Axiom LFR1100 User manual

LFR1100 v4 Active Omnidirectional

3
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
CAUTION
1. Read these instructions.
2. Keep these instructions.
3. Heed all warnings.
4. Follow all instructions.
5. Do not use this apparatus near water.
6. Clean only with dry cloth.
7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
8. Donotinstallnearanyheatsourcessuchasradiators,heatregisters,stoves,orotherapparatus(includingampliers) 
that produce heat.
9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one
wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third
prongareprovidedforyoursafety.Iftheprovidedplugdoesnottintoyouroutlet,consultanelectricianfor  
replacement of the obsolete outlet.
10. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the
point where they exit from the apparatus.
11. Onlyuseattachments/accessoriesspeciedbythemanufacturer.
12.
Useonlywiththecart,stand,tripod,bracket,ortablespeciedbythemanufacturer,orsoldwiththe
apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury
from tip-over.
13. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.
14. Referallservicingtoqualiedservicepersonnel.Servicingisrequiredwhentheapparatushasbeendamagedinany
way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus,
the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.
15. Donotexposethisapparatustodrippingorsplashingandensurethatnoobjectslledwithliquids,suchasvases,are
placed on the apparatus.
16. To completely disconnect this apparatus from the AC Mains, disconnect the power supply cord plug from the
AC receptacle.
17. The mains plug of the power supply cord shall remain readily operable.
18. Donotexposebatteriestoexcessiveheatsuchassunshine,reorthelike.
SAFETY PROCEDURES
• EnsurethatyouconnectyourDSPonlytothetypeofpower  
supply indicated on the rear panel, and ensure that the power
cord cannot be walked on or otherwise damaged.
• To prevent electric shock, match wide blade of plug to wide slot, fully
insert.
• Ensure that objects or liquids are not allowed to penetrate the enclosure.
For any additional information or service, contact:
AXIOM, 2885 HWY 60 Phone: [phone]
DWIGHT ON CANADA
P01 1H0
The lightning flash with arrowhead
symbol within an equilateral triangle, is
intended to alert the user to the presence
of uninsulated “dangerous voltage“ within
the product’s enclosure that may be of
sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock
to persons.
The exclamation point within an equilateral
triangle is intended to alert the user to
the presence of important operating and
maintenance(servicing)instructionsinthe
literature accompanying the product.
WARNING : To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do
not expose this apparatus to rain or moisture.

4
Placement
The location of your new Axiom LFR1100 speakers will signicantly affect the sound quality you
experience in your particular room so take care to position them correctly. Since the LFR1100 is an
omnidirectional speaker with active drivers located in both the front and rear of the cabinet you will want
to keep some space all around your LFR1100s. Around twelve inches (300mm) would be considered
the neutral position. If you need to place them closer to or further from the wall or corner than this your
DSP box does have a switch on the rear panel labeled “Boundary Compensation”. Around 8” (200mm)
from the wall would be “Near 1” and 6” (150mm) or closer would be “Near 2”. If you are more than 24”
(600mm) from the wall “Far 1” should be used and more than 48” (1200mm) would be “Far 2”. The
“Boundary Compensation” switch can also be used to adjust for highly reective or highly damped
rooms. A highly reective room may be more suited to the switch being in one of the “Near” positions
and a highly damped room one of the “Far” positions. For rooms with asymmetrical layouts, such as
having an opening or doorway behind one speaker, having a separate DSP for the left and right channel
allows use to use a different Boundary Compensation position for each channel in order to balance out
the sound. Ultimately it is best to try various positions in your room and go with what you feel delivers the
best performance.
For a wide and spacious stereo or home theater soundstage, separate the front left and right speakers
by 6 feet or more, up to 12 feet apart, or by at least half the distance you sit from the speakers, e.g. if
you sit 15 feet away from the speakers, separate them by at least 8 feet if possible. You can experiment
with slightly angling the speakers in toward the listening area or having them face straight out into the
room. Each room is different, and toeing in the speakers toward your seating may improve the stereo
soundstage. LFR1100s have the unique ability of removing the “sweet-spot”; a large 3-D soundstage
can be enjoyed from many seating positions.
Every member of our Axiom team is pleased that you have decided to purchase one of our products. We
have all worked hard to bring the highest level of satisfaction to your audio experience.
Axiom is deeply committed to ongoing audio research. It began in the early 1980s when I was involved
with the world-class psycho-acoustical research that was being conducted at the National Research
Council in Ottawa, Canada. Since that time we have built one of the nest acoustical laboratories in the
world at our facility in Dwight, Canada where we continue this research allowing Axiom to provide the
world’s most realistic-sounding loudspeakers.
At Axiom our goal is to provide you with a truly exciting and emotional experience every time you listen to
your audio system. We want you to feel part of our Axiom family and as such we stand at the ready to
deliver personal, expert advice on any of your audio needs.
Sincerely,
Ian Colquhoun
President and Founder
Axiom Audio

5
Suggestions and Steps for Setting up the LFR1100 Actives
With signicantly more connections than a conventional pair of stereo loudspeakers, we highly recom-
mend taking your time and working though each set of connections section by section, double-checking
as you progress. If possible, we recommend using XLR connections between the DSP and power ampli-
er(s) if your amplier(s) support XLR connections. Likewise, if your pre-amp/processor has XLR outputs
they should be used for connection to the DSP inputs.
In order to avoid crossing DSP or speaker connections and ending up with unsatisfactory performance,
it’s advisable to make a single RCA or XLR connection from the output of the DSP to the corresponding
input on your power amplier (FRONT TW, for example). Then proceed to make the connection for that
section from the amplier speaker output to the corresponding loudspeaker input. Pay close attention
to speaker cable polarity on each end. Ideally you will have enough space around the speakers to place
them in their approximate locations and then make the connections. If you have purchased the optional
LFR1100 Active wiring kit, each cable will be color-coded and each speaker cable will have pre-installed
dual banana plugs, simplifying the installation process signicantly. For other types of speaker wire con-
nections, please refer to page 7.
The LFR1100 Actives come with a separate DSP chassis for each channel. When selecting partnering
amplication, it’s best to dedicate a single 5-channel amplier (or a combination of ampliers to make up
ve channels) to ONE speaker channel. That means one DSP to one amplier. Combining connections
from two DSPs to a single amplier can sometimes result in signal ground loops that cause buzzing or
hum. Ideally you would also not share the LFR ampliers with other speaker channels in your system for
the same reasons (like using a 6-channel amplier for one LFR and your centre channel).
For the electronic components, it’s best to have each chassis on a dedicated shelf with adequate air
space above the ampliers. If you need to stack components, it’s best to have the DSP under the ampli-
er for proper ventilation. Cables should be routed in such a way to keep low-level interconnects togeth-
er and away from AC cables. It’s also a good idea to have all of your components on the same AC circuit
as it will minimize the chance of ground loops.

6
Step 1 (Check your Voltage)
Look at the rear panel of each active DSP. A
voltage rating will be stated near the power
switch. Be sure that the indicated voltage rating
corresponds to the voltage supply in your country.
If there is a difference please do not proceed any
further and contact AXIOM for assistance.
Step 2 (DSP Input)
Your active DSPs will accept single-ended RCA or
balanced XLR input connections. If your amplier(s)
AND your pre-amp/processor have available XLR
connections, we recommend their use for best
performance. If your amplier(s) does not have XLR
inputs you should use RCA input connections. We
do not recommend using XLR to RCA converters.
Step 3 (DSP Output)
Each active DSP has ve output connections
for one speaker channel. If you have ordered
an LFR1100 Active package that included
dedicated ampliers note that each amplier
channel is labelled for the corresponding DSP
and loudspeaker connection. We suggest that
you follow this connection scheme for best
performance. Connection from the DSP outputs to
the amplier(s) can be RCA or XLR, but again we
recommend using XLR connections, even if your
input connections are single-ended RCA.
Connecting the DSPs
Step 3 (DSP Output) (cont.)
In addition to the amplier output connections,
each DSP also has RCA and XLR outputs marked
SUB. This output can be used to send a full-range
signal to accompanying system subwoofers.
A Crossover Frequency control is located on
the back of each DSP to select a bass roll-off
frequency for each LFR active. Setting the control
to zero will allow the LFR active to operate full
range with no ltering. By using this control you
can tailor the overlap between your LFRs and
subwoofer(s) for the smoothest bass performance
and also off-load subsonic frequencies to the
subwoofer(s) which may result in better bass
dynamics and power handling from the LFR
actives.
Step 4 (Power Cord)
Connect the supplied power cords to your DSPs
and plug them into your power supply. Ideally
both DSPs and amplier(s) will share the same
electrical circuit with your pre-amp/processor.
Turn on the main power switch on the rear panel
of each DSP. The front switch will now be active
for bringing your DSPs in and out of standby
mode. The led on each front panel will glow blue
to indicate your DSP is now ready for use.

7
Connecting the
Loudspeakers
Turn your speakers around and look
at the back panel. You’ll see ve pairs
of gold-plated 5-way binding posts,
to which you are going to connect the
speaker cables from your amplier.
Each gold binding post is color-
coded - RED is POSITIVE, BLACK
is NEGATIVE. You will also see a
positive (+) sign beneath each RED
binding post, and a negative (-) sign
beneath each BLACK binding post.
It is important that the negative wires
from your amplier go to the negative
inputs on your speaker and the
positive wires from your amplier go
to the positive inputs on your speaker.
The ve pairs of binding posts are
also labelled with the name of each
driver section, from top to bottom:
REAR TW, REAR MID, FRONT TW,
FRONT MID, FRONT WF. Connect
each of these pairs to the amplier
output corresponding to the DSP
connection with the same name.
Leveling
To level your speaker simply rotate
the outside of each foot until they
reach the desired height.
For detailed instructions on dual
binding post inputs, please visit:
www.axiomaudio.com/dual-input-connections
Step 2
Leave washer down.
Step 1
Bare ends of
speaker wire.
Step 3
Insert bare end of wire
through exposed hole
on binding post. Ensure
positive wire from Amp is
in red connector.
Step 4
Tighten nuts with supplied
plastic wrench.
Step 1
Lift washer.
Step 2
Ensure positive wire from
Amp is in red connector.
Step 1
Tighten nuts with
supplied plastic wrench
Step 3
Insert banana plug.
Step 3
Tighten nuts with supplied
plastic wrench.
Spade Lug (1/4-inch spade)
Bare Wire
Banana Plug (3/4-inch spacing)
Step 2
Insert spade into slots in
binding post.
Ensure positive wire from
Amp is in red connector.

Axiom Audio Head Ofce: 2885 Highway 60
Dwight, ON Canada
P0A 1H0
Toll Free (North America): 1-888-352-9466
Worldwide: 1-705-635-2222
Email: [email protected]
www.axiomaudio.com
8