BASSFACE SPL4.2 User manual

!Warning!
Bass Face products can produce sound pressure levels that can
permanently damage your hearing. Please exercise extreme caution
when setting volume levels. Also be mindful of other listeners, they might
not enjoy listening at the same levels as you. We will not be held in any
way responsible for injuries caused by the misuse of our products.
Please take care when attempting any alterations or installations with the Please take care when attempting any alterations or installations with the
electrical system of the car. ALWAYS disconnect the positive terminal at
the battery.
BassBass Face operates a policy of continuous improvement and reserves the right to update
and alter the content and design of both product and instructions as it sees fit. Although
the information contained in the instruction manuals is given in good faith based on
extensive testing and experience the final responsibility for the installation and operation
of your system must rest with the installer and the operator. If you are installing your
equipment yourself please be realistic about your abilities and seek professional advice
if you are unsure about any aspect of the task that you are undertaking.
IfIf you face a particular problem with your installation or product we will be happy to
answer your questions. Please email [e-mail] - please note that our
response time is 2 to 3 days, and that we are closed over the weekend. For more urgent
help please contact your country distributor. In the UK this is Thompsons Ltd
(www.thompsonsltd.co.uk)
Please note that Bass Face is unable to process warranty support directly. For warranty
support you MUST contact your distributor.
Introduction:Introduction:
Firstly, thank you for your purchase. Every element of this product has been optimised to
give you the best possible performance for your money. We think that Bass Face
represents the highest quality to price ratio available on the market today.
Please take the time to read these instructions carefully. You will need to follow them to
have a successful install and get the most from the product.
DoDo remember that incorrect installation or abuse is NOT covered under warranty – it is
YOUR responsibility to make sure that your installation and partnered product is suitable
and compatible.

Firstly, thank you for your purchase. Every element of this product has been opti-
mized to give you the best possible performance for your money. We think that Bass
Face represents the highest quality to price ratio available on the market today.
Please take the time to read these instructions carefully. You will need to follow them
to have a successful install and get the most from the product. Do remember that in-
correct installation or abuse is NOT covered under warranty – it is YOUR responsi-
bility to make sure that your installation and partnered product is suitable and com-
patible.
Before installation, please take the time to review your chosen fitment location and
to check on mounting clearance both behind and in front of the speaker. If you do not
have the clearance behind to allow operation of the vehicle windows or other func-
tions you may need to obtain spacer rings to move the unit forwards. You need to
ensure that the tweeter, cone and surround will not touch anything during playback.
Remember that the cone will move a good few mm forwards during operation.
Should you need to make your own spacer rings, we suggest MDF or similar, since
thethe additional solidity and lower resonance goes a long way towards eliminating vi-
brations when compared to a standard plastic ring. If are using these in an intensive-
ly humid or wet environment, the spacers will need to be suitably treated against the
damp.
Because the unit and integral grill do protrude some way from he mounting plane,
please ensure your chosen location will not hinder the movement of any thing else!
When you mount the speaker with screws it is really important to make sure that you
do not damage the rubber surround with tools or any retaining washers. If you need
to drill new holes for mounting the speaker into the steel of the panel then make a
small pilot hole first to ensure accuracy, after first marking the points with a felt tip
pen.
Crucially,Crucially, you also need to ensure that there is no gap between the speaker frame-
work and the mounting panel – as leaks like this will ruin the bass response. Addi-
tionally it is vital that the chassis of the speaker is tightly mounted and perfectly flat.
If you do not have a flat surface then you can use a combination of washers and long
screws to install without pulling the chassis of the speaker around. A cast plastic
chassis has a low resonance and keeps the cone under the best possible control,
while being completely water proof -but is quite brittle, and damage can be done by
a mounting plane that is not flat. You must then ensure that any leaks are totally
plugged with silicone sealant.
We strongly advise that you consider sound proofing, at least around the speakers
themselves to ensure that the sound produced does not get lost in the vibrations cre-
ated in the panel. This will allow your speaker to be more rigid, giving you the best
sound quality possible. It will also improve the output of the driver considerably, with
no downsides!

When installing sound proofing it normally helps to warm the material before use.
Try to double up the layers close to the speaker itself. You are trying to increase the
weight of the panel and give the speaker something solid to kick against.
Next we need to connect the terminals to your system. A common mistake is to acci-
dentally reverse the positive and negative connections somewhere in the set up.
This can result in poor bass response and out of focus vocals. This condition is
known as connecting “out of phase” and is a common mistake!
If you are connecting directly to the factory cables from the head unit, then you can
sometimes have a tricky job because the colours and markings of OEM cables are
inconsistent from side to side. The easiest way to get this right is use a simple multi
meter. Firstly, set the multi meter to volts. Then, connect the ground wire of the multi
meter to a ground point of the car and play some music through the head unit, test-
ing each wire as you go. The multi meter will show either a positive figure or a nega-
tive figure as the music plays. The wire that goes into positive voltage is the positive
cable. Connect this to the positive side of the speaker and connect the other wire to
the negative side of the speaker.
If you are connecting via an amplifier your task becomes a lot easier. All you have to
do is remember which wire is positive coming from the amplifier by identifying the
stripe on the wire and keeping that convention consistent throughout your installa-
tion. So it’s either “stripe to positive” or “stripe to negative” right the way through.
When it comes to setting up your system for sound, please remember that the single
most common cause of speaker failure is distortion. And the single most common
cause of distortion is an amplifier set at too high a level.
TheThe most annoying aspect of car audio is that the car radio manufacturers insist on
producing head units that actually distort at about three quarters the way up their
volume scale. If you add a little bass to the settings this critical point can be as low
as half the way up the volume level! The result of this is that the hapless owner of
the system blames the speaker for the distortion. The comment is usually “the
speakers are not powerful enough to take the sound.” In reality, you need to ensure
that you play the system within the scope of the capability of the amp you are using.
IfIf this is a simple head unit then consider adding a subwoofer if you need more bass
– or add an amplifier to the speaker outputs if you need to drive your new speakers
harder. Whatever you do, don’t sit there distorting your sound and then expect us to
dish out replacement speakers under warranty.
With your BassFace speakers you are going to experience a fine tonal balance and
a superb stereo experience. What you are not going to do is to make your amplifier
or head unit more powerful than it already its, or to re-write the rules of physics and
create sub bass out of a speaker that is not designed to do that.