BASSFACE IndyS8/2 User manual

IndyS8/2 8" 2x2Ohm DVC 500WRMS
Premium Deep Bass Subwoofer For
Sealed Or Ported Enclosures
Instruction manual

Thank you for choosing Bassface. From the simplest connector to our top of the range
amplifier - every element of these products has been designed to give you the best possible
performance for your money. Please take the time to read these instructions carefully as
they contain useful and important information. Modern high power audio systems can
generate voltages at the speaker similar to mains operated equipment – for some reason
everyone seems to ignore or forget this. Your wiring needs to be good to be safe. Please
remember this and take your time. Please exercise caution when setting volume levels –
powerful audio equipment can easily produce enough sound to permanently damage
hearing. Remember that audio competitors use ear protection when operating and
competing. Do remember that incorrect installation or abuse is not covered under warranty
– please make sure that your installation and any partnered product is suitable and
compatible. If you are unsure please seek qualified advice before proceeding. Always use
appropriate hand and eye protection when working with tools, and always work within your
capabilities as an installer. We offer a 12 month manufacturer warranty via your distributor
or retailer. Please retain your purchase receipt as proof of purchase. Please note that
Bassface operates a policy of continuous product development and we reserve the right to
change specification without prior notice. You can follow our process on our website by
reviewing the version history information.
Please note that we sometimes include information inside these manuals which we feel is of
potential value to the client on related subjects such as conversion charts, capacitance
values or wiring diagrams. Please feel free to copy any of this information since it is in the
public domain.

Before tackling the installation of the speaker, it is CRITICALLY important to follow at least a
basic break in procedure for the speaker. This operation will loosen up the moving
components of the speaker which will prepare it for heavy use. Failure to run a proper
break in can be responsible for failures such as ripped spiders, surrounds or tinsel leads. We
advise to feed the speaker with a range of tones from a clean power source at gradually
increasing amplitudes. Before you start, gently press on the cone - you will feel that it is
very stiff, and not compliant. You can imagine the forces at play if you try to run that
speaker like that in anger before break in. Start off by using the approximate resonant
frequency of the speaker (the FS), and run the speaker on the bench. Observe the speaker
carefully as you run the process - remember that the speaker will not have any power
handling as it is not in a box or baffle plate. Just run it up so that the spider, surround and
leads gradually get exercised. Don't overdrive the speaker - you DO NOT want to hear ANY
bad noises from it during this process. It's gentle exercise to loosen it up. Once you have

run the speaker for, say, an hour, recheck by switching everything off and pressing the
cone. You will feel that it is much softer. You should then run for another hour to complete
the initial break in. From here many more experienced people will wish to adopt their own
preferred break in procedure which is of course fine. From our perspective and from a
warranty point of view the minimum requirements are to run the driver as described for at
least 2 hours before installation in the final environment. Failure to carry out this process
will result in NO WARRANTY support on the speaker. If you have a failure of the speaker you
will be asked the warranty question to prove that you have read this manual and adhered
to the break in procedure. The answer to the warranty question is "BREAK-IN FOR THE
WIN!" Please repeat this phrase if you are asked to answer the warranty question. Later in
this manual we may reference specific break in procedures for this particular model. They
are recommended to be followed but not as mission critical as this initial period.
Before we move to the design and installation of the subwoofer it is important to
understand about woofer power handling. The Indy S models are rated for continuous
operation at our quoted numbers. It is, however, the system designer that is responsible for
choosing equipment that works in harmony together - speaker, enclosure, amplifier and
source unit as well as setup. There are vast differences in the fil power handling of a
speaker system depending on these factors, and "raw driver" theoretical power limits are
only one factor in that fil number. Heat management is the responsibility of the system
designer, therefore, and we will not accept warranty claims for burned coils under any
circumstances. A burned coil is always because of either bad setup (distortion) or bad heat
management (too much power for too long - choose a higher subsonic filter level, a lower
crossover low pass point or allow the hardware to cool down between periods of extreme
load.) Lets face it, we all want to run with a 10Hz subsonic in a massive enclosure and do
huge numbers easily but that's not possible in every case. You have to set expectations
accordingly. A race engine might last 2 hours at the absolute maximum level of
performance it is capable of. The same engine running a lower state of tune might last
many thousands of miles on the road. That's the same engine in a different situation with
different setup. Our speakers are no different than this and the longevity will vary in a
similar way depending on how close to their thermal and mechanical limits they are run.

The first consideration is enclosure design. This is a complicated and technical subject. You
can use our recommended box design where we quote one, or approach your distributor for
advice. Please do not guess the box size as it is a very important part of your success with
the product. For the construction of the enclosure we recommend the use of MDF or
Weather Proof Ply Board (WBP) in 18mm thickness as a minimum. Do not construct bass
boxes from chip board. Improved performance will result from thicker box material - either
25mm or even limitations of thinner material are common methods for improving box
rigidity. Corner bracing is popular and works well, as do internal braces between walls.
Don't forget to take account of the volume of any inner bracing when you are optimising
the box size. When we are designing boxes we always allow an additional small amount
(say 0.25 cubic feet or a few litres) of extra space so that we can tune the box accurately
afterwards. You can't add space after but you can fill it with bracing and resin or other
objects to reduce it! On the larger subwoofers it is essential to make the baffle (the side of
the box where the woofer is affixed) from a double layer of 18mm MDF as a minimum. This
reduces box interference greatly and is proven to be a worthwhile exercise. DO NOT use
screws to fasten your subwoofer into the box. It works but they strip easily, can come
undone and do not offer professional repeatability in respect of service work to the
enclosure or speaker. We offer our BFTNUT.1 kit which has ten 60mm long high grade M5
bolts with matching T nuts as an excellent way of retaining your woofer to the enclosure.
When running more than one woofer in a mono configuration we recommend that you
share enclosure space and keep the speakers as close together as possible in the baffle.
This tends to do the most effective job of allowing the speakers to act as a single piston,

moving the optimum amount of air. Do note well that should you decide to operate stereo
bass you MUST run the woofers in separate air chambers. Additionally, if you are running a
complex setup of multiple amplifiers driving multiple coils or speakers you MUST meter the
amplifiers at various levels to ensure the voltages at the coils are equal. Imbalance in this
area will at best cost you SPL and at worst will damage your equipment.
You'll be referring to our data and speaking to our distributors to choose a box design, but
some general information is that a larger box will tend to give more low bass but at the
expense of some power handling. If you are lucky enough to have a large and powerful
amplifier then you will be able to run the subwoofer harder in a more controlled fashion. A
less powerful amplifier always carries with it the risk of burning out the speaker due to
distortion and the resulting excessive heat soak.

Every subwoofer installation needs a crossover function - the precise settings are a subject
of discussion for each particular setup but a good starting point is to work with a 25Hz
subsonic filter and a 100Hz low pass filter. Whilst these will not produce optimum results in
every case they will certainly be enough to get you up and running.

Once the speaker is installed and working it is vitally important to follow a break in
procedure. On the Indy S woofers we recommend 20 hours of free air playing with a 20Hz
tone as the best possible start. At the start of the break in you should ensure that the
speaker is moving to - but not beyond - its maximum excursion. As the parts break in the
excursion for a given input will increase and so you need to monitor levels closely so as not
to damage the woofer. Of course you must pay close attention to excursion and
temperatures of both the woofer and your amplifier. Failure to do this will almost certainly
lead to failure of the motor due to the suspension presenting excessive resistance in its pre-
break in state. Failure of speakers due to insufficient running in is not covered by warranty.
Please note that TS parameters can and do change dramatically after break in - until the
speaker is at its equilibrium.