SERVICEABLE

PARTS ARE INSIDE.

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is
intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage”
within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute
a risk of electric shock to persons.

Le symbole éclair avec point de flèche à l’intérieur d’un triangle équilatéral
est utilisé pour alerter l’utilisateur de la presence à l’intérieur du coffret de
“voltage dangereux” non isolé d’ampleur suffisante pour constituer un risque
d’éléctrocution.

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the
user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing)
instructions in the literature accompanying the product.

Le point d’exclamation à l’intérieur d’un triangle équilatéral est employé pour
alerter les utilisateurs de la présence d’instructions importantes pour le
fonctionnement et l’entretien (service) dans le livret d’instruction
accompagnant l’appareil.

condition. Protect the power cord from
being walked on or pinched.

10. Only use attachments/accessories
specified by the manufacturer.

11. Unplug this apparatus during lightning
storms or when unused for long periods
of time.

12. Refer all servicing to qualified service
personnel. Servicing is required when the
apparatus has been damaged in any way,
such as power-supply plug is damaged,
liquid has been spilled or objects have
fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has
been exposed to rain or moisture, does not
operate normally, or has been dropped.

13. To completely disconnect this equip­ment from the mains, disconnect the power
supply cord plug from the receptacle.

14. Connect the subwoofer to a power
supply of the type described in these
operation instructions or as marked on
the subwoofer.

This apparatus does not exceed the
Class A/Class B(whichever is applicable)
limits for radio noise emissions from digi­tal apparatus as set out in radio interfer­ence regulations of the Canadian
Department of Communications.

SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read these instructions – Read all the
safety and operation instructions before
operating the subwoofer.

2. Keep these instructions – Keep the
safety and operating instructions for
future reference.

3. Follow all instructions – Follow all
operating and other instructions.

4. WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire
or electric shock, this apparatus should not
be exposed to rain or moisture. Do not use
this apparatus near water – for example,
near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink,
laundry tub, in a wet basement or near a
swimming pool.

5. Clean only with dry cloth.

6. Do not block any ventilation openings.
Install in accordance with the manufac­turer’s instructions.

7. Do not install near any heat sources
such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or
other apparatus (including amplifiers) that
produce heat.

8. Do not defeat the safety purpose of
the polarized or grounding-type plug. A
polarized plug has two blades with one
wider than the other. A grounding-type
plug has two blades and a third ground­ing prong. The wide blade or the third
prong are provided for your safety. If the
provided plug does not fit into your out­let or extension cord so the blades are
fully inserted, consult an electrician for
replacement of the obsolete outlet.

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

UNPACKING . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

PLACEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . .3

HOOKUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

VOLUME LEVEL . . . . . . . . .5

CROSSOVER . . . . . . . . . . . .5

FINE TUNING . . . . . . . . . . . .5

TROUBLESHOOTING . . . . .7

REPAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . .9

WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Set-Up

Step 1: Unpacking

If your room does not have carpeting, unpack the subwoofer on a throw rug or piece of carpeting to
avoid unwanted scuffing or scratching. If the subwoofer is too heavy, please ask for assistance. Find
the top of the box and open it. Holding the flaps open, roll the box over until it is upside-down. Lift
the box off.

Stop for a moment to inspect the protective bag for any rips or tears that may have occurred during
shipping. If there is damage to the subwoofer underneath, or if there are missing items, notify your
local dealer or HSU Research as soon as possible. We will help you find a solution.

Leave the protective bag on for now because it will protect the subwoofer when you move it into position.

Step 2: Placement

Placement is extremely important because it dramatically affects the bass quality. An optimally placed
subwoofer is much more powerful and nice sounding than a poorly placed one. There are many myths
about subwoofer placement. For example, there is no need to center a subwoofer between the left and
right front speakers. Good subwoofers radiate bass in all directions and cannot be located in the room
by sound alone.

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Avoid placing the subwoofer

halfway between the front

and back walls. Avoid sitting

there as well.

Corner and nearfield

placement usually sound best.

Important guidelines

• Always maintain 3 inches clearance between the port hole on the back of the subwoofer and near­by surfaces.

• Your subwoofer has magnetic shielding, but 3 feet of space is still required between the subwoofer and
a television or other CRT type monitors. Computer hard drives are not in danger of being erased.

• Your subwoofer was designed to fire downward onto carpet. If you have hardwood flooring, use a
throw rug under the subwoofer.

Rules of thumb for placement

• Av oid the center of the room: In general, avoid placing the subwoofer half way between the front
and back walls. This is where you get a strong null from your room’s standing waves. You should
also avoid sitting in that area. No matter how powerful the subwoofer is, there will not be much
bass around the center of the room.

• Use corner placement: Subwoofers usually sound best tucked in a corner. A good corner is far from
wall divisions and has at least 6 feet of wall to either side. If you have more than one good corner, use
the one farthest away from large room openings or the one closest to the listener. Keep the subwoofer
within 1 foot of the wall.

• Use nearfield placement: A good subwoofer usually sounds best close to the listening position. As an
added bonus, the subwoofer’s volume level will be lower so neighbors are less disturbed. We strongly
recommend this method if your couch is up against the back wall and your room is over 18 feet deep.

• Use “subwoofer crawling”: This excellent technique is not as hard as it sounds. The room’s
acoustical reflections are used to your advantage. Place the subwoofer in the listening position, in
a seat, towards ear level. Connect the subwoofer to the system and play some music with steady and
constant bass. Walk around the room, listening for the nicest and most even bass. When the bass
sounds good, crouch down and listen where the subwoofer would normally be. You may use a SPL
meter to measure the evenness of the bass. Mark the best sounding place. The subwoofer should
be placed there.

• If you are using two subwoofers, place them side-by-side.

• If you are not able to place the subwoofer in an ideal location, the subwoofer should be placed
within a foot of a wall for better bass.

• You may place a subwoofer inside a cavity in your entertainment center if three inches of space is
maintained around the back and top of the subwoofer, and one inch is maintained around the sides.
You may need to secure items in the cabinet so they don’t vibrate.

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Moving the subwoofer

Pull the subwoofer across a carpeted floor or drag it on a throw rug. Drag it on a flat side, NOT the side with the
woofer or amplifier. Once in place, remove the plastic bag.

Screw on the spiked feet. You may place the subwoofer so the amplifier panel faces out to make setup easier.

Step 3: Hookup

We will refer to receivers, integrated amplifiers, and preamps as controllers.
Take a look at the back of your controller. The output connectors available
determine the best method of hooking up your subwoofer.

Method A. Connecting to controllers

with a SUBWOOFER or LFE output

If you have this, you should use it. All Dolby Digital, DTS, THX, and Bass Management equipped
controllers have a low level SUBWOOFER or LFE output. It offers the easiest and best connection.
Run a cable from it to the subwoofer’s low level SUB-IN input. A standard mono interconnect cable
with RCA jacks on both ends can be purchased from electronics and audio stores. Aspecial subwoofer
cable is not needed, and neither is a Y-connector. When wiring, allow for an extra yard or two. The
cables should lie flat with a little bit of slack to give you some placement flexibility.

Set your controller to enable subwoofer output. To do this, go to the SPEAKER SET- UP or BASS
MANAGEMENT menu and set the SUBWOOFER to ON or YES. All the speakers should be set to
SMALL if possible. This directs the deep bass from the satellites to the subwoofer, freeing them and
their amplifiers from the rigorous demands of reproducing bass.

Method B. Connecting to controllers

with HIGH LEVEL speaker outputs.

If your system does not have a SUBWOOFER or LFE output (for example, stereo-only inte­grated amps or older Dolby Pro Logic receivers) you can use the HIGH LEVEL speaker
outputs. The subwoofer taps the signal from the controller’s amplifier, letting the subwoofer
reproduce the bass of the left and right channels. This method is also called bass augmentation.
Since the subwoofer uses its own amplifier there is no noticeable drain on your main amplifier.

You will need to run two lengths of two conductor speaker cable or zip cord. This wire is not
included with your subwoofer but can be purchased at electronic or home improvement stores.
Strip 1⁄2” of insulation from each end of the wire to expose the bare metal. If your speaker wire is
fraying, tightly twist the metal. Unscrew the plastic hex nut on the binding post to insert the
exposed wire into the hole. Tighten the binding posts by hand.

Run the wires from your system’s amplifier to the subwoofer’s HIGH LEVEL INPUTS. For each channel, run wire from the red (+) out­puts on the amplifier to the subwoofer’s red (+) inputs, and from the black (-) outputs on the amplifier to the subwoofer’s black (-) inputs.
Make sure the black amplifier outputs are “true ground.” Bridged outputs cannot be used.

Be sure to double check all connections for the correct polarity so that the positive (+) terminals go to positive (+) terminals and negative (-)
terminals go to negative (-) terminals. Most wire has some marker to help you keep track of the polarity, such as ribbing, color coding, or writ­ing on one of the two strands. Tighten the binding posts by hand. If you prefer to terminate your cables, we recommend springy banana plugs
for a reliable connection. They are available from electronic and audio stores.

For older Dolby Pro-Logic controllers, your center channel must be switched to NORMAL instead of WIDE, or else the bass from the
center channel will not be fed into the subwoofer. For Dolby Digital controllers, go to the SPEAKER SET-UP or BASS MANAGEMENT
menu on your controller and turn the subwoofer to NO or OFF and set the left and right channels to LARGE.

If you are using Method B, you may run speaker wire from the subwoofer ’s OUTPUT TO SPEAKERS connectors to your satellites. Since
the speaker cables will be carrying the current for the main speakers, you will need thicker speaker wire. For runs under 10 feet long, use
18 gauge AWG wire or thicker. For 10 to 25 feet, use 16 gauge wire or thicker. For over 25 feet, use 14 gauge wire or thicker.

Method C. Connecting to controllers with PRE-OUTs.

If you do not have a SUBWOOFER or LFE output but have an extra PRE-OUT, you can use this instead of the speaker outputs. Run a
stereo RCA interconnect from your PRE-OUT to the left and right inputs on the subwoofer. For Dolby Pro-Logic controllers, your center
channel must be switched to NORMAL. For Dolby Digital controllers, the subwoofer must be switched to NO or OFF and the left and
right channels set to LARGE.

If your system (a) has a MAIN-IN connected with a metal jumper to a PRE-OUT, or (b) you have an external amplifier, you can purchase our
HSU High Pass Box for the added benefit of keeping the bass out of your speakers. Please contact your local dealer or HSU Research for details.