Von Schweikert Audio VR-9 SE User Manual

V on Schw eikert A udio

World-Class Reference-Grade Speakers for Music and Movies

VR-9SE OWNERS

MANUAL

INCLUDING

~ LIMITED-EDITION DRB SIGNATURE VERSION ~

Quick-Guide Setup Instructions

Including:

• Interactive Room Correction

• Equalization Settings

• Technical Setup Info

V o n S c h w e i k e r t A u d i o

www.Vspeakers.com

930 Armorlite Drive, San Marcos, CA 92069

Ph 760-410-1650 Fx 760-410-1655 [e-mail]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Initial Room Placement Page 2

• Interactive Room Correction Page 3

• Equalization Settings for Room Correction Page 4

• Woofer Equalization Page 4

• Midrange/Tweeter Equalization Page 6

• Ambience Retrieval Setting Page 8

Initial Room Placement

• Engineering Background

The VR-9 SE was designed to work with the room to provide a life-like three­dimensional recreation of the original live musical event. It is well appreciated by
listeners as well as musicians that musical instruments radiate sound omni­directionally by nature of their construction. In addition, the best microphones are
designed to pick up sound over a “wide dispersion pattern” in order to simulate the
original sound-field. For this reason, the VR series of speakers are “wide dispersion”
designs based on the study of Psychoacoustics.

Since a “wide dispersion” design uses the room acoustics to enhance the listening
experience, great care must be used in setting up the VR-9 SE speakers if the best
possible sound quality it to be achieved. The following information will help you
extract the magic that these speakers are known for.

1. In all rooms, no matter what the size or reverberation time, the setup needs to
emphasize the 3-D imaging focus of the speakers; don’t worry about the
balance between bass and treble, as the frequency response of the VR-9 SE
can be equalized with the on-board controls to enable the speakers to sound
natural (and also have flat measurement response).

2. If your room is rectangular, and you have placed the speakers on the “long”
wall, you can spread the VR-9 SE by 15 feet before a “hole in the middle” will
develop. If you have spread the speakers further apart than the listening
distance, the image focus will be best if the speakers are aimed directly at the
listener’s ears. Aiming them at you is called “toe in.” If a wider and/or

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mellower sound is desired, try reducing the angle of “toe in;” in some rooms
you may find that the speakers sound best with no “toe in,” so experimentation
is in order. If you are using a wide spread, the sound will be more dimensional

and holographic if the speakers are kept as far away from the walls as is
possible. If necessary, use diffusion at the first reflection points, including side
walls and ceiling. If you have a hardwood floor, or large coffee table, note that
reflections from these hard surfaces will increase the upper midrange/treble
range to an unacceptable level. In this case, you will need to use a large throw
rug in front of each speaker and break up the reflections from the top of the
coffee table with objects placed on the table to diffuse the sound rays from the
speakers.

3. In a long and narrow room, if you are placing the speakers on the “short” wall
and are sitting at the other end of a reverberant room, you will notice that the
room’s natural reverberation caused by boundary reflections (walls, floor and
ceiling) will dominate the sound. In this situation, you may wish to sit closer
and/or use room treatment to absorb the excess reverb. Scientists working in
acoustics have found that highly reflective rooms with excess reverberation
will contribute about 60% - 70% of the total sound field. This means that
without some type of room treatment, the rooms’ colorations will dominate the
overall sound; the majority of rooms may have so much reverberation that the
speakers cannot focus a three-dimensional image of the instruments floating
in space. Sometimes, the speakers themselves may be incorrectly blamed for
the poor resulting sound field. If this is the case with your particular room, the
two options are a): sit closer to the speakers or b): use adequate room
treatment.

INTERACTIVE ROOM CORRECTION

• Engineering Background

One of the most important aspects of sound reproduction is to match the original
recording’s frequency balance as recorded in the original venue. Since the average
listening room does not have the same acoustical signature as the original concert
hall or sound studio where the music was recorded, it is very likely that the listening
room’s signature may have a negative impact on the resulting sound from the
speakers.

Indeed, the frequency response of the room may cause bass lift (often called “boom”)
and/or excessive treble reflections that may cause a “bright” (harsh) sound. Both of
these room aberrations will cause listening fatigue and/or boredom to set in quickly.

This is the major reason why certain audiophiles change speakers every few months:
they are, looking for that elusive “magic” sound that the room is destroying. In most

rooms, the only practical solution is to enable the speaker to compensate for non-flat
frequency and/or phase response caused by the room conditions.

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