Shielded vs non-shielded subwoofers

Chameleon2
Chameleon2 Posts: 112
edited October 2008 in Subwoofer Hookup & Bass Management
per pdf installation instructions:

- PSW series are not magnetically shielded; place s/w at least 18" from TV

- DSW series are magnetically shielded; place s/w at least 18" from TV

Since it apparently doesn't protect the TV, what does shielding do?
Post edited by Chameleon2 on
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,775
    edited September 2008
    Shielding does protect CRT TV's from distortion of the picture caused by magnetic fields. They probably just copied the the subwoofer placement part of the manual from the older models manuals.

    Do you have a CRT TV? If not, none of this really matters.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited September 2008
    Like William was saying, if you have an LCD, Plasma, or most projection TVs, magnetic shielding doesn't matter. Place the subwoofer where ever sounds the best in your room.
    Jake
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  • Chameleon2
    Chameleon2 Posts: 112
    edited September 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    Shielding does protect CRT TV's from distortion of the picture caused by magnetic fields.
    That's what I thought it did - until I started reading the instructions. :o
    They probably just copied the the subwoofer placement part of the manual from the older models manuals.
    Hate to think what other errors might be out there. :(
    Do you have a CRT TV? If not, none of this really matters.

    2000 Sony 53" CRT RPTV. :D

    thanks for the replys!
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  • Eric W
    Eric W Posts: 556
    edited September 2008
    The 18" rating still applies even when the subs are "shielded" on CRT TV's- but it really depends on the individual TV. Some units are much more sensative then others and subwoofers have rather large magnets, compared to say a center channel speaker. We call shielded subs "soft" shielded, opposed to "hard shielded" as they will still leak a bit of a stray magnetic field. Although with the current trend of LCD, DLP and Plasmas, this isn't much of an issue anymore.

    I agree the wording could be cleaned up a bit. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
    -Eric
    -Polk Audio
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  • Chameleon2
    Chameleon2 Posts: 112
    edited September 2008
    I liked WilliamM2's answer better!
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  • Chameleon2
    Chameleon2 Posts: 112
    edited October 2008
    I don't mean to nick-pick but these things need to corrected:

    Verbatim:
    PSW12 - Overview:

    Magnetic shielding for safe placement near TVs and video monitors with no risk of video distortion.


    PSW12 - Manual (pdf):

    Your PSW Series subwoofer in not magneticall shielded. Do not place near video monitor......"

    I realize the shielding factor is "only" an issue for us old CRT types and that LCD, DLP and Plasma's are not affected.
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