FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
-Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
-Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
-Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
-Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Important Safety Instructions: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Introduction:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Product Overview:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Placing your Fathom in Your Listening Room: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Unpacking your Fathom: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Front Control Panel Layout:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Rear Control and Connector Panel Layout: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Front Panel Controls in Detail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-17
Connecting your Fathom(s): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18-25
Recommended Setup Procedure: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26-30
Frequently Asked Questions: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Cleaning Your Fathom:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Troubleshooting: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Limited Warranty / Service Information: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Specifications: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of a JL Audio Fathom powered subwoofer system. This product has been critically engineered to deliver exceptional performance in your home theater or audio system for many years to come.
As a company, we are intensely committed to core research into high-performance loudspeaker and amplifier technologies. JL Audio’s long- excursion subwoofer driver designs are widely considered as reference standards for linear behavior and high output. We have also focused our efforts to create powerful amplifier and signal-processing technologies specifically aimed at delivering exceptional low-frequency performance. Your Fathom combines these core disciplines within a compact, beautifully crafted package to deliver an unparalleled listening experience.
JL AUDIO TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDED IN FATHOM SUBWOOFERS
DMA-Optimized Motor System
DMA is JL Audio’s proprietary Dynamic Motor Analysis system aimed at improving dynamic motor behavior. As a result of DMA optimization, loudspeaker motors remain linear in force over an extreme range of excursion and also maintain a highly stable fi xed magnetic field over a wide power range. This leads to vastly reduced distortion and faithfully reproduced transients... or put simply: tight, clean, articulate bass.
OverRoll™ Surround
(U.S. Patent #5,687,247 and #5,949,898) The OverRoll™ surround spans over
the driver’s mounting flange, utilizing available diameter wasted in conventional speakers. This allows the use of the wider roll necessary to control high-excursions without sacrificing precious cone area.
W-Cone™ (U.S. Patent #6,496,590) The W-Cone™ is a unit-body cone assembly that delivers astonishing cone stiffness with minimal mass.
Floating-Cone™ Attach Method (U.S. Patent #6,501,844)
This assembly technique ensures proper surround geometry in the assembled speaker for better excursion control and dynamic voice coil alignment.
Plateau-Reinforced Spider Attachment (U.S. Patent #6,118,884)
This high-integrity suspension attachment relieves stress from the spider material at high-excursions for enhanced reliability.
Elevated Frame Cooling Technology (U.S. Patent #6,219,431 and #6,229,902)
Delivers cool air, through slots directly above the top-plate, to the voice coil of the speaker. This enhances power handling and sound quality by minimizing dynamic parameter shifts and power compression.
Radially Cross-Drilled Pole Piece (U.S. Patent #6,243,479)
This innovative venting system greatly enhances thermal dissipation and power handling by directing air flow onto the voice coil former, working in conjunction with the Elevated Frame technology.
High-Damping Feedback Circuit (U.S. Patent #6,441,685)
This proprietary, discrete control circuit design allows our Class D switching amplifiers to maintain an excellent damping factor for improved transient behavior and fidelity.
