MINIBASS - Musical instrument SCANDYNA - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL MINIBASS SCANDYNA

So, you just got yourself a Podspeakers Minibass. We'd like you to just take a few minutes to read this stuff to convince yourself that this sub really works and that it deserves a nice home.

Nice Box

The world of speakers is still dominated by rectangular cabinets so it makes a change to find a round one. But rest assured, this is not just a question of good looks. Speaker enclosures are pressure vessels and in the same way as a gas canister always has a circular cross-section, so does the Minibass.

Sound is moving air and wherever air movement is a critical issue you'll find objects become streamlined to avoid turbulence. All the really low frequencies from the Minibass come through the downward firing port and to keep the airflow smooth the contours are gently flared both on the inside and out.

Having an almost spherical aspect and placing the inner end of the port at the centre both help to keep unwanted overtones way out of the Minibass frequency band so you won't hear any honking or ringing that weren't there in the first place.

Sub Conscious

Why do you need a subwoofer anyway, you'd be forgiven for thinking deep bass was invented in the late twentieth century.

It has all been a question of style and expectations. The fashion for compact speakers arose at a time when much popular music didn't really go down that low. As electronic bass lines and home theatre have become more popular, people have sought that bottom octave but have not returned to big boxes. A separate sub restores the low bass but in a unit that can be positioned in an unobtrusive location.

Low bass isn't just about thumping bass lines but is an essential part of the listening experience. You'll find it enhances the ambience of the concert hall in acoustic recordings and the realism and impact of modern movie sound tracks.

Location

Some things in life are best done with a friend and setting up your minibass is one of those things. Positioning and adjusting a sub really requires that you sit comfortably in your favourite listening position while your assistant makes adjustments. Use a variety of program material and have the satellite speakers running so that you can judge the best balance.

A couple of points:

Positioning the minibass near to solid boundaries like brick walls and stone floors increases the output. Placing it in the corner of a room will therefore give the maximum output. However, if your room is prone to booming this will be accentuated by the same actions.

A balance can only be found by trying it out and in many cases a compromise will have to be found. A good place to start would be somewhere on the line between your front two speakers but preferably not exactly halfway between the two walls.

If the walls are of a lightweight construction and the neighbours 'sensitive', try positioning the minibass close to your listening position but remember not to block the airflow around the heatsink.

Connections

Minibass accepts either line level or speaker level inputs. Line level connections should be made using standard Phono (RCA) interconnects and speaker level connections require twin, bare ended wires.

When using speaker level inputs insert the bare ends into the auxiliary speaker outputs on your power amplifier (fig.1) and select both outputs on the front panel controls. If there is only one set of output sockets or terminal posts insert the wires into the same holes as the speaker wires. Alternatively, if the Minibass is closer to the satellite speakers it may be more convenient to run the wires from the speaker terminals themselves (fig.2). Be sure to observe the polarity of the wires. As the speaker level input takes virtually no current, heavy speaker wire is not necessary for this link.

Home theatre equipment frequently has a dedicated 'sub output'. This can be routed directly to either line level input via a single Phono interconnect (fig.3).

Set the Controls

Power Switch: In addition to the normal 'On' and 'Off' positions, the power switch has a middle 'Auto' position. This should be the normal mode of operation and means that the power is automatically switched on when a signal is present.

Phase: This two-position switch reverses the polarity of the speaker. It should be set by ear to give the fullest sound when making other adjustments to level and siting.

Level & Frequency: 'Frequency' refers to the highest frequency that the Minibass will reproduce and should be set to a point just above the low frequency limit of the satellite speakers. For use with Minipods set this to 70Hz initially. 'Level' controls the amount of bass and should be set while listening to the whole system from your favourite chair to give the best balance. Remember to flick the phase switch around while setting this control.

UK

Connection using speaker level inputs with auxiliary speaker outputs on amplifier

Fig. 1

UK

Fig. 2
Connection using speaker level inputs with no auxiliary outputs

Fig. 3
Connection to home theatre (5.1) system using dedicated sub-output (please note: front two speakers shown only)

Minibass

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Designs and specifications are subject to change without notice.

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