Wisdom Sage S90i, Owner'S Manual

Page: 11 / 36

11
• two widely-spaced line source speakers handle the Left and Right
channels;
• two line source speakers closely flanking the screen both play the
(mono) center channel signal.
This approach creates a stunningly convincing “phantom” center image that ap-
pears to emerge directly from the center of the picture, while allowing you to
use any display device you choose.
Failing an acoustically transparent screen or a phantom center channel ap-
proach, the important thing is to match the tonal and dynamic capabilities of the
Left and Right speakers while minimizing the change in image height as a sound
is panned across the front stage. Wisdom Audio has designed horizontally-ori-
ented planar magnetic hybrid speakers that will match your Sage loudspeakers
superbly; place them as close to the edge of the screen as is practical.
Surround Speakers
Surround channel geometry
In a 5.x channel system, the surround should be placed either directly to the
sides of or slightly behind the listening area (90°–110° from the center channel,
as seen from above). In a 7.x system, the surround speakers should be closer to
90° from the center speaker, and the surround back speakers should be at ap-
proximately 135°–150° from the center speaker. This conforms to industry stan-
dards, and ensures that you hear what was intended from a spatial placement
point of view. (Too often, the surround speakers are all behind the listeners, cre-
ating a big “hole” in the soundfield between the front and the back.)
L R
C
Sub 1
Sub 2
L
s
R
s
R
b
L
b
22°
30°
90°
110°
135°
150°
0°
a 7.2 channel system layout
One possible exception to these guidelines: if you have a THX
®
-certified pro-
cessor and are using the THX Advanced Speaker Array™ circuitry, you should
follow the guidelines in your owner’s manual for the processor. Using this
technology, it can actually be more effective to have the rear speakers in a 7.x
system directly behind you and immediately adjacent to each other.
Subwoofer Placement
Subwoofers offer somewhat greater flexibility in placement, since the frequen-
cies they reproduce are not readily localizable by the human ear. This is due to
the fact that the wavelengths they reproduce are more than ten feet (3 meters)
long, but our ears are located only about 6-7 inches (17 cm) apart. Thus these