Rogersound Labs RSL Speedwoofer 10S MKII Subwoofer Manual

Rogersound Labs RSL Speedwoofer 10S MKII Subwoofer

Your New Speedwoofer 10SMKII

The original RSL Speedwoofer 10S was introduced in 2016. Since that time, it has racked up numerous awards, including several product of the year titles. It set a standard for what’s possible from a compact, affordable 10-inch subwoofer. Its patented Compression Guide tuning allowed it to outperform sealed subwoofer designs when it came to accuracy and it also matched the bass impact usually associated with larger 12-inch ported subwoofers.

Your new RSL Speedwoofer 10SMKII elevates performance even further. Its all-new amplifier design has increased power output at 400W RMS. Built-in DSP (digital signal processing) allows better usage of the available power to further increase frequency response and output.

The Speedwoofer 10SMKII digs deeper in the bass with usable response that extends down to 20 Hz. With DSP, you can now choose between 2 sound modes. One mode duplicates the sound characteristics of the original Speedwoofer 10S. The other mode extends the bass even further to increase the impact of movies.

The Speedwoofer’s rugged, cast-frame woofer has been improved to handle the increased power of the amplifier. In addition, the Speedwoofer’s exclusive Compression Guide tuning has been revised. This along with a new rear vent further reduces any potential port noise or chuff.

When it comes to bass, quality is as important as quantity. It’s easy to produce an inexpensive subwoofer that produces gobs of low-end. However, getting it to do it cleanly is a lot more difficult. Many affordable subwoofers sound sloppy and localized, which means they draw attention to themselves.

The bass they produce seems separate from the rest of the sound. You can sense that bass is coming from the location of the subwoofer. With a properly designed subwoofer, the bass should sound as if it is coming from its actual location in the soundtrack. With the new Speedwoofer 10SMKII, precision and accuracy are maintained.

Before You Dig In!

We know the temptation is great to tear into the carton, unpack your new su,b, and fire it up. If that urge seems overwhelming, then go right ahead. It’s unlikely that you’ll hurt anything. However, subwoofers do need a bit of fine-tuning to experience their full capabilities. The goal of this thrilling, action-packed owner’s manual is to help you enjoy the full performance of your new Speedwoofer.

Many of you (and us as well) don’t like having to suffer through owner manuals. Most manuals try to answer all questions, except the one you may have. We’ve tried to make this manual as easy to read as possible and even helpful at times. However, if you already have enough knowledge about subwoofers and you know not to do the dumb things warned about in the safety pages, be our guest and start enjoying your Speedwoofer 10SMKII.

Since we don’t know about your particular audio setup, whether it’s home theater or stereo, we’ve tried to cover all the bases. So feel free to skip around and only read what’s of interest.

Compression Guide Technology – A Little History

Part of the Speedwoofer 10SMKII’s accurate bass response is due to our exclusive Compression Guide Technology. Several years ago, we noticed that almost all speakers (including early RSLs) suffered from a problem. It was an awareness that the sound of bass over speakers was quite different from bass at a live performance. When you’d hear bass live, you would hear various details in the bass as well as feel the impact.

For example, with a bass guitar, you can hear the pick of the string along with the bass note. With a kick drum, you could hear the rap of the mallet against the skin of the drum and your body could feel the impact. However, with conventional speakers, all you’d hear was an ill-defined boom. Back then, the only speakers that seemed to get it right were the big, bulky, and expensive transmission-line systems.

We needed to know why there was a disparity between live bass and that reproduced by speakers. After some research, it became apparent that the problem was due to the way the woofer was tuned in the enclosure. As was the case then just as it is now, two tuning methods were used by most speaker companies.

In one case the cabinet was completely sealed. This method is called acoustic suspension or air suspension. In the other method, the cabinet had a calculated opening called a vent or port. The length, width, and height of the port were designed to reinforce bass at the lowest frequencies.

The problem with both of these methods is that they rely on system resonance to properly load the woofer. System resonance acts like a spring in that once a note stops, the woofer cone wants to continue vibrating. This results in what we call woofer overhang and results in muddy bass. After realizing the problem, we spent years attempting to lessen the effects of system resonance. Eventually, we found the solution and the results were spectacular.

We call it Compression Guide and it was a method of dividing the insides of the speaker enclosure into areas of compression and expansion. As the sound wave passed through these areas, the effects of resonance were greatly reduced. We discovered that Compression Guide also paid huge dividends in the midrange as well.

Bookshelf speakers tuned by Compression Guide exhibited much cleaner and transparent sound with both vocals and music. In comparison, other bookshelf speakers sounded “boxy”. It also helped the speakers to image more accurately.

Speedwoofer 10 SMKII Features

• Improved Compression Guide Technology Tuning with rear venting.
• Precision 10” woofer with a heavy, die-cast aluminum frame, massive magnet structure, and motor assembly. This allows the cone, along with its surround to achieve high excursions, delivering deep, powerful bass with complete control and linearity.
• Powerful 400-watt RMS Digital Amplifier. This efficient amplifier minimizes power consumption (around 1 watt in standby mode, only slightly higher in operation mode with no signal). Because amplifier standards are not strictly enforced, many manufacturers would rate this amplifier at a much higher wattage. If this amplifier were rated in peak power (a specification we don’t agree with) it could be rated more than 1,000 watts.
• New integrated DSP maximizes output at all frequencies and extends the frequency response for deeper bass. Two sound modes are available.
• Dense MDF wooden cabinet with internal bracing. Unlike most subwoofers, the Speed-woofer 10S’s enclosure is filled with damping material to further reduce unwanted resonances.
• Wireless capability. The Speedwoofer 10S has a wireless receiver built in. If you are unable to run an audio cable to the subwoofer, you can purchase our optional wireless transmitter and get full performance wirelessly.

First Steps

• Be careful when using sharp objects to open boxes. The insertion of a long and/or sharp object such as a blade can damage the components inside. Use of chainsaws, machetes, power tools, explosives, light sabers, and most kitchenware is not recommended. If in doubt, ask mommy to help you.
• Please take a moment to inspect your subwoofer for damage. If you find any damage that you did not specifically request, please contact us or the shipping company immediately and take photos of the box and subwoofer. All components have been inspected when leaving our factory; however, damage can occur during shipping.
• If possible, we recommend saving all packaging, including boxes, as a convenient means of re-packaging for moving or for sending your subwoofer in for service (in the unlikely event it needs it).
• You will need either an RCA cable or the optional wireless transmitter to connect the sub-woofer. If you purchase an RCA cable, you do not need to buy an expensive one. Subwoofers reproduce a narrow band of frequencies, typically 20-200 Hz. Do not allow some slick, fast-talking, know-it-all salesperson to convince you to spend a lot on this cable. Just purchase a cable that is well-constructed and has good shielding to reduce interference.

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 distribution by properly positioning your subwoofer (if you have that flexibility) and or using multiple subwoofers. 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 position of the Speedwoofer in your room has a tremendous effect on the results it provides. There is a wealth of information online in forums and review sites regarding subwoofer placement. If you have the flexibility to place your Speedwoofer in different positions, we suggest doing some experimentation to determine the best spot. The goal is to get an even volume of bass in your various listening positions. Here is some basic and by no means complete information about subwoofer positioning.

• Bass distribution in a particular room is determined by the dimensions of the room. Every room has locations of peaks (where the bass is increased) and nulls (where the bass is substantially decreased). If your seating position is at a peak, the amount of bass can be reduced through equalization. However, if your seating position is in a null, bass cannot be significantly increased (attempting to do so wastes power).
• Placing a subwoofer near a wall will increase the volume of bass. Always allow a few inches between the wall and your subwoofer. This is necessary for airflow to the amplifier and airflow emanating from the rear port or vent.
• Placing a subwoofer in a corner will further increase its output. Here is an example of one method commonly used to determine subwoofer position. 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 and quantity (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.

Multiple Subwoofers

The majority of our customers are quite happy with the performance of a single Speedwoofer. However, many audio experts recommend dual subwoofers. They feel that with two or more subs it’s much easier to get consistent bass distribution by placing the two subs in different positions. Multiple subs also deliver more powerful bass throughout the room.

If you want foundation-cracking levels of bass, dual subwoofers can achieve up to a 6db gain in bass output. While that may not seem like a lot, for an amplifier to deliver 3db more volume, its power must double! If you place dual subwoofers near each other, you’ll get approximately a 6db gain in bass volume. That’s huge! Some of the many ways of positioning multiple subwoofers include:

• Subwoofers next to or on top of each other.
• Subwoofers in each corner.
• Combination of subwoofers in corners and midpoints along the wall.

As in the above section on positioning, there is a lot of information online and we highly encourage experimentation to find the best positions for your Speedwoofers.

Home Theater Installation

We have designed the Speedwoofer 10S to accommodate both 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 well-shielded and 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 to bypass by rotating the crossover frequency knob fully counter-clockwise until it clicks and points to the LFE mode. You will not be using the Speedwoofer’s internal crossover, because that function is performed by your A/V receiver or processor. It will also set the DSP to the LFE mode (more about this in the section about DSP settings).

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 preamplifier (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. To use, set the crossover frequency control to the desired crossover frequency. This also selects the DSP’s music mode (more about this in the section about DSP settings).

In this method, you also will need two pairs of RCA cables, however the lengths on one may be shorter. You will also need two 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 Speedwoofer’s left and right line inputs.

The other pair of cables connect from the left and right pre-amplifier’s 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 crossover frequency control to the desired crossover frequency. This also selects the DSP’s music mode (more about this in the section about DSP settings).

Connecting Multiple Subwoofers

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Rogersound Labs RSL Speedwoofer 10S MKII Subwoofer -FAQs