REL Acoustics manual Positioning Storm Within Your Room

POSITIONING STORM WITHIN YOUR ROOM

Ideally, STORM should be positioned mid-way between your main speakers but pushed back as far against the wall as possible. This will help with sound integration between the two different sources. It seems that we humans prefer to listen to plane waves rather than spherical. Waves become planar as they travel away from the source, just like waves expanding from a stone dropped in a pond. The further the waves travel, the more planer they become. Perhaps it is because we tend to hear plane waves at a concert or in a Cathedral or any large building, but whatever the reason a more distant source, particularly of low frequencies, appears more interesting. It follows that the very worst place to position a sub- woofer would be just behind the listening chair. Because of the Haas effect (precedence effect of two similar frequencies) we would find such a position very fatiguing if not downright offensive. Fortunately, in the preferred choice of position even with surround sound, very acceptable results can be obtained with a single very low frequency source. Note that these comments apply here because all REL sub-woofers are integrated into the main system by means of the ABC. Thus only very low bass is being generated by the sub-woofer. Such very low frequencies are truly omni- directional. Unfortunately, with many sub-woofers which cross-over up around 100 Hz, there will be problems because the crossover has a roll-off, it is not a brick wall! Therefore there will be some radiation from such sub- woofers even at 200 to 300 Hz. At these frequencies we can detect their source.

If the preferred position is not possible, try moving the sub-woofer to one side or the other. Possibly for a Classical music lover the right hand side may be preferred because the double basses are generally on that side. (This is being very purist of course).

Note that a subtle effect is far more effective at improving imaging and depth than an up front, overblown bass. Tests appear to show that when the bass is made too prominent, the subtle effect of stage depth improvements are completely masked. This may mean a much lower setting of both the filter controls and the gain than might at first have been thought necessary. It is necessary to emphasise that manufacturer's claims for their speaker’s in-room low frequency responses should be treated with care. It is far better to trust the results you are getting in the room with your own ears rather than someone else's in their room.

When the final position has been settled, it is better to shorten the signal lead to the ideal length, rather than coiling it up. Although most modern amplifiers are usually exceptionally load tolerant, it is foolish to tempt fate by inviting trouble with a coiled up speaker lead (which is what it is in effect). A shorter lead also minimises the risk of RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). This is more likely than instability today with so many CB enthusiasts around. STORM has internal circuitry designed to reduce the possibility of RFI to almost zero. Unfortunately, many power amps do not. The pick up on the speaker leads (any speaker leads, not just STORM's ) can be fed back on the amplifier's internal negative feedback circuit to

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