SV Sound PC-Ultra Speaker User Manual
Contents
1. Calibration It isn t only for tech minded folks it s key to a proper configuration of your home theater sound system Fortunately adjusting channel balance that s all calibration really is is as easy to do as it is important The first order of business is making sure your DD DTS surround sound system is set up properly We recommend you consult your audio video receiver or processor manual to refresh on the proce dures to do this Generally this requires ensuring the receiver s test tones or a special test disk like Video Essentials or Avia plays back at the same volume from each of your system s full range speakers That s left center right left surround and right surround speakers and of course the subwoofer more on sub level in a second Skip now to Page 7 PC Ultra Amp Features if you aren t familiar with your sub s amp and come back to calibration Things to check as you get ready to calibrate your system e Are your speakers set correct to the correct size Your re ceiver processor might allow you to indicate if your speakers are Small or Large Selecting the size accordingly will ensure bass goes to most Page 6 SV Subwoofers appropriate speakers and use the subwoofer correctly too Also make sure your subwoofer is turned ON We don t mean is your subwoofer ampli fier on that ll be important later too but rather is your receiver sending a b2. Look to the next page for a computer simulated response chart showing the reduc tion of upper bass when adding one and then two port blockers to your SVS along with addition woofer excursion needed to keep up with the lower frequencies The bottom line Many customers feel the slight loss in upper bass output to be insig nificant compared to the deeper response the port block gives We let you decide wu ul uolsunoxa Sii6aNsjOON a sii poy a esuodsel i a ol a alan i CE ssazaujjiw uolsanoxg yeyo Butun eRIN Od SAS Page 14 SV Subwoofers Bassy demo scenes to die for So now what You ve got one of the best theater and music bass sub systems on the planet you re calibrated want to see what she ll do But of course Since finding those scenes can be a bit trying we ve compiled a list of our old favorites below After all calibration with test tones is important but it s movies and music this sub is itching to show off Chapter stops for DVDs are shown with movie time in hours min utes seconds What are you waiting for Just hit PLAY e Thelron Giant Great family animation with SERIOUS bass including strong peaks below 25 Hz Jump to 1 Chase thru the forest Scene 8 20 00 into the movie 2 Robot Landing Train Impact Scene 10 25 40 3 2GreGhiadph AN ZO Chitin dr 501 4B WW 5 7 15 3 15 6 1 8 5 24 3 s 1 15 3 1 8 5 24 3 s 4 e Das Boot Arguably one of the most c
3. SV Subwoofers OWNERS GUIDE SVS Powered Cylinder Ultra PC Ultra WE f rT SVS The Bass Authority Contents e Page 1 Welcome e Page 2 About your new SV Subwoofer e Pages 4 7 Setup integration and calibration e Page 7 8 Powered cylinder amp features e Pages 9 11 Parametric equalizer PEQ e Pages 12 13 Variable tuning e Pages 14 15 Bass demos Last update 27 January 2004 Page 2 SV Subwoofers Welcome From the entire SVS team congratulations on your pur chase of the standard in home theater and music bass Your new subwoofer isn t some generic mass produced box built someplace you can t even find on a map It s made in Ohio USA by home audio enthusiasts like you Designed tested and assem bled by hand while using state of the art automation and materials your SVS is without a doubt one of the best investments you ll ever make in bringing music and theater home What s more we ll help you to set up your sub right and in no time you ll be giving demos of your favorite music DVDs or digital music to all your friends and neighbors we pity them if you live in an apartment please be kind This isn t just a subwoofer after all it s a carefully designed audio component carefully tuned in our labs by bass authority and Sub human T
4. s bass might come from main center and or surround speakers as well as your sub getting these bass waves to arrive in a complementary enhancing fashion is the diffi cult job of the phase knob Essentially this control varies the timing of the bass waves coming from the sub The effect of bass cancellation will vary by volume and frequency in your room and no one setting is likely to ever be perfect One technique to optimize phase is to find a nice bassy loop such as the menu of Godzilla measuring its bass response at various SPL peaks As the loop runs vary the phase knob Where you see the most response on a given bass passage is the phase setting providing the least bass cancellation in your room for the frequencies of the demo loop you chose Adjusting phase is mostly a concern in dual sub configurations or systems with Large mains Line In Out Use one of the sub s Line In jacks to connect the subwoofer to the out put jack of your receiver processor Feeding one input is enough If you are using a con ventional amp and or a stereo setup you can use the Line Out jacks to send sound filtered of deep bass information back to your system amp A simple RCA to RCA cable is all you need for either type configuration Auto On Your sub allows an Auto On mode or can be on all the time With the switch in the Auto position your subwoofer will sense that a DVD or CD etc has begun and
5. t matter right or left NOTE Stop now if you aren t TOTALLY familiar with your receiver s manual Ensure all power to your equipment is off when making these connec tions Also be certain your power outlet can N i handle a minimum of 600 watts Use of a convenience outlets on receivers are not recommended for your SVS DD DTS Processor Receiver Fig 1 lt Subwoofer Out SV Subwoofers Page 5 More Setup calibrating and integration If you are running a pair of SVS s Fig 2 you will need to use a stan dard Y cable adapter c The best adaptor to use for this task has one male RCA connection and two female RCA outputs Radio Shack stocks them From the Y cable you can run a standard 75 Ohm signal cable d to each sub thus splitting the Low Frequency Effects LFE and other bass signals from your receiver thus feeding both subwoofers NOTE Now is a good time to select if you want ON always on or AUTO ON which turns your sub on only when a bass signal is present a ae PN i3 Y cable splitter from N receiver c DD DTS Processor Receiver Fig 2 Subwoofer Out
6. or baseline for further adjustments In this example again looking to the graph in Figure 3 the peak frequency is roughly 40Hz At this stage we ll estimate the beginning lowest frequency and the end highest fre quency of the peak In F igure 3 the beginning would be located somewhere near 25Hz and the end or Highest Frequency would be near 50Hz This would be a 25Hz bandwidth with a Center Point located at 37 5Hz the midpoint between 25 and 50hz Notice that the center point of 37 5Hz is not located precisely at the peak fre quency in the response curve which was estimated at 40Hz Why If we used 40Hz as our center frequency and 50Hz as our high point cutoff we would only attenuate the curve down to 30Hz This will leave a small bump in response near 25Hz because the correction would only be located between 30Hz to 50Hz Now that we determined the Center Point we can adjust the FREQ control knob to 37 5Hz or between the fourth and fifth hash marks clockwise from the left The next step will properly adjust the Q setting We again need to use F ormula 1 and calculate the Q setting from F igure 3 using Highest Frequency and Center Point figures just determined above 50Hz 37 5Hz 0 33 37 5Hz 33 Q or just past the third hash mark clockwise from the left of this control Now that we have successfully adjusted the Q and Frequency controls we need to make the final Level adjustment In F igure 3 the adjustme
7. e The subwoofer must be returned in original shipping box e E mail SVS first for a return of merchandise number RMA and display this on the outside of the box e The sub must be insured during shipping SVS may arrange UPS pickup to ease any shipping damage issues e Shipping costs are not refundable 3 year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship SVS will repair or replace any item at its discretion and return to the customer as soon as possible Naturally this warranty does not cover any product subjected to misuse abuse or acci dental damage discovered by SVS Except as provided above SV Subwoofers makes no other war ranties express or implied Some states do not permit limitation or exclusion of implied warranties so exclusions may not apply to the purchaser The bottom line We re proud of these subwoofers and want you to be as happy owning one as we are selling one or more to you E mail us if you have any warranty question SV Subwoofers SvS The Bass Authority
8. switch on immediately the hard power switch mentioned below must be on naturally A few minutes after a movie ends the auto on light turns red switching the sub off When running and sensing a signal the auto on LED will be green Sometimes with very low listening levels your subwoofer might not get enough of a bass signal from your surround sound processor to trip the auto on circuit Should you find this to be the case you may leave this switch On or turn the receiver s subwoofer output up and the sub down Crossover Enable Switch If you allow your DD DTS surround sound receiver or processor to manage bass frequencies recommended this switch should be set to Disabled This eliminates the effects of the Crossover Frequency knob and allows your sub to reproduce just what it s fed from the receiver If you use the sub in a two channel stereo only configuration then Enable the crossover and adjust the knob to best blend the sub into the low frequency output of your speakers High level inputs outputs Not commonly used today but binding posts are there in case you don t have low level inputs outputs on your receiver processor Power This heavy duty two position switch next to the power cord will cut the power to your sub amp Flip this switch to off before you move the sub or change inputs or outputs AIC Connection Plug your sub into a dedicated A C outlet Convenience outlets of t
9. ass signal to your sub amp This can only happen if you say Yes or ON to the subwoofer setting of any typical Dolby Digital DTS capable receiver e ls your receiver connected to the sub amp As discussed above use a well shielded RCA cable sometimes called a patch cord to hook to the subwoofer output of your DD DTS receiver to either input jack of your subwoofer amplifier As mentioned you ll need to split the subwoofer signal with a Y Cable if you bought a pair of subs e ls your Radio Shack sound pressure level SPL meter ready This tool is simply vital to proper home theater audio setup It s akin to a tire pressure gauge for your car The manual which comes with the SPL meter is excellent we recommend you read it entirely Haven t got the meter yet Head down to your neighborhood Radio Shack and snag one We prefer the analog instead of the digital display model but both work well Ask for part number 33 4050 At about 40 it s a bargain Proper configuration without this meter is practically impossible Getting ready to start now Make sure your receiver processor master vol ume is set at 00 dB or some other easy to remember reference level Finally ensure your SVS s volume control is set no more than 1 4 to 1 3rd up at first It s also critical to check the subwoofer level control of your surround receiver before you begin the test tones Set it to no high
10. block takes some capacity from upper reaches of bass installing two port blocks naturally limits upper bass response even more So while you will indeed get more bass down low where DVD and music bass is more rare but quite exciting you ll sacrifice total output capacity above the stock tuning point of the sub where bass is more common You should decide if the effect is pleasing on the sorts of movies and music you enjoy How to do it To insert a port plug simply squeeze the foam on one end and press the plug into a port flare until it is about 1 lower than the edge of the surface of the sub You can remove the plug by inserting your fingertips into the port flare and squeezing and pulling on the foam plug at the same time Be sure to select the sub sonic filter point on the back of your PC Ultra amp which coincides correctly with your new tuning point NOTE We strongly recommend you do NOT run a lower subsonic filter point than your port plug configuration would dictate espe cially if you are running the subwoofer at high sound pressure levels Moderate levels are doubly important if you put the subsonic filter into 2hz mode essentially turning off this key limiter This simple table indicates the settings you should use in setting up your sub blockers and the subsonic filter knob PC Ultra Tuning Chart Subsonic Filter Knob Stock tune no ports blocked 20Hz With one port blocked 16Hz With two ports blocked 12Hz
11. eager to fire up your sub we re the same way but take time to carefully unpack your sub Set the box and other protective shipping coverings aside just in case you need to return the sub for any reason Be sure you don t throw out the soda can shaped foam pieces They re your foam port plugs for custom sub tuning Location They say it s ALL about location right It s the same with setting up your subwoofer So where to put it Go for a corner if you can and avoid putting your sub where it might adjoin large open areas Studies have shown that the deepest and flattest bass response is typically attained when a subwoofer is placed within a few feet of one of your home theater s comers The upright configuration of SV Subwoofers makes this easy Whether you put the sub in front or to the rear of your seating area makes surprisingly little difference Deep home theater bass like that from Dolby Digital DD 5 1 channel DVDs and Laserdiscs is non directional You can t tell where it is coming from even though you can hear and feel it Hook up see fig 1 There are a variety of ways to configure your new sub Usually a simple mono shielded 75 Ohm A V RCA type cable a is used to take the subwoofer output of your DD DTS surround sound receiver b and feed the low level input of the sub s amp There is no need to split the signal going to the PC Ultra You can feed either one of the two amp inputs it doesn
12. er than 5 dB initially that s one quarter way up given a typical receiver s subwoofer channel level limits of 10 dB to 10 dB Your LFE trim if you have one should be set to OdB to start that s full up but this can be dialed down later to tame peaks if needed IM PORTANT Turn off ANY sound field processing modes peak limiters mid night mode etc Set the SPL meter to Slow and C weighting turn the range dial to 70dB Now play your receiver s internal test tones so you have something to measure with your SPL meter Or better yet buy a calibration disk like the Video Essentials or Avia DVDs A test disk s tones ensure your entire signal path from the DVD player to your speakers is set correctly Whatever you use when the tones start alternating from speaker to speaker watch your sound meter now set each full range speaker s volume to about 75 dB or 85dB if using Avia by using the receiver s dedicated channel level controls leaving master volume the same We recommend you turn down the receiver s subwoofer out put level before you significantly lower your sub s volume control This helps keep input distortion to a minimum however you should not be set much lower Page 8 SV Subwoofers Phase Think of bass waves as conflicting or enhancing each other depending on the timing of their arrival at your listening location either together or not Since some of your room
13. erience genuine SVS bass you ll know something special went into it Want deeper performance Use the included port plug and associated subsonic filter to dip a full 5Hz lower in your Io 6 sub s tune in just a matter of seconds Stylish and understated From the simple top grill to the elegant base plate you ll be amazed at how easy it is to lose your sub in a corner SVS s are big but this is one of those times size does matter There are hundreds of brands of black box subs out there Fortunately you didn t just unpack one World class power Our North American built amps are spec d to a level of fit and finish plus a collection of features and power practically unheard of at this price And SVS starts with efficient subwoofer designs which don t require equalization to go low and flat This way our amps can be dedicated to reproducing bass not making up for a lack of enclosure space the bane of clean deep bass As a result we don t require the megawatts some subs do instead running cool and reliable in our vented enclosures These digital hybrid amps run so cool we can even dispense with old fashioned cooling fins Page 4 SV Subwoofers Setup calibrating and integration What s to know Well first of all setting up an SV Subwoofer is pretty darn easy There are a few key things to get right though if you want to get the most out of your sub Unpacking You re probably
14. examples for test discs are Avia s Guide to H ome Theater and Digital Video Essentials When meas uring the room s response use a minimum resolution of 5Hz Figure 3 on the previ ous page shows a theoretical illustration of a room s response Before you plot your results however it s important to note the Radio Shack sound meter is not totally linear in its accuracy down low All similar meters are off by the similar amount depending on the frequency so while its sensitivity below 20Hz is not what it is at 50Hz there is a simple way to compensate for this deficiency It s called a compensation chart Simply look to the below frequencies and add the required decibels dBs at the fre quency in question So if your system seems to be measuring 70dBs with a 20Hz tone then really it s putting out 77 5dBs This is a VERY substantial difference roughly TWICE the acoustical energy requiring several times the amplifier power to achieve You can see then how critical the below chart is if you are using your PEQ to even out or flatten the room response of your bass Add the following to your measurements PARAMETRIC EQ 10Hz add 20dBs 12Hz add 16 5dB 16Hz add 11 5dB 20Hz add 7 5dB 25Hz add 5dB 31 5Hz add 3dB 40Hz add 2 5dB 50Hz add 1 5dB 63Hz add 1 5dB 80Hz add 1 5dB 100Hz add 2dB 125Hz add 5dB SVS PEQ Controls Explanation of the controls Now that we understand how to measure the room s response the next step is
15. nt should be somewhere near 10dB to 11dB or on the 8th hash mark from the left 1 5dB cut per hash mark completing the adjustments for the parametric equalizer Measure room response for accu racy After all the adjustments are made we need to measure the room again to make sure the adjustments are correct If the new response curve is not acceptable then fine tune the adjustments For example if the response curve still shows a small peak we would need to adjust the Level control again to compensate Make sure your overall SPL calibration is set as described earlier in this manual and enjoy your optimized subwoofer Page 12 SV Subwoofers Subsonic Filter and Port Tuning Your new PC Ultra subwoofer not only comes with our Tri Power port flares but custom port plugs and variable subsonic filter which allow your sub to be tuned to even lower frequencies than its stock configuration For most people and most rooms your SVS is already configured for the best blend of extension how deep low your sub goes and output how loud it gets at a variety of bass frequencies However we know that bass is a very personal taste and no two rooms will react exactly the same with any subwoofer So we in clude a custom port plug that when inserted into a port allows you the user to experiment with a substantially lower tune As with all such devices there are compromises when tuning a sub lower Installing a port
16. om Vodhanel You re unlikely to have heard or felt bass like this before unless it was in a top notch commercial movie theater or high end high cost audio boutique Movies and music in your home will never be quite the same again That s a promise Already have a question about your sub You might answer it by reading this manual we think you ll find it more informative than most For even more detailed discussion about set up topics check out our FAQs page at www svsubwoofers com We touch on all the key points you need to know and then some Maybe you just want to share a bit of bass news Or perhaps you have a story about your SV Subwoofer to share with us Maybe something we missed in our website No matter feel free to send a note straight to me rons svsubwoofers com It s not often you can talk to the guys who made your audio compo nents In this case we look forward to it Ron Stimpson Co Founder SVS SV Subwoofers Page 3 About your SV Subwoofer No powered subwoofers look anything like them And virtually none work like them either SV Subwoofers are decidedly different The best part You could have spent much more and still not come close to the same bass performance our PC Ultra line gives you But what makes a subwoofer an SVS Quality components sane prices You might be surprised at how inexpensive the components in some not so inexpensive subwoofers are Make no mistake we search the world for
17. ompelling war pictures of SV Subwoofers Page 15 More Bassy demo scenes e Titanic You love it or you hate it Regardless of which side of the ship you sit on this flick does some serious rumbling for you 1 We can t leave him Scene 22 2 21 50 2 Ship Splitting 2 41 30 3 Last Gasp 2 42 05 e Blade Not one for the kiddies but loaded with deep bass 1 Footstep Scene 4 7 15 2 Door blown Scene 20 50 05 e Aliens Not just another modern sci fi horror classic this one rocks from intro to final scene 1 Ship drop Scene 9 41 20 2 Awakenings Scene 15 1 12 52 e Apocalypse Now Making This Vietnam war movie Francis Ford Copolla nearly went crazy imagine what it ll do to your subwoofer 1 Chopper ride Scene 2 0 19 47 2 ARC LIGHT Scene 4 0 26 02 3 Grenade launch Scene 12 1 27 58 e Contact SETI with a bass twist or two along the way 1 Bombing Scene 28 1 36 30 2 Space truckin Scene 33 1 55 56 e Dark City One of Roger Ebert s favorites think he likes bass too 1 Let the tuning commence Scene 8 34 30 2 City makeover Scene 15 1 27 45 Warranty 45 day money back warranty If you are not completely satisfied with the performance of your subwoofer return it to us for a full refund of the purchase price Just a few minor stipula tions should you choose to do this
18. the best most cost effective parts when we don t make them ourselves and meld them into finely tuned designs that define high performance home theater and music bass Want woofers amps or even binding posts We ve tested and discarded plenty that didn t meet our tough standards If we use it whatever it is you know it made the grade We re proud of the fact nearly all components for your SVS come right from North America Get tubular Typical subs require heavy internal bracing and thick enclosure walls because they re boxes But cylinders can t flex the way boxes do Ever wonder why high pressure tanks are always round At SVS form follows function and fortunately functional designs can lead to simple stylish and elegant designs too Take one look at our subs and you know this is true Stable downward firing woofer Our slender design is one plus but we ve also taken great lengths to design a downward firing driver Coupled with our unique base plates which minimize driver reactive forces you ll find our subs can take a tremendous amount of power and remain rock solid Compliant foam rubber feet on our innovative base plates allow for stable placement on a variety of surfaces No rattling or buzzing allowed Custom low turbulence tri port design When you listen to our trend setting ported subs you ll hear and feel bass like never before with a exceptionally low noise and distortion When you exp
19. to correct the problem areas with the parametric equalizer Before we start turning the controls we need to understand what the ad justments are and how they work the controls of your PC Ultra may be arranged different than pictured Q This control determines how wide the correction will be Each hash mark on the amp s front plate represents 0 1 octave adjustments The HI mark is equal to 0 1 octave narrow and LO mark is equal to 9 octave wide In Figure 3 the highest peak is located at 40Hz and becomes flat again at 50Hz the Highest Fre quency of the peak To determine the Q adjustment the following formula is needed More on Q in a moment Formulal Highest Frequency X Center Point Y Center Point Y Page 11 SV Subwoofers The LEVEL control is the amount of attenuation on the signal located at the center frequency MIN is equal to 0dB and MAX is equal to 12dB cut Each hash mark reduces the Center Point in question by 1 5dB The FREQ control short for frequency is the adjustment for the center point of the cut and should target the highest peak frequency in the room s response Each hash mark for this control moves the center frequency for the desired cut 5Hz within a range of 20 80Hz Adjustments of the parametric equalizer The first step to adjusting a PEQ is determining the Center Point of the cut Determining the Center Point al lows us to establish a target
20. ypical receivers often don t provide the needed current Avoid them Fuse User replaceable contact SVS if you have trouble finding one The fuse can be accessed by a small door immediately below the power cord fitting SV Subwoofers Page 9 Parametric Eq ualizer Important enough and challenging enough this feature gets its own section PEQ allows you to tame a peak in your room s response Peaks are quite common especially in large rooms or ones where your sub is far from your listening position NOTE A Sound Pressure Level meter is a must for proper use of the PEQ so get one before you tackle this control TO DISABLE THIS CONTROL Set the LEVEL control in the Parametric EQ feature group ing until it stops on MIN thus ensuring you do not inadvertently cause poor frequency response until such time as you properly configure the PEQ First you might ask yourself why use a PEQ The reason is quite simple Your room See most times even a superlative subwoofer which measures very evenly we say flat in an open domain no reflective boundaries will not measure the same in your home theater or music room Instead colliding bass waves can build up and cause a peak This is where a parametric equalizer helps out A PEQ is an Page 10 SV Subwoofers This disc allows the user to play 10Hz through 98Hz in one hertz increments allow ing very good resolution over your measurements Other good
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