RSL Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer User Manual

RSL Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer

More Than You Probably Want to Know About Room Acoustics

The acoustical characteristics of your listening room have a major effect on sound quality. This is so important, that it bears repeating (so feel free to re-read the first sentence). If your room has good acoustical qualities, even mediocre speakers can sound pretty good. In turn, if your room has poor acoustics, high-end speakers can sound lacking. Acoustical qualities are determined by the dimensions of your room and the amount of sound-absorbing materials present.

Because this manual covers the installation of your new subwoofer, we will concern ourselves with how your room’s acoustics affect bass. Bass distribution is strictly determined by a room’s dimensions. A room with evenly distributed bass will deliver the same volume of bass in different seating positions. You can’t do a heck of a lot about the dimensions of your room. Don’t worry; a few rooms are close to perfect. You can however maximize the evenness of bass distributed by properly positioning your subwoofer (if you have that flexibility) and in more extreme cases using multiple subwoofers.

Note that while virtually all of today’s Audio/Video receivers and processors include microphones and room correction circuitry that can help to smooth bass frequency response, they will not correct for bass distribution problems.

Positioning Your Subwoofer

The goal in placing your subwoofer is to get even bass distribution in various listening positions. Pretty much anything goes as far as where to place it. We’ve included a few drawings to indicate relative positions. We know that, because these drawings have such fine detail, you may think we hid in people’s homes to photograph their rooms when they weren’t looking.

In some situations, you may be restricted to only one location for your subwoofer. If you do, then skip this section and go to the second that describes how to adjust your subwoofer. If you have the flexibility of moving the subwoofer around, then you should experiment unit you find the best location where the subwoofer distributes bass evenly. This means that in various seating positions, you should be able to hear the same volume of bass.

Here are a couple of methods to find the right place for your subwoofer. Before you start, note that you’ll need an RCA cable long enough to extend from your receiver or amplifier to the location you which to try. Otherwise, you can purchase an optional RSL wireless transmitter, which eliminates the need for the RCA cable. Regardless, you will need to be able to reach an AC outlet to power the subwoofer (heavy-duty extension cords are OK).

We recommend playing a CD with a song that has a pretty consistent bass track throughout. Then, experiment with placing the subwoofer in different positions in your room. Placement near a wall will increase your subwoofer’s bass output. Placement near, or in a corner will increase it even further. When you decide the best location for your subwoofer, it should be based not only on the most even bass distribution but the best quality of bass as well. We’ll
delve into that a little more on the next page. On the previous page are two examples of placing your subwoofer. Here are two more examples:

If your family and pets permit you to place your subwoofer anywhere you wish, your goal should not only be the best bass distribution, but the quality of bass as well. By quality we mean the most natural-sounding bass. Each bass instrument should be distinctive and not boring or sloppy. Don’t place your subwoofer right against the wall. It needs a few inches of airflow to provide cooling for the amplifier. And while we’re at it, please don’t place blankets, tablecloths, football jerseys, or any materials that could cover the back of the subwoofer and inhibit airflow to the amplifier.

Here’s one method you can use to place your subwoofer. Connect your subwoofer and temporarily place it in your listening position (on the sofa, etc). Then, while playing some music with a constant bass track, crawl around the perimeter of your room and find the spot where the bass seems to have the best quality (don’t let anybody see you, otherwise you’ll have some explaining to do). Then, place the subwoofer in the spot where you heard the best bass.

You can repeat this for different listening positions and see if you can find the best subwoofer position that accommodates the most listening positions. Dual Subwoofers Many audio experts recommend dual subwoofers. They feel that with dual subs it’s much easier to get consistent bass distribution by placing the 2 subs in different positions. Dual subs deliver more powerful bass throughout the room With that being said, our subwoofers are quite powerful and the majority of our customers are quite happy with the performance of a single RSL subwoofer.

Dual subs can also help you achieve foundation-cracking levels of bass (if you’re so inclined). Dual subwoofers placed in different locations can achieve a 3db or more gain in bass output. While that may not seem like a lot, for an amplifier to deliver 3db more volume, its power has to double! If you place dual subwoofers right next to each other, you’ll get approximately a 6db gain in bass volume. That’s huge!

The bottom line is that there are so many variations in rooms’ shapes and sizes that there is no one rule for subwoofer placement. We suggest you try as many different positions as possible.

Home Theater Installation

We have designed the Speedwoofer 10S to accommodate a variety of installations including home theater as well as stereo systems. The most common installation with be with an A/V receiver or processor. In this case, all you’ll need is a single RCA cable and a wall outlet. The RCA cable does not have to be expensive as the subwoofer only reproduces a narrow band of frequencies.

However, choose a cable that is constructed to last. Connect one end of the RCA cable to your receiver or processor’s subwoofer (or LFE) output. Connect the other end to the Speedwoofer’s LFE input. Then, set the Speedwoofer’s Internal Crossover Bypass to Bypass. You will not be using the Speedwoofer’s internal crossover, be- cause that function is performed in your A/V receiver or processor.

If Your Stereo Receiver Or Amplifier Has Pre‐amplifier Outputs

This method requires 2 pairs of RCA cables. One pair of wires is connected from your amplifier (or receiver’s pre-amplifier) outputs to the Speedwoofer’s left and right line inputs. Then another pair is connected from the sub’s left and right line outputs to your power amplifier (or back into your receiver’s power amplifier inputs).

The audio signal travels from your pre-amplifier through the subwoofer giving the subwoofer the audio it needs and then back out to your power amplifier and speakers. In this method, the Speedwoofer’s internal crossover is used to control the subwoofer’s bass. Set the Internal Crossover Bypass to Internal Crossover and adjust the crossover frequency. You can also use the method below:

In this method, you also will need 2 pairs of RCA cables, however the lengths may be shorter. You will also need 2 Y Adapters that split the audio into two RCA connections. Connect a Y adapter to the left pre-amplifier output and the other Y adapter to the right pre-amplifier output. Then connect one pair of cables from the left and right pre-amplifier outputs to the Speed-Woofer’s left and right line inputs.

The other pair of cables connect from the left and right pre-amplifier outputs to the power amplifier’s left and right inputs. Please see the diagram above. As in the first method, the Speedwoofer’s internal crossover is used to control the bass reproduction of the subwoofer. Set the Internal Crossover Bypass to Internal Crossover and adjust the crossover frequency.

Receivers And Amplifiers With No Pre‐amplifier Outputs

If your equipment can’t accommodate the first two methods, you can scroll to connect your Speedwoofer. This third method will work just fine and is very simple. You will need an additional pair of two-conductor speaker wires. In addition to your main speaker connections, you’ll run a second set of wires to your subwoofer (see diagram above). As in the above methods, the speedwoofer’s internal crossover is used to control the bass reproduction of the subwoofer. Be sure to set the Internal Crossover Bypass to Internal Crossover and adjust the crossover frequency.

Connecting Your Subwoofer Wirelessly

If you have difficulty running an RCA cable to the subwoofer, you can connect the Speedwoofer 10S wirelessly. The Speedwoofer 10S comes with a built-in wireless receiver. You’ll need the optional RSL AT1 Wireless Audio Transmitter. Connect the transmitter to your A/V receiver or processor’s subwoofer or LFE output. When you first set up the RSL Speedwoofer 10S for wireless use, you will need to pair it with the wireless transmitter.

Wireless Transmitter Pairing Instructions

1. Connect the transmitter to the USB power source.
2. Plug in the Speedwoofer and turn on the power.
3. The light on the transmitter will be flashing slowly. Push and hold the transmitter’s pairing button unit flashes more rapidly. Then release the bu􀆩on.
4. Immediately press and hold the pairing button on the Speedwoofer until the light on the transmitter becomes solid.
5. Release the button. Your Speedwoofer is now paired. If pairing fails, temporarily place the transmitter closer to the Speedwoofer and away from other Wi-Fi devices. Repeat the above procedure. Another use for a wireless connection is that it makes it easier to try the subwoofer in different locations, before running a wired connection. The wireless transmitter normally has a 30 ft. range. Its signal can be affected by interference from wireless networks, large objects, and other electronic devices.

Connecting Dual Subwoofers

There are 3 ways to connect dual subwoofers. Most of today’s A/V receivers and processors provide 2 subwoofer or LFE connections. These connections have the same audio signal. So, you can run separate RCA cables to each of your subwoofers using these 2 connections. The second way is if your A/V receiver only has one subwoofer or LFE connection. In this case, you can connect a Y adapter to the receiver’s output and connect two RCA cables (one for each subwoofer) to the adapter. The third way can be used if the subwoofers are nearby of each other.

After connecting the first subwoofer, simply connect an RCA cable from the first subwoofer’s line outputs to the second subwoofer’s line inputs (see diagram above). This method will work even if the first subwoofer is connected or paired wirelessly. In a home theater installation, you will bypass both subwoofers’ internal crossovers. However, in stereo installations, you will need to use and adjust both subwoofers’ internal crossovers.

The goal of a properly set up subwoofer is to produce accurate, controlled bass without sacrificing the teeth-chattering impact some of you enjoy. The most common mistake people make is sending the subwoofer to play too loudly. The subwoofer should always blend seamlessly with the satellite speakers rather than being intrusive.

Your RSL Speedwoofer 10S is powered by a conservatively-rated 350-wa ft RMS amplifier. Combined with its Compression Guide tuning, your Speedwoofer should be more than capable of providing an abundance of clean, powerful bass. In addition, the RSL Speedwoofer 10S contains circuitry that helps prevent distortion when played at an excessively loud volume. However, all subwoofers can be played loudly enough to be overdriven regardless of size, power, or price. In the unlikely event that you desire more bass, try placing the RSL Speedwoofer in a
corner.

The RSL Speedwoofer 10S has high-quality, built-in protection circuitry, although no protection circuitry is foolproof. It’s best to prevent the subwoofer from being over-driven in the first place. Here are a couple of indications of trouble to watch out for. If you notice the following taking place, reduce your subwoofer’s volume unit these symptoms disappear.

Noise that doesn’t sound natural. In movie scenes or music with heavy bass, listen for any noise that doesn’t sound like it should be there. In some cases, this can sound like a rating or a very muddy rumble the Clipping. A good indication of clipping is if your subwoofer sounds excessively sloppy; as if it is flopping back and forth. This will produce some pretty ugly sounds. The RSL Speedwoofer 10S uses high-quality protection designed to keep clipping to a minimum.

Therefore, this may be a difficult indicator to listen to. If you’re not sure if your subwoofer is being overdriven, remove the grill and look at the woofer itself. See if it appears as if it’s moving back and forth excessively. The woofer should always move with great, controlled precision. If you suspect the woofer’s movement is excessive, try reducing your subwoofer’s volume unit appears to move appropriately.

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RSL Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer-FAQs