Von Schweikert DB-99-SE Owners manual

Von Schweikert Audio

World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

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Instructions

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AMPLIFIER RECOMMENDATIONS……………………….………..… PAGE 2
CONTROLS ON REAR PANEL..……………………………………..… PAGE 2
UNPACKING & SHPPING DAMAGE………………………………..… PAGE 3
BREAK-IN……………………………………………………………….. PAGE 4
SETUP -- STARTING LOCATION………………………………………. PAGE 4
PLACEMENT CONSIDERATIONS…………………………………….. PAGE 6
WIRING…………………………………………………………………… PAGE 7
IMAGING CONSIDERATIONS ………………………………………… PAGE 8
PINK NOISE TEST FOR FOCUS……………………………………..…. PAGE 8
REAR AMBIENCE DRIVER…………………………………………….. PAGE 9
STANDING WAVES & BASS ADJUSTMENTS……………………….. PAGE 10
TROUBLE SHOOTING……………………………………………….….. PAGE 12
ROOM PROBLEMS AND TREATMENT……………………………….. PAGE 14
WARRANTY……………………………………………………………… PAGE 14

INTRODUCTION

hank you for investing in a Virtual Reality "DB" speaker system designed by Von
Schweikert Audio. Used properly, the DB-99SE will give you many wonderful

T

DB-99's powerful magic, please read the following instructions thoroughly. Although
the DB series may appear to be conventional speakers, they have been designed to work
with the listening room. Being a Room Interactive design, there are certain setup
procedures that must be followed. The DB series are engineered to replicate the
recording microphone’s signal in reverse, allowing the original soundfield to be
recreated in your home. This technology is proprietary and will allow the full emotional
content of the original performance to be heard by listeners anywhere in the room.
Please see our White Paper for more technical information on the design. As with all
high tech designs, there must be a commitment from the user to fully utilize this product.
The following instructions will enable you to achieve world-class sound.

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years of exciting musical reproduction, closer to the emotional truth of the
composer, performer, and producer’s intent. In order to fully benefit from the

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World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

Single Ended Tube Amplifiers are becoming more popular as audiophiles recognize that
high power ratings mean nothing is sound quality is sacrificed. The liquid sound and
image float has endeared the SET sound to many listeners, including Albert Von
Schweikert, who recognized the need for a speaker designed around the characteristics
of these wonderful sounding amplifiers. Since horn loading can work well at certain
frequency ranges, we have employed a very benign form of this loading in our tweeter
design. Horn loading is used to acoustically amplify the signal level, so that higher
efficiency/sensitivity is achieved. In our new tweeter design, a fabric dome driven by a
large ceramic magnet and linear motor system attains high SPL levels at one watt,
enabling very high clarity along with high dynamic range. In order to lower coloration
and distortion, we have employed a low distortion silk dome to ensure "sweet" high
frequency response. In addition, Ferrofluid has been used to both cool the voice coil and
lower mechanical distortion caused by chattering of the voice coil in the metal top plate
gap. To lower the resonance dramatically, we have designed a loading chamber behind
the dome that is filled with an acoustic damping material. This has eliminated the
"honky" sound of the device, allowing very neutral sound quality not often associated
with horn loaded tweeters.

RECOMMENDED AMPLIFICATION

We have designed the DB-99SE to operate with as little as 3 watts r.m.s and as high as
500 watts r.m.s. To achieve tight, powerful bass response, we have engineered a solid­state amplifier using high current power supply and Class A/AB operation. This
amplifier has a specially designed input stage that accepts the power output of the SET
amplifier and further amplifies the signal using bipolar transistors. The power output is
600 watts r.m.s. with 900 watts peak music power available for dynamic bass transients.
The single 10" magnesium-coned woofers are tuned to response down to 25Hz by the
triple chambered transmission line principle using a reflex port with flared ends to
reduce air turbulence at low frequencies. Although this bass system is dramatically deep
and extremely tight, it is a low efficiency design, necessitating the high-powered solid­state amplifier for driving power. However, the resulting sound is dramatically superior
to a typical large cone paper woofer in a horn-loaded enclosure driven directly by the
SET amplifier. This conventional type of high efficiency bass is slow and boomy due to
the large paper woofer, with a high degree of coloration that is not well tolerated by
discerning audiophiles used to the clarity of live music.

CONTROLS ON REAR PANEL

BASS BALANCE CONTROL
On the rear input terminal strip you will see two large control knobs and a set of Cardas
solid copper binding posts. The upper control adjusts the bass level of the amplifier and
woofers. Turn this knob clockwise to increase the bass level. NOTE: Unless your room

has unusual bass absorption or you are sitting in a bass "null," use the control at the
marked setting (flat frequency response). Too much bass will muddy the midrange

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frequencies leading to a loss of transparency. However, if mandatory placement of the
speakers results in a bass loss due to a standing wave problem, increase the bass level
until the bass sound is sonically balanced to the midrange and treble ranges. This is
easily done by ear, playing a variety of recordings until you are satisfied with the bass
balance. The use of the supplied carpet spikes will ensure tight bass when the speaker is
placed on a thick rug.

SPATIAL DIMENSION CONTROL
The lower control knob adjusts the rear ambience driver's level. The Ambience Retrieval
system designed by Albert Von Schweikert allows concert hall depth and imaging to be
reproduced in the average living room. Recording microphones pick up sounds that
occur not only from the instrument itself but also reverberation caused by the hall
boundaries. This reverberation is either picked up by the rear of the omnidirectional
recording mic or is picked up out-of-phase at the front of the mic when using mics that
are non-omnidirectional. In either case, there is concert hall depth and ambience that is
encoded in the recording. To correctly reproduce this ambience, we have employed a
rear firing mid/treble driver, which is driven by an ambience extraction network. This
specialized signal is fed to the driver in an out-of-phase dipolar mode to correctly
reproduce the depth effect. In addition to the depth retrieval effects, a dipole speaker has
other great qualities including directional response patterns which allow off-axis
imaging to occur, as well as widen the "sweet spot" where both channels matrix
acoustically into a three dimensional spatial image. See the special section regarding
speaker placement below for imaging optimization using the Spatial Dimension Control.

SHIPPING DAMAGE

Please unpack the DB's on a rug, making sure to avoid scratching your hands or the
finish on the staples. Please note that the spikes are wrapped up in a cardboard package.

Do not install spikes at this time however, since you will be moving the speakers around
extensively while determining the correct place in the room for final installation.

When unpacking the DB's, please note any hidden shipping damage. If you find damage,
please notify the freight company who will then send an inspector. Do not discard the
boxes or otherwise alter the contents, as the inspector will want to see the damage as
you found it. Since Von Schweikert Audio has no control over the shipping companies
or their damage claim policies, it is imperative that you follow the instructions from the
freight company agent explicitly. Additionally, please retain all packing materials for
later use in the event of a move.

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BREAK-IN

The DB’s use proprietary drivers custom made for this system. Raw drivers are broken
in for roughly 100 hours at considerable volume to reach suspension behavior’s “steady
state” prior to actual loudspeaker development. By contrast, production units receive 12
to 24 hours of break-in. Since the fluidity and dynamic range of the speaker depends on
free movement, you may notice a slight “brightness” or mechanical “heaviness” to the
sound for the first 20 hours. The sound engineered into the DB's will take approximately
80-100 hours to achieve, so we recommend that you not make critical judgements of
their sound until break-in is accomplished. Complete break-in is achieved after 400
hours. Break-in is best done by playing loud music or a break-in disc for several days
straight.

Note that it may take several months or longer to break the speakers in if only

quiet music is played at background levels.

Classical music played quietly does not contain enough bass or dynamics (in most cases)
to do a proper job, so we suggest using a CD player on repeat, using a loud rock album
or break-in CD as the source. Please make sure that the amplifier does not go into
clipping, though, as the heat generated may damage the drivers over a period of time.
(Clipping sounds like buzzing or harshness). If the sound is “clean”, however, you can
put 100 watts of music power into the DB-99's over a long period of time without any
damage.

INITIAL SETUP

Please do not install the spikes until the proper placement has been determined. You will
be moving the speakers several times in order to listen to different aspects of the
optimization, and the spikes will only make the movement more difficult. Since the
spikes tighten the bass dramatically, and also increase the image focus, do not worry
unduly about these two parameters until later in the setup process. Without the spikes,
the bass may be too “thick” and the image will not be as tightly focused, but this is
temporary. Also, turn off the rear ambience driver counter-clockwise until the setup is
complete. Please refer to the section regarding the REAR AMBIENCE DRIVER.

Starting Location

There are a number of considerations regarding initial placement, particularly involving
bass response and basic imaging. In general, bass response is strengthened when the
speakers are placed close to the rear or side walls, while imaging is enhanced by pulling
the speakers further into the room, away from walls. With your VR loudspeakers and the
following suggestions you will be able to achieve both deep and powerful bass and an
open sound stage.

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ROOM CONFIGURATIONS: If you have a room with fairly rectangular dimensions,
you can place the speakers on either the long or short wall. If your room is cubic, you
will have far better results placing the speakers diagonally. See next section.

ON LONG WALL: Placing the speakers on the long wall enables you to achieve a very
large and wide sound stage. In fact, using an equilateral triangle as your starting point,
you can space the speakers as far apart as the listening distance, even if this is 15 feet.
Since the DB's have very wide dispersion, there will be no hole in the middle effect.
Place the speakers about 2-5ft from the rear wall, with this distance being the bass
optimizer. If you wish to achieve more depth, move them further into the room. If you
wish more bass, place them either closer to the rear wall or closer to the side walls.

*Note: Do not use the same distance from the rear wall and side wall, as this
distance will result in too much boost at this wavelength. Stagger this distance
by 40-70%.

Do not toe the speakers in at first, place them parallel to the side walls. In general, the
sound stage will be constrained to the distance between the speakers, so if you have the
DB's only six feet apart, you will hear a small sound stage. Since there will be a lot of
overlap between the left and right channels, the center image will be very dense and
monophonic. To correct for this, separate the speakers further; 8 feet to 12 feet apart is
not too much in a large room, but remember, the spread depends on the listening
distance. If you have to spread the speakers well apart but can’t sit far enough back due
to furniture and cosmetic considerations, you may have to toe the speakers in, with the
tweeters aimed directly at your ears.

ON SHORT WALL: Placing the speakers on the short wall and sitting far back in the
long end of the room may give you a concert hall experience if your room is large. Long
reverberation times due to long distances from boundaries can impart a ‘grand’ sense of
scale with classical music, although smaller rooms might curtail this effect somewhat.
Also, too much boundary reflection will result in echoes that may interfere with the
direct sound and blur imaging somewhat. If you suspect this condition, clap your hands
while standing at the speaker position. If you hear distinct echoes, you will have to treat
the room with specialized tuning products from Michael Green, RPG, ASC tube traps,
Sonex foam panels, and the like. If decorating is a consideration, try using rugs hanging
on the side walls at the first reflection point, and behind the speakers, directly in the
center. Your dealer can recommend tuning products he/she carries and may be able to
install them. If your dealer does not offer this service, call the above-mentioned tuning
companies for further information.

CUBIC ROOM, DIAGONAL LOCATION: Rooms with mathematically repeating
dimensions (like 16 x 16 x 8', for instance) will have a midbass/lower midrange
‘loading’ effect due to the similar ratios of boundary distances. In this case, it will help
to locate one speaker on each side of a corner and fire the speakers diagonally into the

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room. Note that you will also need to place your listening chair at a diagonal position as
well, at an equilateral triangulated distance. Diagonal placement is an extreme measure
but may be necessary if you wish to achieve the ultimate in accurate frequency response.
Diagonal placement will prevent a portion of the standing wave energy from boosting
certain frequencies, since the reflection patterns are broken up in this configuration. The
distance to each side wall is critical, and experimentation will be required with
placement of not only the speakers themselves, but also your seating position and wall
treatment. It may be necessary to use absorptive or dispersive devices on the wall to
ameliorate the wall reflections, which may cause tonal imbalances or imaging confusion.
See your dealer.

FLOORING: If you have a hardwood floor, (especially without carpeting), there is the
possibility that vibration and resonance will be transferred to the floor, which will then
act as a passive radiator. The floor resonance will sound like extra midbass is being
added to the sound, and will smear the bass notes as well, since the floor will vibrate
long after the woofers stop moving. On bare hardwood floors, it will be necessary to
decouple the speakers with rubber decoupling feet such as the Sorbothane pucks made
by Audioquest, even rubber balls. The use of cones or spikes, even if made from carbon
fiber, will result in some transmission to the wood floor, and is only recommended on
carpeted floors. In two story homes with wood floors on the second floor, we have
noticed a tendency for the floor to absorb deep bass due to sympathetic resonance. In
this case, the speaker will sound like it does not have bass, so the cure would be to either
move the speakers closer to a boundary where the floor is not flexing as much or to
decouple the speaker completely from the floor. That can be accomplished by making a
platform from wood filled with sand, or using a granite base several inches thick. In
addition to the induced resonance, there will be upper frequency reflections that will
affect the midrange/tweeter balance, usually boosting the treble/upper midrange and
destroying the image solidity. Installing a small rug in between the speakers and the
listening chair will normally correct this problem.

CARPETED FLOORS, WOOD OR CONCRETE: Using the spikes after break-in and
correct placement will tighten up the bass and lock in the soundstage. Make sure that
you level the speakers so they don’t rock, and use the locking nuts to make sure the
spikes won’t vibrate loose.

PLACEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

The DB's are Room Interactive, meaning that the DB's were designed to work in an
average listening room, not an anechoic chamber. Speakers that measure very good in an
anechoic chamber will usually sound too bass heavy and directional when placed in a
room due to boundary effects and room gain in the bass region. The bass response of the
room (boundary gain) has been factored into the DBs, along with the reflective nature of
boundary surfaces such as wood, plaster, glass, and so forth. Since the DBs are quasi­omnidirectional transducers, designed to be the inverse of the recording microphone,

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their sound output will react with the listening room in a positive manner only if
properly placed. There are two components of sound that reach the listener’s ears:

1. The direct arrival, or initial wavelaunch of the speaker itself;

2. The secondary waves that are reflected from the room’s boundary surfaces.

The reflected sound is delayed according to the distances involved from the speaker to
the boundaries, then back to the listener. It is important for the reflected sound-field to
integrate properly with the initial wavelaunch, since out-of-phase reflections will
interfere with both flat frequency response and image focus. It is not difficult to
determine where the best placement will be in any given room, since you will be using a
pink noise listening test discussed later. See Pink Noise Test.

In every room, there will usually be more than one magic spot for the DB's to sound
their best. However, finding those spots is not intuitive, due to the nature of
reverberation characteristics and room dimensions, which vary enormously from room
to room. The DB99s, being Virtual Reality simulators, are designed to load the room
very similarly to the way a live instrument would load the room. Only in this way can
your ear/brain hearing mechanism be lulled into believing that you could be listening to
an actual performance, and not simply ‘canned’ sound. If you had a grand piano at the
end of the room where the speakers are playing, it would involve the entire room with
semi-omnidirectional sound, and your ear/brain hearing mechanism will clearly know
this. The DB Virtual Reality design will simulate this huge soundfield, with its
involving depth and dimension. However, correct placement is required to achieve the
best possible sound quality. Amazingly, moving the speaker only a few inches can make
the difference between good sound and great sound.

WIRING

The sonic transparency from the DB-99SE will depend on the speaker cable. Since this
speaker is a very high efficiency design with a very clear treble range, the cable must
have inherent smoothness. We have fitted Cardas copper binding posts, which accept
spade lugs or banana plugs; we prefer spades. Make sure that you make a very tight
connection between the binding post and the spade lugs on the cables, since a loose
connection will be apparent as a loss of depth and sweetness. Use a contact enhancing
fluid once a month on all RCA plugs and binding posts for best results. There will be
attendant increases in sweetness, air, soundstage depth, and smoothness equal to an
upgrade in cables, but at far less cost.

In general, stranded wire usually has a softer, fuller sound, while solid core wire
has tighter bass and leaner highs. You can use these traits to “tune” the overall
sound of your system.

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Please use your DB dealer’s expertise when selecting wires and cables, as he has the
experience with both the speakers and different amplifiers and can help you make an
intelligent selection.

BI-AMPING TRAITS: Since audiophiles greatly value “image float” and liquid-sounding
midrange/treble response, the use a tube amplifier on the midrange and treble drivers
results in the very best sound quality. However, since low powered tube amps cannot
control the woofer movement accurately, we engineered a solid-state amplifier to drive
the reinforced paper woofer down to 25Hz. The high current Class A/AB amplifier uses
a heavy-duty power supply to provide extremely deep and accurate bass response far
exceeding any subwoofer available. The combination of solid-state and tubes is a
combination made in audiophile heaven! In addition, the woofer volume control enables
any type of room placement without worry about bass volume level.

IMAGING CONSIDERATIONS

FOCAL POINT OF ARRAY: Since the DB-99 is Quasi-Time Aligned by use of the
specialized Global Axis Integration Network
focused phase-array driver complement, there is an optimum seating distance. If you
must situate the speakers close together, with a close listening position for near field
applications, such as in a recording studio, you may have to toe the speakers in towards
you slightly. In order to find the focus point of the array, use the following technique:

PINK NOISE LISTENING TEST FOR FOCUS: Play a pink noise source such as a CD
with test tones or an FM tuner set between stations (with muting turned off). You will
notice one of two sonic effects when listening to pink noise:

1. If you are in the focal point of the array, you will hear a “ball” of noise that appears
to float between the speakers. Although noise will appear to emanate from the speakers
themselves, the center image will be stronger, with a slightly different tone quality to the
phantom center image. The sound from the speakers themselves will seem slightly
detached from the pink noise ball, and slightly softer in volume level. The center “ball”
of sound will be very strong, and you will be able to detect that the “ball” of sound is
round, with depth to the image. This is a ‘locked in’ image with correct focus.

2. If you are not sitting in the focal point, the noise will be diffuse, without a center
image. Although you will hear noise coming from the center, it will sound as diffuse as
the sound coming from the speakers themselves. Even though the speakers will image
music when set up like this, the imaging will be diffuse and non-localized. There won’t
be enough ‘body’ to the images, and it will be hard to hear space between the
instruments. There is a distinct lack of image focus in this situation.

TM

crossover circuit and thus results in a

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World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

To find the focal point of the DB system, move forwards and backwards slowly while
listening to the pink noise ‘ball’. You can either rock in your listening seat, or move
back and forth by several feet if you are way out of the equilateral triangle (using a
director’s chair for this works great). If you have a fixed seating position that can not be
moved due to furniture considerations, you will have to move the speakers either closer
together, or further apart, depending on the strength of the pink noise ‘ball’. If the
speakers are closer together than 8 feet, try spreading them further apart.

Note: if the speakers cannot be separated more than a few feet due to room
considerations, as in a video application, it may be necessary to toe the speakers
outwards.

If you place the speakers further apart than 8 feet, try toeing them in towards you,
listening for the ‘ball’ to lock in. It really helps to have two people moving the speakers
while you sit in the listening position, giving orders. Toe-in is often critical, with only 1"
movements being very apparent. When you have found the correct spacing and listening
distance, you will immediately know it, since the image lock-in is very obvious. The
pink noise will become a very strong ‘ball’ of sound, just floating in between the
speakers. Keep moving the speakers until you hear this ball of sound. As you move the
speakers either closer together or further apart, and experiment with toe-in, you will hear
changes that enable you to know if you are headed in the right direction.

REAR AMBIENCE DRIVER ADJUSTMENT: The DB design has a rear-firing ambience
driver that adds depth enhancement and 360-degree timbre fill-in. When breaking in the
speakers, leave the Spatial Dimension Control all the way up in order to break-in the
driver fully. However, when optimizing the imaging using the pink noise test
documented above, turn the ambience driver off by rotating the small control knob fully
counter-clockwise. Once the speaker location has been determined, it is time to add
some rear ambience. While listening to a variety of naturally recorded music, dial in
successively more ambience, listening carefully to the change. If your rear wall behind
the speakers is highly reflective, only a little ambience will be necessary if the speakers
are fairly close to the wall. (Set control between 6:00 and 9:00 as referenced to a clock
face). In some situations, where the rear wall is highly reflective and the driving
amp/cables are somewhat overly detailed, it may be possible that no rear fill is necessary
or desirable. If you hear ‘brightness’ occurring in the overall balance, you should back
off on the Spatial Dimension Control. In a room that’s fairly dead, with soft sounding
gear, it may be necessary to use the Spatial Dimension control fully on.

BASS RESPONSE TUNING

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Since enclosed rooms will affect the bass response
due to standing wave formation, a bass level control has been designed into the DB

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series of speakers. Deep bass in the 20-30Hz range is highly desirable in a reference
speaker design, since hall reverberation at low frequencies is a sonic clue to both depth
and hall size. Classical music simply sounds anemic and artificial without deep bass. In
addition, the wide dynamic range found in pop and jazz recordings depends on bass
‘slam’ and efficiency at low frequencies in order to sound like a live bass instrument
such as bass guitar, synthesizer, bass drums, and upright string bass. For this reason, a
hybrid triple-chambered transmission line/bass reflex system was engineered which
exhibits both deep bass and fast transient response, with a strong emphasis on tight bass.
Although it is true that the measured transient response of a sealed woofer system has
less ringing than hollow-cavity bass reflex cabinets, the trapped rear wave of sealed
enclosures results in low efficiency, while the compressed air load results in sluggish
transient attack. For this reason, transmission line loading has much appeal, and makes
more engineering sense, since both deep bass and fast transient response (resulting in
“tight” sound) are optimized at the same time. The bass-reflex design using a hollow
chamber has very unpleasant ‘hangover’ due to cavity resonance. This problem has been
eliminated in the DB design by the utilization of high density stuffing. This technique
does not work with standard reflex woofers, or conventional Thiele/Small tuning
alignments, however. The resistive damping in the form of acoustic foam and Dacron
fill must be compensated in both the driver design and the cabinet tuning ‘alignment’.

GENERAL TUNING INFORMATION: Both the volume level of the bass and the
frequency response of the woofer system can be altered easily by several methods in
order to equalize the room’s influence on the bass response. Although the DB bass
systems measure ruler flat in larger rooms that have good dimensional ratios, (using
both gated sine wave and maximum length sequence FFT signals), smaller rooms tend to
have bass anomalies and overloading problems with low frequencies due to the long
wavelengths involved.

STANDING WAVE PHENOMENA: Standing waves are dips and peaks in the bass
response caused by the room boundaries. Although many people have heard the term,
many don’t actually know what causes standing waves and what to do about them. Since
all speaker systems radiate bass almost omni directionally, there are many path lengths
that the waves take before arriving at the listening position. Although the first arriving
bass wave will have flat frequency response, fractions of a second later the same waves
have bounced off of the front wall, rear wall, side walls, and the floor. These reflections
both reinforce and cancel the original direct wave, depending on the wavelength vs. the
path length. If the path length is an even multiple of the direct wave at any one given
frequency, the reflection will reinforce the first wave since it will be mathematically
added and will cause a peak in the response at this frequency. However, if the path
length is such that the reflected wave is out of phase with the main wave, there will be a
cancellation in the frequency response. Researchers have found that the dips and peaks
in the response can be very powerful, with 18dB variances across the bass range.

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If a sine wave generator is set to any low frequency, a listener can walk around the
room, finding that every foot or two, there is flat response, a peak, or a dip. By walking
around the room, you can ‘map’ the response, finding the places where the pressure
alternates from high to low. These alternating pressure zones are a natural part of room
acoustics and must be dealt with by correct speaker placement.

THEORY OF RECIPROCITY REGARDING BASS RESPONSE: Since standing waves
are not easily amenable to correction by equalizing the speaker passively, it is necessary
to place both the speakers and listener/s in neutral zones. According to the mathematics
of the pressure zones, the flattest response occurs when both the speakers and listener
are at opposing ends of the room, directly against the wall surfaces. Since against-the­wall placement is not a prime location for soundstage ‘openness’ and imaging focus, we
recommend placing the speakers out into the room, at least 12" from the back wall to
start. Then, playing a repeating bass line, walk around the room in the general vicinity of
the intended listening position. If you find that the smoothest bass response does not
occur where you would like to place the listening seat, you can use the Law of
Reciprocity to find the optimum spot. The physics of bass response are the same for the
listener or the speaker when interchanged. That means that you can place one speaker
where you wish to sit, play the repeating bass line, and then walk around on the other
side of the room where you want to place the speakers. When you find a neutral zone,
where the bass is not too loud or too soft, that’s where you place that particular speaker.
Next, do the other side in the same manner. Make sure you use a variety of recordings,
since it is possible to optimize the placement accidentally for only one frequency range!

TOO MUCH BASS OVERALL: If the entire bass range is too loud, move the speakers
away from the room boundaries or turn the Woofer Level control counterclockwise.
However, if your driving amplifier lacks control at low frequencies and you want to
tighten up the bass, insert 2 or 3 handfuls of polyester Dacron pillow stuffing into the
ports, making sure that the stuffing falls down into the port. Blocking the vent itself will
work if the bass is too rich in your room.

LACK OF APPARENT BASS: In some rooms, especially those with ‘soft’ walls such as
wallboard over studs, and open floor plans, it is possible to ‘lose’ bass response. Also,
when sitting in a ‘null’, it is possible to perceive, incorrectly, that there is a loss of bass
power. In these cases, it will be necessary to move either the speaker position or the
listening position in order to optimize the response. By playing a recording with a
repeating bass line, try walking around the room until you find the places where there is
apparent bass. It will be necessary, in some cases, to reposition the speakers in order to
allow the room to boost the bass by using the natural ‘gain’ of the boundary reflections.
Simply move the speakers closer to the rear wall or side wall in small increments until
the bass sounds right, with the Woofer Level control in the 12:00 o'clock position. If the
speakers cannot be moved due to the décor, increase the bass response by turning the
Woofer Level control clockwise. However, please note that too much bass output will
not sound good since you may be overshadowing the mid and treble ranges. In addition,

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Von Schweikert Audio

World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

overdriving the woofer amplifier will cause it to overheat and shut down. If this occurs,
turn the volume level down slightly until the amplifier turns back on automatically.

ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT

The DB Series is far more transparent than any other competing design, including
electrostatics. (If you don’t believe this, put any electrostatic next to your DB-99 and use
a transparent switching device such as a copper knife switch to directly compare the
sound of the DB to the electrostatic. Make sure that you use the same channel, since the
electronics may have a large difference in sound between the channels, and the same
brand of cable. It may be necessary to use a metal film resistor to equalize the sensitivity
of the louder speaker in order to make a fair test). Since the DB design is quite
transparent, lacking audible coloration and distortion, it is necessary to use only the
finest sounding equipment available to drive the DB-99's. This does not mean you must
purchase the most expensive gear, just good sounding electronics, especially in the front
end. Many digital products have limited depth and excess treble brightness caused by
overemphasis of harmonic structure. The DB’s will enable you to easily hear the
differences even between digital cables, which theoretically, should have no sound at
all. Any sonic qualities you attribute to the DB's are actually coming from the chain
preceding the speakers. When using neutral driving equipment, the DB's will be found to
have virtually no contributive sound! Since there are thousands of different
combinations of components, we cannot give any specific recommendations. Your DB
dealer, however, is experienced with many types of components and should be consulted
for best results.

TROUBLE SHOOTING

Your VR/DB dealer should have the necessary resources to investigate any problems
you may experience when setting up a world- class reference system. However, if you
find that you need specialized help, either in acoustical or electronic interactions, please
don’t hesitate to contact the factory. Call [phone] and ask for Customer Service.
A qualified engineer will be there to assist you with any problems you are experiencing.

AMPLIFIER SHUTDOWN: The woofer amplifier has a thermal protection circuit
which shuts down the amp if the cooling fins get too hot. If you are playing at a loud
volume level and the amp shuts off, turn down the signal a bit until the amp comes back
on.

LACK OF SHARP IMAGE FOCUS: Could be caused by several setup problems,
including: a) Speakers are too close to side walls; b) You are sitting too close to the
speakers; c) You don't have enough "toe-in" and are not in the direct tweeter beam; d)
You have inadvertently connected the speakers out-of-phase with each other.

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World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

BRIGHTNESS: A very common problem is brightness, and is wrongly attributed to the
speakers since they are the apparent source of all sound. Some of the causes of
brightness are:

1. Powerline Noise. Can be ameliorated with a proper line conditioner.

2. Cable Resonance. Too many brands of different cables that interact improperly.
Switch interconnects, including the digital cable, to a different brand.

3. Digital Noise. Use a powerline filter on DAC
created by digital noise bleeding into the preamp, so don’t put the preamp on the same
filter as the DAC.

4. Lack of Proper Break-in. Please break speakers in 100 hours with

5. Source Material. Unfortunately, most commercial CD’s are bright! Try using the
Green Felt Pen and the Bedini Clarifier. Make sure you clean the CD’s and don’t allow
them to get scratched.

6. Transistor Sound. Older transistor gear is bright and lacks depth. Invest in newer gear.

7. Dirty Connections. Proper maintenance of a system requires cleaning of all RCA
connectors once a month; don’t forget to clean the AC plug prongs. Tube sockets and
pins need to be cleaned as well, and is a source of ‘tube glare’, along with tube
deterioration itself. See your dealer for cleaners.

8. Cold Equipment. The entire system must be left on (excluding tube amplifiers)
continuously for best sound quality. Cold equipment, especially transistor preamps and
DACs, sound thin, sterile, and lack depth or dimension. Most experts recommend
leaving the equipment on to avoid the damage associated with cold turn-on, since the
most wear to the electronic components in an amplifier results from the inrush of current
from the wall into a cold part. Once the unit is left on, the voltages and temperatures
stabilize, resulting in better sound and component life. The electric bill will not reflect a
huge price difference, as electronics at idle do not use much electricity (other than Class
A amplifiers and tube amps).

9. Too Much Rear Ambience Driver Level. Turn down the rear driver if system is too
bright.

ROOM PROBLEMS AND TREATMENT: Boomy Bass, Harsh Highs. Not many
audiophiles realize how important their room acoustics are to the overall soundfield. No
matter how good the speaker system and driving electronics, the room will have great

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only. Many times the harshness is

loud music.

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Von Schweikert Audio

World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

influence over the final sound, whether for better or worse! Rooms can add or subtract
bass response, but correct tuning and placement can ameliorate these problems. See
BASS TUNING section above. Harsh highs can be created by echoes resulting from
large wall surfaces with unbroken surfaces. If you can hear any echo when clapping
your hands, you will need to use some room treatment products. Many books have been
written about room acoustics, and there is not enough space in this manual to give
detailed information on how to do it right. However, the general rule is to use 50%
absorptive/50% reflective ratios when covering the room’s surfaces, such as carpeting,
drapes, stuffed furniture, bookshelves filled with books, records, etc. It is helpful to
damp the first reflection points, which are the boundary surfaces halfway between the
listener and the speaker cabinets. This includes the ceiling, walls, and floor. Hard plaster
ceilings will reflect treble energy back down towards the listener, and should be treated
with acoustic tiles (the soft and porous type) or damping pads made from foam or
fiberglass. The walls can have a decorator rug, drapes, or diffusers at the first reflection
point, and the floor can use carpeting. We have used plants and trees to diffuse the echo
in our very large sound room, and found that this works better than simply absorbing the
high frequency reverberation. Some of these diffusion devices are made by Acoustic
Sciences Corporation (ASC), Echo Busters and Michael Green, RPG, and others. One
last thing: if your DB speaker system does not elicit goose bumps, your set-up is not
optimized!

WARRANTY

USA: Your Von Schweikert DB-99 speaker system is warranted to play for 10 years (3
years for amplifier) from date of purchase without failure, and will most likely last your
lifetime. We will pay for parts and labor for any factory defect during this warranty
period, not including burnt voice coils due to amplifier clipping, abuse, or cosmetic
damage caused by conditions not under our control. We will repair any damage to the
speaker at a modest cost if your speakers are not covered by the factory warranty. All
returned speakers must be shipped in the original container prepaid, and we will cover
the cost of return shipping. All speakers must have an RA so please call in advance.

Other Countries: Please see Export Warranty Certificate packed with export models.

SPECIFICATIONS

SYSTEM TYPE: Three-way high- sensitivity speaker using a booster-stage solid- state

amplified bass system, suitable for SET amps as well as larger tube and solid
state amps of any power range. The high dynamic range enables both music and
home theater sources to excel at realistic sound reproduction, with unbelievable

slam, jump factor, and emotional connection to the music.

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Von Schweikert Audio

World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

SENSITIVITY: 98 to 99 dB measured in room, using one watt at one meter.

IMPEDANCE: 8 ohms nominal; flat impedance curve ensures SET amplifier stability.

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 21Hz to 25kHz +/- 3dB.

BASS SYSTEM: 10” Super-Duty woofer with magnesium cone, 2" high-temp voice

coil, vented magnet design, copper phase plug and Low Distortion Motor.
Triple-chambered transmission line enclosure with venturi-shaped rear firing
port, critically damped with acoustic foam and Dacron.

BOOSTER AMPLIFIER: 300-watt solid-state secondary-stage amplifier using Class

A/B bias, Hi-Current power supply with large transformer and filter capacitors,
Auto-turn on feature and Bass Volume Control knob. Enables bass-to-room
matching.

MIDRANGE DRIVER: 7” cast frame driver employing exotic cone made from

carbon, Kevlar, and cellulose acetate pulp using a ceramic binder. The extremely
light-weight cone is very rigid and externally damped, ensuring very high
transparency exceeding electrostatic or ribbon drivers. A large edge-wound
ribbon voice coil allows very high power handling with very fast transient speed.
A 2kg motor assembly delivers a sensitivity of 100dB and low distortion. This
incredible driver is mounted in a terminated transmission line enclosure that is
critically damped using thick felt, acoustic foam, and Gradient Density stuffing
to absorb the backwave and cavity resonance.

TWEETER: A European soft-dome tweeter is mounted in a 2" short wave-guide type

horn and uses an ultra-light diaphragm and large Low Distortion Motor assembly
for very high sensitivity. Ferro-fluid liquid cooling enables high power handling
and smooth response.

AMBIENCE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM: A rear-firing mid/tweeter generates the correct

depth found in the recording and is fed by a specialized ambience derivation
circuit with control knob for adjustment.

POWER REQUIREMENTS: As little as 3 watts may be used, with full dynamics! 200

watts max.

DIMENSIONS: 43" High x 17" Deep x 8" Wide at top x 13" Wide at bottom.

WEIGHT: 115lbs, 130lbs packed in heavy duty hex crate for shipping.

WARRANTY: Ten years on drivers, cabinet; Three-years on amplifier.

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World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film

AVAILABLE FINISHES: High gloss black, Corvette Millennium Yellow, Corvette

Magnetic Red Metallic, and Platinum Silver paint finishes. Other paint finishes
are available on custom order (no wood).

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