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6
Choosing and Preparing Loudspeaker Cable
Specialist audio cable will usually offer better performance than general purpose 'bell' or 'zip' wire. Audio cable is
polarised, with two cores of different colours, or often, in the case of twin cable, a coloured tracer or ridge along one
wire to indicate polarity.Choose a cable of suitable diameter - cable that is too thin will limit the dynamics of the
sound and may impair the bass response. Split the twin cores to a depth of about 25mm. Carefully strip the insulation
from each end, leaving about 7mm of bare wire. If the cable is stranded, lightly twist to gather anyloose strands.
Note that the positive (+) terminals are locatedat the right.
Use an equal length of twin core speaker cable for each channel, and prepare the
ends as described above. Unscrew each speakerterminal. Thread the bared end of
each cable through the hole in the bottom of the terminal post. Ensure that there
are no loose strands which may touch adjacent terminals. Retightenthe terminal
securely.
Crossover Network
Terminals
Before Connectingyour Loudspeakers
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Switch off your amplifier and all connected source units at the mains.
Unplug the power cords to all system components if necessary.
Before re-connecting your system to the AC power supply, check that all the connections are properly made
Check that all speaker terminals are done up tightly.
Ensure that there are no strands of wire shorting adjacent speaker terminals.
All loudspeakers in this series use biwired crossovernetworks
for improvedfidelity and low inser tion loss.
The crossover networkseparates the treble and bass networks
into two distinct sections, each connected by a dedicatedpair
of terminal posts. This enables the treble and bass components
to be separately driven for optimum performance. The upper
pair of terminals is connected to the treble networkand the
lower pair to the bass network.
As supplied, the treble terminal pair is connected to the bass
terminal pair by removable metal straps. These should be left in
place for standard installations.
Connections and Terminals
HF
LF
L-ite Series2 L-ite Series2
Your subwooferis most likely to be used with two typical programme sources, music and movies. The setup for these
two very different sources may be different if best results are to be achieved.Please read these setup notes in
conjunction with your processor and speaker manuals.
Listening rooms are not ideal. Most rooms are reverberantwith some parallel walls. Because of room geometry and
construction there will be areas with severe peaks at some frequencies and severetroughs at others. If you site
loudspeakers in such areas the response will be highly non-linear.With subwoofers this situation is exacerbated by
the fact that it is easier to treat high frequency irregularities by the use of drapes, soft furnishings etc., but very hard
to do the same at bass frequencies due to the very long wavelengths- at 40 Hz the wavelength is almost 9 metres.
To help locatestanding waves in your listening room, one idea is to sit in the listening seat and recruit a friend with a
deep voice to speak as he moves aroundthe area where you propose to site your subwoofer - you will soon find out
where to site it! Where the voice sounds most natural is a good place to start.
The low frequency response of the subwooferand its blend with the main loudspeakers is thus profoundly affectedby
positioning. Although bass is enhanced by walls or corners, so often is coloration. As the drive unit faces downward,
the floor will influence the sound. The surface under the subwoofer should be stable and unobstructed. If the carpet
is very thick, consider placing the subwoofer on a solid surface such as a marble slab.
if you place the subwoofer where it amplifies the irregularities
of the room or the main speakers the result will be bloated, coloured bass. If acoustic guitar and male voicesounds
coloured when the subwoofer is operating and less coloured when in standby,you need to address the positioning
first before adjusting any controls
Make sure that all loudspeaker channels are connected in phase. Nothingis more cer tain to
defeat a Home Cinema or Stereo setup involvinga subwoofer than one(or more) channels being out of phase.
In Stereo, if there is a doubt about the way the loudspeakersare connected, check their phasing by playing a mono
source - the sound should appear from a point midwaybetween the two loudspeakers. If this position is indefinite,
reverse the connections to one of the loudspeakers.Correctly connected loudspeakers give a definite centre sound
source with fuller bodied tenor and bass registers.
Phase at very low frequencies is not straightforward to detect.Initially we suggest
you temporarily set the low pass filter to‘of f’ and the phase to0º and play some bass heavy music in Stereo through the
main speakersand the subwoofer.From the listeningposition, switchthe phase between0º and 180º. The setting which
appears to give the greater bass output is correct. Now followthe instructions below for setting the low pass filter.
All setting up of the subwoofer should be performed with tone controls and filters set ‘flat’.
not
The subwoofer has to blend with the main speakers:
Loudspeaker Phasing:
Setting the Phase of the Subwoofer:
Listening Rooms and Subwoofer Positioning:
Home Cinema Systems
Low Pass Filter: If you are using a digital AVprocessor the initial setting should be ‘OFF’ as the processor will have its
own bass management system.
Most digital AV Processors ask youto specify the size of speakers in the various channels. These are usually ‘Large’ or
‘Small’. This sets the bass management for the system. Unless your loudspeakersare large floor standing units, you
should choose 'Small' for the Frontchannels, as the subwoofer is going to be better at providing clean, deep bass.
Choose 'Small' for the surround channels and also for the Centre channel, so that anybass from these channels will
be directed to the subwoofer.Set the ‘Subwoofer’ option on the processor to 'On’ or 'Yes'.
After experimenting with various sources you mayneed to adjust the LPF settings. The goal is to ensure the subwoofer
blends seamlessly into the sound stage. Setting the subwooferto Standby should reduce the bass extension, not
change the bass level - as always personal tasteplays an important par t.
Setting Up Your Subwoofer