Installation - Focal Sub Utopia Be User Manual

5
Positioning
Contrary to conventional hi-fidelity loudspeakers which have to be placed at a reasonable distance
from the walls and the listening area corners, we advise you to place your Sub Utopia Be subwoofer
in a corner of the listening area (fig. 1, 2). If the subwoofer is placed against only one wall or too
far from the walls, the very large wavelength of the bass delivered by the subwoofer will excite the
resonance of the listening room in an unpredictable way. Frequency response linearity will then be
damaged and therefore the sound rendition will be affected (lack of depth, "boomy sound", poor
bass, difficult or impossible coupling with the other used loudspeakers).
If you put the Sub Utopia Be in a corner, the resonant frequencies of the room will be more linear
and predictable. In such a configuration, you will not only benefit from an optimum perception of
the bass frequency range but the bass level will also be increased by 6dB (fig. 3).
If a particular disposition of the room does not allow to place the subwoofer in a corner, we
recommend you to try different configurations until you find the best possible disposition.
Generally, the subwoofer should be placed along the front wall of the listening room.
Because the bass frequency waves are omni-directional, the sound dispersion will not be affected
if a piece of furniture or an object is placed between the subwoofer and the listening area. It is
then possible to hide the Sub Utopia Be behind a piece of furniture as long as the bass frequency
dispersion is not affected.
Quick set-up
1 - Connect the subwoofer to the power grid (electrical outlet).
2 - Set the power selector to "on".
3 - Connect the subwoofer to the amplifier.
4 - Set the "crossover" potentiometer to intermediate position (around 100Hz).
5 - Set the "volume" potentiometer to intermediate position.
Please note that the crossover function is not available when the Sub Utopia Be is connected
through the "Line Inputs LFE".
Fine tune
1 - Adjust the bass level according to the other used loudspeakers. In order to find the appropriate
settings, we advise you to use as many different music styles as possible. Bass must be present
but not too heavy.
2 - Choose the phase selector mode (0° or 180°). The proper setting must make you feel that the
bass level is higher and well balanced.
3 - Adjust the crossing frequency around 100Hz. The more you lower this frequency, the more the
sound appears to be deep and sonorous. The higher the frequency is, the more you will feel a
dynamic bass impact. The right settings are obtained when all these previously stated conditions
are fulfilled.
4 - Re-adjust, if necessary, the volume control of the Sub Utopia Be.
5 - The settings must be adjusted each time that the subwoofer is moved from its initial place.

Installation

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