Vivid audio V1.5, K1, B1, V, C1 User Manual

VIVID AUDIO
USER GUIDE

This manual applies to the following models:
K1, B1, C1, V1.5, and the V series.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page number

1 2 4 5 7 8 9

10

15

16

23

Content

Important information on unpacking and use

Introduction and positioning

Multi channel use

V1w wall mount

Connecting up

Spikes

Disclaimer

Specifications

Installation notes

Early loudspeaker history.

Contacting Vivid Audio

Important Notes

The silver aluminium domed/coned drive units

are extremely sensitive. They must never be

subjected to probing fingers or other sharp

objects! If so, certain damage will result and a

replacement driver will have to be fitted.

This replacement will not be performed under

guarantee conditions.

Unpacking Instructions

Read these instructions that contain important

information about the safe use, installation and

maintenance of this loudspeaker.

• Unpack the loudspeaker following the instruction

sheet attached to the shipping crate. The method is also
described below. Check for damage. Keep potentially
hazardous packaging (plastic bags, polystyrene etc.) out
of reach of children.

• Dispose of packaging in compliance with current waste

disposal requirements.

1

Introduction

We’re obviously very happy that you chose Vivid Audio Loudspeakers so please

spend a little time reading this manual to help ensure that you are equally happy

with your purchase.

These loudspeakers are the culmination of many years of research by our design

engineer Laurence Dickie and the R&D team in Durban. They feature a range of

unique drive units and enclosures which deliver an unprecedented purity of reproduced

sound. All our drivers include novel features, many of which have been patented.

A fundamental design philosophy has always been to keep resonances and the effects

of reflection well out of band and this applies just as much to our mid-range units

as to our tweeters so we don’t take a basically floppy cone and treat it until the

resonances are acceptable, we make jolly sure they are not there in the first place.

Similarly you may have noticed that the enclosures used in all Vivid Audio products

share a very rounded form. This not done for pure aesthetics but is there to completely

remove the effects of reflection from the edge of the cabinet.

Having perfected a driver and enclosure combination that deliver totally smooth

responses, the crossover designs are quite straightforward with no extra elements

required to make up for the deficiencies of the basic acoustic designs.

We follow the conventional rules for system design quite closely and find there is

no need to deviate from the path because we do not have to compensate for

driver idiosyncrasies.

So having taken all this trouble to develop the loudspeakers we feel it would be only

fair that you take the time to read these notes to help squeeze out as much of that

performance as possible into your listening space.

Positioning

Vivid Audio loudspeakers are designed with both home theatre and two channel

stereo application in mind and, because of the intrinsically shielded magnet structure,

all our products can be placed near to conventional tube televisions or computer

monitors if necessary.

For two-channel installations we recommend as a starting point that you position

the loudspeakers at least 0.5m from the rear wall and, if anything, a little further

from the side walls if possible. Hving two different distances here will help to smooth

out the effects of the boundaries on the low frequencies and improve the sense of

space and scale of the performance.

As a general rule, the closer the speakers are to a wall the more the upper bass will

be accentuated. Conversely, if you move them away from the walls only the lower

bass will be reinforced. If the walls are of a light construction these reinforcement

effects will be reduced accordingly.

Furthermore, all rooms have resonances at a number of single frequencies that will

tend to be emphasised when the speakers are placed nearer the corners which can

cause ‘boominess’. So again, if these are problematic, try moving the speakers away

from the corners.

2

Remember that all the rules which apply to the loudspeaker position also apply to

the listening position so if you find that the low frequencies are a little light because

you have placed your sofa in the middle of the room to be equidistant from the

surround speakers then you may recover some of this low end by moving the speakers

back towards the walls. Similarly, if you are in two channel mode with the listening

position close to the back wall and you have excessive bass, try moving away from

the wall.

One technique for finding the best speaker position which exploits this reciprocity

is to place a speaker at the listening position and to move around the room to find

places with an even bottom end. Then you can swap the speaker and listener and

find the same result. This only works for one speaker at a time and the results with

both speakers in position may not be quite as you expect so be prepared to try again.

A good listening position will often be found at the point where the loudspeakers

are about 60˚ apart, fig.1. Much closer together than this and the apparent image

width will suffer, much wider and you may find a ‘hole’ in the centre of the image,

particularly when seated off to one side.

There is no appreciable beam from any of the Vivid Audio loudspeaker drivers, that

is to say; the tonal balance is consistent across a wide angle as opposed to some

designs where the high frequencies in particular quickly fall in level as you move

away from a point directly in front of the speaker as if they were shining out from

a flashlight. It is our experience that, because of the very smooth wide sound field

produced by our designs, angling the loudspeakers so that they both face a position

just ahead of the listeners can help to widen the useful area where stereo sound may

be enjoyed.

Fig.1

An absence of beaming is also a feature in the vertical plane, so being absolutely at

the same level as the loudspeakers is not important. In fact a perfectly enjoyable

sound balance may be found when lying on the floor more or less anywhere between

the loudspeakers!

Because of the infinite number of combinations of wall materials dimensions and

furnishings in the room it is impossible to give more precise positioning advice than

that above. In the end we strongly recommend that you experiment, so if you are

going to fit the spikes to the bases then we suggest that you leave this until the

positions have been determined.

3

Small Studio Monitoring

All Vivid Audio speakers make excellent small-scale studio monitors giving pin-point

imaging and incredible detail which are both indispensable qualities in such an

applications. B1 and K1 are balanced for flat response in a free field acoustic and

are thus best suited to very dry acoustics such as heavily damped studios or where

the desk and monitors are fairly well removed from the walls. In smaller rooms where

the desk is close to the walls, the V1 range or C1 may give a more natural balance.

In either case, you should really measure the response of the system at the listening

position and EQ accordingly.

Centre Speaker

With the introduction of a third, central channel, the sound stage tends to fill out

in the middle and the two main speakers may be positioned a little further apart,

or the listener a little closer, without suffering from holes in the image. If you are

positioning the speakers around a TV or monitor, it’s worth bearing in mind that the

sound stage is best kept in proportion to the size of the picture, so if you have a

35cm screen it might seem a bit disconcerting if the sound stage is as big as a house.

The C1 centre channel model is tonally balanced in such a way that it can be

positioned closer to the walls than either B1 or K1. Because of the broad vertical

dispersion, even through crossover, it is not too important whether the loudspeaker

is sited above or below the screen. If you are using an acoustically transparent screen

you can arrange for the tweeter to be at the same height as that of the main speakers.

Surround Speakers

Cinema sound tracks are provided with not just the front three channels but also a

variable number of side and rear channels. As these tracks are not really intended

to give precise imaging but a more general ambience, it is not so critical that they

be accurately positioned.

When using two surround speakers for the 5.1 rear position them at around 60˚

either side of a point directly to the rear of the listening position, fig.2. With uneven

rooms such as L-shapes, aim to have a general symmetry to their locations so the

angle of the speakers, as seen from the main listening position, is similar on both left

and right. Level differences due to the differing distances can be compensated for

during the set-up of the decoder.

Fig.2

4

If the speakers are the wall mounted V1w, they should be mounted a good 50cm

above ear height, fig. 3, and, while mounting in the very corners of the room is not

to be recommended, try to get them as far away as reasonable. Again experiment

with the relative position of the seating, the screen and the speakers. You could

mount speakers on the back wall facing outward so the main sound is bounced off

the side walls to give a greater feeling of space.

Fig.3

With 6.1 and 7.1 installations, the side channels should be further forward, on a line

just behind the seating or around 80˚ either side of a point directly to the rear of the

listening position. A 6.1 system has a single rear speaker which should be directly

behind the listeners while a 7.1 system uses two rear speakers which should be placed

around 25˚ either side of the rear centre point, fig.4..

Fig.4

Installing V1 wall mount

V1w is designed for wall mounting through the use of a de-mountable ball and

socket arrangement. A hemispherical cage with cruciform cut-out is fitted to the

enclosure while the corresponding skeletal ball is fitted to a stem which can be

threaded directly onto an M8 wall anchor into a masonry wall, or bolted to a wall

plate which should be screwed to stud or timber walls using appropriate fixings.

5

Fig.5

In the case of a masonry wall (fig. 5), first drill a 13mm hole to the depth of 60mm

using a suitable carbide tipped drill bit. Insert the wall anchor to the full depth and

hand wind the bracket stem onto the projecting M8 thread. Using a 13mm spanner,

tighten the stem until secure. Release the M8 Nylock nut on the end of the stem to

free the cross shaped ball and adjust its position a few degrees to the right or left

until the cross is square to the vertical. Tighten the lock nut.

With hollow walls you will need to use the wall plate. First mark the wall using the

plate as a guide and drill the appropriate holes. Then bolt the stem to the plate using

the M8 countersunk bolt. The assembly can then be fixed to the wall with a pair of

expanding or toggle bolts or, if fixing into the wooden studs, a pair of 5mm

countersunk woodscrews. Then align the cross–shaped ball to the vertical as before.

Now you can attach the loudspeaker.

Fig.6 a b c d

Fig.7 6 Facing the wall, turn the large knurled nut clockwise until it is right the way back