Jupiter Audio

(Likely to be Asked Questions)

1) What about home theater?

I think that any speaker that reproduces music well and handles modest to large amounts of power can be used for home theater. I don't make a center channel at this time, but, if you're not using a TV that requires (such as a rear or front projection, etc.) the Europa will make an excellent center channel if space permits. Unlike some speaker companies, I have no qualms about selling single speakers. Thus a 5.1 or 7.1 system using Europas all the way around is not only possible, it is highly desirable.

2) Why on earth would I buy a speaker without listening to it first?

Speakers on display at a dealer are a mixed bag. Some dealers are excellent, and position speakers at or near their best; others are something less than excellent, and if you hear a speaker that is not given a chance to perform at or near its best you walk away with a bad impression of it. By selling direct I feel that I have a better chance of making a good first impression, because if you follow the instructions on how to position the speaker properly you will have a much more favorable impression of its exceptional abilities.

3) But you're a new company--should I be leary of that?

Of course you should. All you have to do is turn on the TV news to learn that the internet is run by the Devil, or some such. Internet fraud is sadly all to common, but if you as a potential customer has any questions or issues I am always reachable by phone or e-mail. I've been in the audio business for a long time, and plan on being here a long time to come.

4) What do you do that's so different?

Nothing I do from a design or manufacturing standpoint is radically different. I simply feel that I have made some better choices than some otherwise clever speakers designers. What I frequently tell people is that I use live music as a reference. The first thing that strikes me about a live performance, particularly a minimally amplified one, are its dynamic qualities. Yet, for some reason, the vast majority of speaker companies are so worried about a cabinet that doesn't produce any sound of its own that they use materials that are so inert they suck the life out of the sound, further deviating from the live music reference. Not to worry, the Europas image well too, essentially opening a window into the recording, but they don't do it at the expense of the dynamic qualities of the music. I've seen so many speakers use either stuff that is mushy or gooey, or stuff that is way too inert like lead or concrete, in hopes of cancelling or destroying resonances, but for some reason the designers never realize they're destroying the fun factor of the speaker as well. Speakers, and audio in general, should be able to produce sound that gets your pulse racing and your toe tapping--I like to think mine do that.

5) What electronics do I need?

Whichever electronics you'd like. I'm partial to very good solid state equipment, but tubes are nothing to sneeze at either. I quote the recommended minimum power at 20 watts, but depending on the listener and the room you can get great results with even less than that. I think the thing to realize with electronics is that you don't want anything that deviates from neutrality too much, otherwise you lose one of the Europa's best attributes. Beyond that, if it's a good, synergistic match your ears will probably tell you if you're getting the sound you want.

6) So what's all this talk about Ôset up that is at or near it's best' anyway?

I think one thing that can't be stressed strongly enough is that with a really good pair of speakers a proactive effort has to be made by the listener. What does this mean? This means that if you're serious about good sound, you have to spend a reasonable amount of time and effort fine-tuning the positioning of the speakers in your listening room. To do this you have to tackle it from all dimensions: are both speakers truly vertical? Are they the same distance from the rear wall? Are they toed in enough? Oh, and did I mention that this positioning has to be done from the standpoint from what sounds the very best in your listening room at your preferred listening position? I tend to spend quite a bit of time on this fine-tuning process because I don't want to cheat myself out of the best sound a given listening room has to offer.

7) What about grills? Speaker stands?

I do not make grills at this time, and if I have my druthers, I never will. Grills act as a filter at certain frequencies, and although you can theoretically account for this in the crossover, it invariably sounds like the speaker is being played through a piece of cloth. I realize there is often times a WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor, or Spouse Acceptance Factor to be politically correct) to deal with, but I think the speakers are just dandy looking without grills, and prefer to not have the deleterious sonic affects of a grill anyway. I also realize there is an issue with kids and pets being able to come into contact with the drivers, but, fortunately, the tweeter, which is the more delicate of the two, is not nearly as easy to damage as a conventional tweeter. I shudder to think that a child might put a pencil or pen through the woofer cone for "fun", but if there is a serious problem with something like that please call or e-mail me for suggestions/solutions.

Speaker stands. I do not make speaker stands at this time, but might in the future, if I can decide on a design that brings something to the table. There are a number of good speakers stands available. I strongly recommend a stand that is 16 to 20 inches tall, preferably made of metal, preferably metal that has been partially filled with sand and spiked on both the top and the bottom. Yes, spikes will put pock marks in the bottoms of the speakers, but that is a small price to pay for wringing the best sound possible out of the speakers.

(Likely to be Asked Questions)

1) The woofer is so little and the cabinet is so big--what's up with that?

Physics. The trend in the world of powered subwoofers is to have big numbers out of small cabinets, and it doesn't matter what happens to acheive that end. Thus you have many "audiophile" subwoofers pumping out dirty, overly EQ'd bass. In reality, if you want clean bass, you have to have the cabinet size to allow for sufficient loading of the woofer cone--that's the physics part. I chose the 10" Peerless woofer partly to fly in the face of the current trends, and partly because it's simply an excellent driver. Moreover, the amp section, while putting out "only" 175 watts RMS, is more than enough to drive the woofer right to its limits and beyond. Thus the ideal situation occurs: a powered subwoofer with enough power and enough cabinet size to produce clean, low bass. It just isn't much fun to have to carry into your room.

2) The bottom of the cabinet sits on a sand filled base--what's going on with the rest of the cabinet?

The base of the cabinet is a hollow chamber filled with approx. 15 lbs. of sand. This helps to bleed off excess energy from the rest of the cabinet and dissipate it. But it doesn't bleed off all the energy created by the back pressure from the woofer, because if it did the sound would be something other than musical. Thus the cabinet is somewhat of a dichotomy: the bottom half bleeds of energy, and the top half lets energy from the cabinet become part of the subwoofer's sound. The cabinet, while very solidly constructed from 3/4" MDF, flies in the face of conventional wisdom yet again by using no internal bracing. The concept here was to do a balancing act where the cabinet is somewhat inert, but not so inert as to be sonically bland.

3) What about room placement?

Placing a subwoofer in a room is both easy and hard. It's easy because a subwoofer is a self-contained unit, and doesn't rely on boundaries in the room to do it's thing. However, if you want the best performance out of the Subterfuge in a given room, experimentation with placement will probably be necessary. If possible, finding and trying three separate locations to put the Subterfuge in is a good rule of thumb. Then you can subjectively determine which location sounds best for you. On the other hand, you may just plunk it down in your listening room and run with it. As the old adage goes, if it's not broke don't fix it.

4) What about room size?

That's a really good question. Room size and average listening levels are ultimately tied together. A "headbanger" in a small to medium room may be less satisfied with the listening levels acheived than a chamber music listener in a very large room. And then there's home theater volume levels. The moral of the story is that you have to experiment with volume levels the subwoofer is capable and operate within it's limits. The amp section is very powerful and will overdrive the woofer if pushed too hard. If the woofer is on the verge of distortion you have to back off on the volume or level control. In most situations, though, with both music and movies this sub will produce bass that is both loud enough and clean enough for the vast majority of listeners.

5) What about home theater vs. music listening--what's the deal with that?

Another good question. In general, most of the subwoofers on the market are good for music or movies but not both. In fairness, it's really, really difficult to produce really clean bass at really loud listening levels. Thus, since explosions and the like are not called upon to be reproduced with the same finesse as musical notes, the concept of the "home theater" sub was born. Unfortunately, when I see "good for home theater" I read "sounds gross". My feeling was that with the right design a subwoofer can be musically accurate and play loud enough to be satisfying in home theater situations. The first thing that impressed me about the Subterfuge when I was in the listening phase was that it played musical notes really, really, well. Then I put on the latest James Bond movie at a fairly loud level, and was impressed by how well it handled the somewhat brutal sound effects in the movie. I don't feel that this sub will perform well in rooms of 8000 cubic feet or greater in loud home theater situations, but I do think in all other scenarios that this sub will produce some of the best quality bass that anybody has ever heard.

6) How do I choose between speaker level (high level) and RCA level (low level) inputs?

It depends on the situation. In home theaters, when connected to a home theater processor or receiver, an RCA connection is almost always the best way to go. There are a few exceptions and if you feel you might need advice on this please call or e-mail me. The amp section on the Subterfuge doesn't specify a mono input, but I use the left channel as a rule of thumb. If you feel you aren't getting enough gain with a single input, a Y-adapter can be used to utilize both the left and right inputs. I find that the Subterfuge has plently of gain with a single mono input, but every home theater processor seems to put out different levels for the sub output, so don't be afraid to experiment. For music, it's a little more variable. If you have multiple sets of preamp outputs at your disposal, then you can try the RCA level connections on the sub, but I would strongly recommend comparing it to the sound you get with the speaker level inputs. I find that I prefer the sound of the speaker level inputs in music only situations, but everybody is different. If they both sound the same to you, use whichever is more convenient.

7) I have hardwood floors--do I really have to use the big honkin' spikes on the bottom of the cabinet?

For best sound, spikes are recommended. There are a couple of techniques you can use for protecting your floors: (a) "supporting discs"-metal discs with dimples in them where the spikes go, (b) felt pads, available at most hardware stores, or (c) a piece of carpet cut to size to go underneath the subwoofer.