FAQ — Frequently Asked QuestionsYou may also use the site-wide search-box at the top of every page, that searches Forum contents that are constantly updated.
What size speaker do I need?  While there is no such thing as "too much" power in a sound system, the system should be powerful enough to fill your room. To help you pick the right product, each HSU speaker and subwoofer has a "Loudness Level" index —a rule-of-thumb guide to point you towards the best system for your space.
If your room is too large, use two or more subwoofers. How do your products compare with others? What distinguishes HSU from the rest is that we are an engineering driven company. This is reflected in the quality of our products. It is common for other companies to focus on cosmetics and marketing gimmicks. They follow the marketing adage to "sell the sizzle, not the steak". HSU is different. We focus on pure audio engineering and on building a better mousetrap. We obsessively concentrate on product performance and reliability. Each HSU product is carefully engineered by Dr. Hsu to provide "high-end" sound in its specified room type. High-end means the best of the best. We hope you will agree. Attention to customers is another differentiator. Dr. Hsu, founder of HSU, consults privately with customers on a daily basis. This demonstrates his commitment to product quality and home integration. There are few companies who can make that claim. What is the best place to put a subwoofer? Due to certain principles of acoustics, the corner of the room is almost always the ideal location to place a subwoofer. The next best location to place a subwoofer is along a wall. Home theater aficionados may like to place the subwoofer to the side or behind the seating, near the listener, as this will provide better upper-bass impact. For the best experience, avoid placing the subwoofer or your seating in the middle of the room, because there is a bass void there.
What is a subwoofer? A subwoofer is a specialized speaker responsible for the most difficult duty in home theater. It produces the very deep, room shaking notes that add a magical effect and balance the sound. This requires providing lots of power to fill a room with sound, and large mechanical motions of the subwoofer. When you hear about Dolby 5.1, the ".1" refers to the subwoofer's special role in a surround sound system consisting of five speakers and (at least) one subwoofer. What are the differences between the STF and the VTF subwoofers? Variable tuning allows you to choose how deep your subwoofer plays, on-demand. Choose between a music mode (lower bass extension) or a home theater mode (higher headroom and more impact) in just a few seconds. Subwoofer designs involve tradeoffs – one cannot optimally design a subwoofer to play low deep notes, and at the same time play loud. Usually the designer chooses a tradeoff for you. With the VTF series, we build in flexibility so that the listener has uncompromising control.
Where should I place the Ventriloquist VT-641 (center channel) speaker? Can I put it above the TV or below the plane of my front speakers? Above the TV is the recommended location for CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) televisions. For flat-screen TVs, the center channel speaker can be placed below. There are third-party stands which can be attached above the flat-screen TV so that the center channel could be placed on top. Below the plane of the Ventriloquist satellites can work as well, given that the center-channel speaker is off the floor as much as possible. How close can I put the subwoofer to my television? Currently, most HSU Research subwoofers are shielded, although extreme proximity of a subwoofer to a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) television may produce streaks of colors. More and more TVs are not sensitive to magnetic fields, so this gets to be less and less of an issue. If you have a plasma, LCD, or DLP based TV, you do not have to worry about magnetic shielding. Can I connect your subwoofers to my computer or computer speakers? It is relatively easy to connect a HSU subwoofer to certain computer sound cards. These sound cards have a dedicated subwoofer output. Without a subwoofer output on the card, it is still possible to hook up a VTF or STF-3 subwoofer, since these subwoofers have stereo inputs. Use a Radio Shack splitter/adapter (one 1/8-inch stereo male to two 1/8-inch stereo female). Take the stereo 1/8-inch output from the computer sound card. Then feed one set to the computer speakers and another to the subwoofer using an adapter (1/8-inch stereo male to two RCA male). Please be aware that connecting a HSU Research subwoofer to computer speakers (as opposed to computer sound cards) may be impossible. How do you hook up the subwoofer to a pre-amp? To hook up a HSU Research subwoofer (any VTF or STF-3) to a pre-amp, a stereo pair of RCA cables are to be connected from the pre-amp line-level outputs to the subwoofer line-level inputs. This stereo pair output can be sourced from secondary line-level output jacks or by splitting the line-level output jacks by an (1 RCA male to 2 RCA female) adapter. This adapter can be found at Radio Shack. What recommendations do you have for receivers? Which ones work best with HSU subs? We found that Onkyo and Harmon/Kardon receivers work well with HSU Research subwoofers. This is due to the fact that these products have crossovers that satisfy Dr. Hsu’s strict requirements. There may be other receivers with similar features, such as Denon. How do you change voltage settings? Please go to the hsuresearch.com web site and access the forum. From there, please go to ‘Tech Support Center ’ and then to ‘Modification & Repair.’ Detailed instructions and photos are provided describing the procedure. Most of the newer models now have external voltage selectors. Which should I use with my subwoofer, a mono or stereo cable? The vast majority of people should use a mono cable (connect it to the SUBWOOFER or LFE output on your receiver). Use stereo cables only with 2-channel stereo preamps. What is the story behind HSU Research? HSU Research, Inc. began as a specialized deep bass research company in 1991. Dr. Hsu started the business shortly after receiving a PhD in engineering from MIT. He moved to Orange County, California with the dream of making the world’s best subwoofers. Dr. Hsu started with a subwoofer made of recycled cardboard tube called a sono-tube. It was seven feet tall. The experiment was powerful, and played pristine bass notes deeper than humans can hear, down to 16 Hz. Dr. Hsu called the design a "true subwoofer." Although air shook all around the room, no harm was done. The volume could be turned down, and the deep notes were strangely captivating. Bass notes were known to exist throughout the ages in church organs and large drums, and they possessed a strong emotional impact on whoever heard them, regardless of personal background, culture, and age. Dr. Hsu's neighbors began visiting to hear the sound. It was a good review in Stereophile magazine that sparked the first wave of customers. High-end audio enthusiasts read the reviews and were thrilled to save on full spectrum sound. Soon after, the early products sparked a tube subwoofer hobby amongst budget-conscious enthusiasts on the Internet. Unknown to many, the secret to Dr. Hsu's exotic subwoofers had little to do with their external form, and more to do with what was inside: carefully engineered and matched components. Most engineers did not understand how to properly integrate all the parts in a subwoofer, such as the cabinet, driver, and amplifier. The idea came along in the late 90s of taking Dr. Hsu’s unique synthesis of components, and putting them into a smaller box—with an additional twist. The VTF series was born. Dr. Hsu's variable tuning technology (VTF) allowed for a subwoofer to play either low or loud by building into the cabinet two large, closable openings called ports. The "maximum output" mode became popular among home theater enthusiasts, who could fill large rooms with very loud bass by opening both ports. The "‘maximum extension" mode was preferred by music aficionados who appreciated pure deep bass by opening one port. Once again, imitation was inevitable. In 2003, Dr. Hsu aimed for the mass market with the STF subwoofer series and Ventriloquist surround system. Dr. Hsu felt that high performance audio was gaining recognition and popular acceptance. Instead of throwing money into flashy parts, as is typical in the mass market, money went into high performance components. The new products reflected Dr. Hsu's beliefs that superior audio performance and reliability should be available to many people, not just a privileged few. In 2006, Dr Hsu applied for patents on several new technologies, including the turbocharger, mid-bass module (positional optimization of low frequency reproduction), and a way of bending a port tube so it will perform as well as a straight port. The year 2006 also marked the acceptance of the Ventriloquist patent. These advances further widen the gap between the performance of a HSU product and the competition. Today, Dr. Hsu spends his time behind the scenes, developing products for Fortune 500 companies and consulting privately with his customers. His goal is to design best-of-breed audio technology for the smart masses. Honesty, a mastery of engineering, and sound innovations define HSU Research. How do you pronounce 'Hsu'? Most people pronounce it “sue”. A more correct, more Singaporean pronunciation is “shoe”. Do you have any dealers? We experimented with dealers (e.g. CompUSA), but realized that it reduces product value. Middlemen add to costs. Therefore, we now have no dealers and offer products at lower prices. Do you do demonstrations or auditions? Yes we do, if you live around Orange County, California. You must call ahead for an appointment during our normal business hours, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST. Safe and secure transactions All orders use Yahoo 128-bit encryption and e-commerce.  Can I purchase an extended warranty? Yes. Just add the product to the cart, and an option will display allowing you to upgrade the electronics warranty to five years. Fast, insured FedEx Ground All products, except cables, are shipped with low cost, insured, FedEx Ground to destinations in the lower 48 states. If you live in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, or Canada there is an additional shipping charge. Easy order tracking The day after your order is shipped, your FedEx tracking number will be emailed. If you don't receive it, a spam detector might have removed it. If this happens, just give us a call and we'll give you the tracking number. 30-day Satisfaction Guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, you have 30 days to begin the return process. We will refund the complete purchase price, minus any shipping charges, after our technicians review the return. The refund happens under four conditions: (1) all items must be in "like new" condition, (2) there must not be any missing items, (3) the product needs to be in transit back to Hsu Research within 30 of delivery (4) you must call us to receive an RMA number. Failure to comply with all of these conditions may result in either the item being refused or you may be charged a 15% restocking fee. Contacting us. Call us, email us, fax us, or use our Feedback Form. Click here for our contact information. Do you have any b-stock or scratch-n-dent items? We occasionally do. Please see our Factory outlet for availability. Why is there is a humming or buzzing noise coming from my subwoofer? his is a common question and can usually be solved at home. There are several possible causes: 1) You have a ground loop problem. Try using a cheater plug that removes the third prong, also called the 'ground'. Do NOT ground the grounding tab on the cheater plug! That would defeat the purpose of the cheater plug for this application. 2) You have an amplifier problem. If the ground cheater plug does not help, disconnect all interconnects from the subwoofer amplifier. If still hums, call or email technical support. 3) You have a problem with other equipment. If hum goes away when interconnects are disconnected, hum is coming from the rest of your equipment. Add them back one piece at a time. The one that causes the system to hum is the source of the hum. How do I contact tech support? Click here for the ways to contact tech support. |
