PLACEMENT

The FUSSION 1800SA and 1800S subwoofers are designed to sit on the floor or sturdy stands.

You can stack cabinets vertically. If you do, place the FUSSION 1800SA and 1800S on the bottom of the stack, side by side, and place the full-range active Fussion Series cabinets on top. If you stack two full-range cabinets, turn the upper cabinet upside down so the high-frequency driver is closest to the high-frequency driver in the lower cabinet.

As with any powered components, protect them from moisture. If you are setting them up outdoors, make sure they are under cover if you expect rain.

Room Acoustics

The Fussion Series loudspeakers are designed to sound as neutral as possible; that is, to reproduce the input signal as accurately as possible.

Room acoustics play a crucial role in the overall performance of a sound system. However, the wide high-frequency dispersion of the Fussion Series helps to minimize the problems that typically arise.

Here are some other placement tips:

•Avoid placing loudspeakers in the corners of a room. This increases the low-frequency output and can cause the sound to be muddy and indistinct.

•Avoid placing loudspeakers against a wall. This, too, increases the low frequency output, though not as much as corner placement. However, if you do need to reinforce the low frequencies, this is a good way to do it.

•Avoid placing the active loudspeakers directly on a hollow stage floor. A hollow stage can resonate at certain frequencies, causing peaks and dips in the frequency response of the room.

•Position the loudspeakers so the high- frequency drivers are 2 to 4 feet above ear level for the audience (make allowances for a standing/dancing in the aisles audience). High frequencies are highly directional and tend to be absorbed much easier than lower frequencies. By provid- ing direct line-of-sight from the loudspeakers to the audience, you increase the overall brightness and intelligibility of the sound system.

•Highly reverberant rooms, like many gymnasiums and auditoriums, are a nightmare for sound system intelligibility. Multiple reflections off the hard walls, ceiling, and floor play havoc with the sound. Depending on the situation, you may be able to take some steps to mini- mize the reflections, such as putting carpeting on the floors, closing draperies to cover large glass windows, or hanging tapestries or other materials on the walls to absorb some of the sound.

However, in most cases, these remedies are not possible or practical. So what do you do? Making the sound system louder generally doesn’t work because the reflections become louder, too. The best approach is to provide as much direct sound coverage to the audience as pos- sible. The farther away you are from the speaker, the more prominent will be the reflected sound.

Use more speakers strategically placed so they are closer to the back of the audience. If the distance between the front and back speakers is more than about 100 feet, you should use a delay processor to time-align the sound. (Since sound travels about 1 foot per millisecond, it takes about 1/10 of a second to travel 100 feet.)

7