SUB placement

Pirate · 08-07-2004, 05:13 PM

Hey All,

I was wondering what peoples opinions were on sub placement. Ive had mine on the left of my gear rack for most of my HT life, but I was thinking that it might be more effective to be in the center or even better, to have 2 subs. One on the left and right of the room. Any thoughts on this?

thanks
-PH

Titleist · 08-07-2004, 05:19 PM

Pirate, I'm sort of doing the same thing with my setup, with mine on the left side of my media cabinet. But I've always done my best to place the sub nearest the corner of a room. In my setup it's only about 2-3 feet from the corner, this basically allows the accustics of the room to amplify the low freq sounds coming out of the sub. Essentially let the room help do the work rather than make the sub work overtime.

Not sure about two subs, I've seen two subs in use, but I think given the right placement there's no need to go to two unless it's a honkin' big room

Iguana Man · 08-07-2004, 07:11 PM

Mine is directly between my mains....mostly for looks and the pressure it creates aiming right towards me in the sweet spot.

NotaNumber · 08-07-2004, 07:38 PM

It depends on if it is a bottom firing or side firing sub. A bottom firing sub would do better near a wall or corner. A side firing sub would be better center or at least aimed towards the sweet spot.

PunkMunkey · 08-07-2004, 11:15 PM

The two sub thing is feasible, but you need to be concerned about cancellations...in essence, if you don't place the two subs in the proper positions with respect to each other, you might actually get diminished output due to the sound waves from one sub cancelling the sound waves from another.

I have my sub just left of center with the rear firing port about 6" from the wall...probably not ideal, but seems to work OK.

Iguana Man · 08-08-2004, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotaNumber

It depends on if it is a bottom firing or side firing sub. A bottom firing sub would do better near a wall or corner. A side firing sub would be better center or at least aimed towards the sweet spot.

Good point....

Mine is a sealed front firing sub.

Titleist · 08-08-2004, 02:41 AM

Same here, mine's a front firing Klipsch 10" sub, so generally keeping it near the tv works well. But having that corner placement as well doesn't hurt anything either.

But personally whatever sounds best to your ears is what you should go with.

***Chromy*** · 08-09-2004, 04:07 AM

Well... I had a brilliant post yesterday going, but my computer ate it.

A couple of guidelines for sub placement. These will work in more rooms than not.

1) Place the subwoofer in a corner. The corner acts like horn and helps to reinforce the subwoofer. Corners work best when there are no openings in the ajacent walls (windows/doors).

2) For multiple subwoofers, best results come from stacking them or putting them side by side. In the corner of course. Placing them close to each other helps to eliminate cancellation.

Chromy

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 06:25 PM

I’ve resurrected this thread to ask a question.

I want to move my screen a bit higher, which means I may have to move my center below the screen. The problem is that my sub is in the center between my mains. I’m afraid if I have my center above the sub that I’ll get interference or cancellation.

I can’t move my sub to the corner because the mains are occupying the corners, so I’m not sure what to do here. Does anyone have their sub close to their center? Any problems?

Thanks
-PH

Taxi · 03-21-2006, 06:29 PM

Your center and your sub should be outputting different frequencies, so I wouldn't think that cancellation would be a problem.

esc · 03-21-2006, 07:28 PM

hrmmm, wow this is an oldie.

traditionally, the place for a sub is about 1/4 of the way between the left speaker and the screen, kinda in the corner of the room. I'd move it out of the center position and find the best place for it ... here's what ya do ....

move your main chair or couch out of the room so that you can place the subwoofer in the main seating spot of the room. then put on a nice subby scene on repeat. I like to use about a 30 second section just after the cave troll fight in LOTR FOTR EE, before the Balrog appears. There is nice ambiant noise coming from every speaker and a few of the music cues rumble the walls nicely.
Once you have the sub in place, pointing towards the general area where you think the sub might be going, walk around the room and see where it sounds best. Then place the sub in the spot where it sounded good. It helps to be exact, so mark it with some chalk or something once you find your room's sweet spot. You can also try this with the sub actually sitting in the chair.
A little fine tuning may be required once you get the sub back in place (you'll need to find the proper angle for it to be at.) I usually have mine a few degrees off parallel to the wall it is closest to. once everything is properly in place, you should not be able to tell where the sound that the sub is producing is coming from.

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esc

hrmmm, wow this is an oldie.

traditionally, the place for a sub is about 1/4 of the way between the left speaker and the screen, kinda in the corner of the room. I'd move it out of the center position and find the best place for it ... here's what ya do ....

move your main chair or couch out of the room so that you can place the subwoofer in the main seating spot of the room. then put on a nice subby scene on repeat. I like to use about a 30 second section just after the cave troll fight in LOTR FOTR EE, before the Balrog appears. There is nice ambiant noise coming from every speaker and a few of the music cues rumble the walls nicely.
Once you have the sub in place, pointing towards the general area where you think the sub might be going, walk around the room and see where it sounds best. Then place the sub in the spot where it sounded good. It helps to be exact, so mark it with some chalk or something once you find your room's sweet spot. You can also try this with the sub actually sitting in the chair.

Wait...you've lost me.

You want me to put the sub where my seats are and and then walk around the room to see what sounds best? Where do I move the sub to afterward? I think I'm missing a step.

-PH

esc · 03-21-2006, 07:33 PM

oh man, ok.

1) move the main chair (whichever one most people will sit in) out of the room

2) place your subwoofer in the exact spot where your chair was

3) put on a sub-tastic scene on repeat (most DVD players have an A-B Repeat function)

4) walk all around the room with a piece of chalk and listen to see where your sub sounds best

5) once you find your room's 'sweet spot', mark an X on the floor in that exact spot with the chalk

6) now put your sub on top of the X.

7) move the chair back into the room, plant yourself in it and listen to see if it sounds good to you. fine tune the angle of the sub by rotating it slightly to get it sounding perfect.

8) if you want, after all this is done, you can put the sub right in the chair and do the 'room walk-around test' again and see if the final placement of the sub might need to be changed a bit.

hope that's clearer for ya!

and I got paid to type all that too

... I'm at work right now 'testing' a laptop keyboard that supposedly stops working after about 5 minutes, but it seems to be going good so far. Maybe it was the spyware and viruses i cleaned out of the system earlier that were cludging things up.

mrkeeling · 03-21-2006, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Wait...you've lost me.

You want me to put the sub where my seats are and and then walk around the room to see what sounds best? Where do I move the sub to afterward? I think I'm missing a step.

-PH

Actually you shouldn’t walk, you should crawl.

(I am being serious and don’t call me…

)

When you find the spot WHERE sub sounds the best, put the sub in that spot.

esc · 03-21-2006, 07:50 PM

actually ya, get down to sub level... good idea man

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 07:51 PM

So put the sub where my seats are and then...er...crawl...around the room until I find the place where I can feel the bluk of the bass and then move the sub to that spot? Is that right?

-PH

esc · 03-21-2006, 07:54 PM

pretty much, ya, thats it. and you're not just feeling for bass, you want nice, high quality sound that you can't really pinpoint where it is coming from.

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 08:01 PM

If the good sound ends up being where I have it now, I'm going to have to mount my center right above the sub.

-PH

esc · 03-21-2006, 08:02 PM

I'm guessing it will be off to the side slighty and not quite parallel to the wall... if it is a rectangular room.

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esc

I'm guessing it will be off to the side slighty and not quite parallel to the wall... if it is a rectangular room.

It would have to go beside one of the front speakers.

And that would throw my Feng Shui off.

-PH

esc · 03-21-2006, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piratehunter

It would have to go beside one of the front speakers.

And that would throw my Feng Shui off.

-PH

what are the dimensions of your room? either you have a very small room or your sub could crack atoms.

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esc

what are the dimensions of your room? either you have a very small room or your sub could crack atoms.

The sub is big, but it's the screen that makes it impossible to have the sub in the corner. Here is a crude drawing of the room.

EDIT: The room is not as long as the image.

-PH

esc · 03-21-2006, 08:40 PM

why couldnt it be moved to something like this?

is the sub higher than the bottom of the screen ?

esc · 03-21-2006, 08:43 PM

or this could work... try it with the sub kinda far back from the front-left speaker and the sub having a clearance of a few inches from the wall.

Pirate · 03-21-2006, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esc

is the sub higher than the bottom of the screen ?

Yes it is.

I'm going to try the seating/crawling thing and see where I am from there.

Thanks
-PH

Taxi · 03-21-2006, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esc

what are the dimensions of your room? either you have a very small room or your sub could crack atoms.

esc, what is that, and is there more info on it?

Iguana Man · 03-21-2006, 11:00 PM

PH, how far above the sub are you talking? And how anal do you really want to get with this placement thing?

Just wondering.

chipmac · 03-22-2006, 03:16 AM

Since you're going to try different locations for the sub anyway I thought I would point out that you don't need to place the sub in the front of the room. Not many people realize this or consider it but rear placement often works just as well or better than front placement. Also having it behind or near your seating position can often increase tactile response. Give it a try.

08-07-2004, 05:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pirate Moderator Emeritus Loves Yellow Subtitles Join Date: Jun 2003	SUB placement Hey All, I was wondering what peoples opinions were on sub placement. Ive had mine on the left of my gear rack for most of my HT life, but I was thinking that it might be more effective to be in the center or even better, to have 2 subs. One on the left and right of the room. Any thoughts on this? thanks -PH __________________ Early Adopting So You Don’t Have To.

08-07-2004, 05:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
Titleist "Wanna buy a Denon?" Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: In the basement, cuz that's where all the bass went.	Pirate, I'm sort of doing the same thing with my setup, with mine on the left side of my media cabinet. But I've always done my best to place the sub nearest the corner of a room. In my setup it's only about 2-3 feet from the corner, this basically allows the accustics of the room to amplify the low freq sounds coming out of the sub. Essentially let the room help do the work rather than make the sub work overtime. Not sure about two subs, I've seen two subs in use, but I think given the right placement there's no need to go to two unless it's a honkin' big room __________________ "You know what's interesting? I've only been alive for six weeks, I know nothing of the world beyond this dogs stomach ... and I still find Six Feet Under is pretentious." --My Collection --Titleist's Home Theater--

08-07-2004, 07:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
Iguana Man Ex-BadHumor Man Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Jersey, USA	Mine is directly between my mains....mostly for looks and the pressure it creates aiming right towards me in the sweet spot. __________________ Get outside and have fun! Nacho Website Focus

08-07-2004, 11:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
PunkMunkey Join Date: Jul 2002	The two sub thing is feasible, but you need to be concerned about cancellations...in essence, if you don't place the two subs in the proper positions with respect to each other, you might actually get diminished output due to the sound waves from one sub cancelling the sound waves from another. I have my sub just left of center with the rear firing port about 6" from the wall...probably not ideal, but seems to work OK. __________________ ...you left me feeling hopeful I'd never see your face again.

08-08-2004, 02:41 AM	#7 (permalink)
Titleist "Wanna buy a Denon?" Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: In the basement, cuz that's where all the bass went.	Same here, mine's a front firing Klipsch 10" sub, so generally keeping it near the tv works well. But having that corner placement as well doesn't hurt anything either. But personally whatever sounds best to your ears is what you should go with. __________________ "You know what's interesting? I've only been alive for six weeks, I know nothing of the world beyond this dogs stomach ... and I still find Six Feet Under is pretentious." --My Collection --Titleist's Home Theater--

08-07-2004, 07:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
NotaNumber I paid for this! Join Date: May 2002	It depends on if it is a bottom firing or side firing sub. A bottom firing sub would do better near a wall or corner. A side firing sub would be better center or at least aimed towards the sweet spot.

08-09-2004, 04:07 AM	#8 (permalink)
*Chromy* Producer/Admin Coffee Boy Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Greater Seattle Area, WA	Well... I had a brilliant post yesterday going, but my computer ate it. A couple of guidelines for sub placement. These will work in more rooms than not. 1) Place the subwoofer in a corner. The corner acts like horn and helps to reinforce the subwoofer. Corners work best when there are no openings in the ajacent walls (windows/doors). 2) For multiple subwoofers, best results come from stacking them or putting them side by side. In the corner of course. Placing them close to each other helps to eliminate cancellation. Chromy __________________ I'm like a lightbulb... without a continual input of fresh power, I grow dim My Home Theater!

03-21-2006, 06:25 PM	#9 (permalink)
Pirate Moderator Emeritus Loves Yellow Subtitles Join Date: Jun 2003	I’ve resurrected this thread to ask a question. I want to move my screen a bit higher, which means I may have to move my center below the screen. The problem is that my sub is in the center between my mains. I’m afraid if I have my center above the sub that I’ll get interference or cancellation. I can’t move my sub to the corner because the mains are occupying the corners, so I’m not sure what to do here. Does anyone have their sub close to their center? Any problems? Thanks -PH __________________ Early Adopting So You Don’t Have To.

03-21-2006, 06:29 PM	#10 (permalink)
Taxi Admin Emeritus Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: Orygun	Your center and your sub should be outputting different frequencies, so I wouldn't think that cancellation would be a problem. __________________ *Admin Emeritus* \| DDS#42 No, I am not back. Eschew obfuscation.

03-21-2006, 07:28 PM	#11 (permalink)
esc Stay behind my aura! Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: camrose, alberta, canada	hrmmm, wow this is an oldie. traditionally, the place for a sub is about 1/4 of the way between the left speaker and the screen, kinda in the corner of the room. I'd move it out of the center position and find the best place for it ... here's what ya do .... move your main chair or couch out of the room so that you can place the subwoofer in the main seating spot of the room. then put on a nice subby scene on repeat. I like to use about a 30 second section just after the cave troll fight in LOTR FOTR EE, before the Balrog appears. There is nice ambiant noise coming from every speaker and a few of the music cues rumble the walls nicely. Once you have the sub in place, pointing towards the general area where you think the sub might be going, walk around the room and see where it sounds best. Then place the sub in the spot where it sounded good. It helps to be exact, so mark it with some chalk or something once you find your room's sweet spot. You can also try this with the sub actually sitting in the chair. A little fine tuning may be required once you get the sub back in place (you'll need to find the proper angle for it to be at.) I usually have mine a few degrees off parallel to the wall it is closest to. once everything is properly in place, you should not be able to tell where the sound that the sub is producing is coming from. __________________ "I guess I'm just not used to being chased around a mall in the middle of the night by killer robots." -Linda, Chopping Mall

03-21-2006, 07:33 PM	#13 (permalink)
esc Stay behind my aura! Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: camrose, alberta, canada	oh man, ok. 1) move the main chair (whichever one most people will sit in) out of the room 2) place your subwoofer in the exact spot where your chair was 3) put on a sub-tastic scene on repeat (most DVD players have an A-B Repeat function) 4) walk all around the room with a piece of chalk and listen to see where your sub sounds best 5) once you find your room's 'sweet spot', mark an X on the floor in that exact spot with the chalk 6) now put your sub on top of the X. 7) move the chair back into the room, plant yourself in it and listen to see if it sounds good to you. fine tune the angle of the sub by rotating it slightly to get it sounding perfect. 8) if you want, after all this is done, you can put the sub right in the chair and do the 'room walk-around test' again and see if the final placement of the sub might need to be changed a bit. hope that's clearer for ya! and I got paid to type all that too ... I'm at work right now 'testing' a laptop keyboard that supposedly stops working after about 5 minutes, but it seems to be going good so far. Maybe it was the spyware and viruses i cleaned out of the system earlier that were cludging things up. Last edited by esc : 03-21-2006 at 07:50 PM.

03-21-2006, 07:50 PM	#15 (permalink)
esc Stay behind my aura! Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: camrose, alberta, canada	actually ya, get down to sub level... good idea man

03-21-2006, 07:51 PM	#16 (permalink)
Pirate Moderator Emeritus Loves Yellow Subtitles Join Date: Jun 2003	So put the sub where my seats are and then...er...crawl...around the room until I find the place where I can feel the bluk of the bass and then move the sub to that spot? Is that right? -PH __________________ Early Adopting So You Don’t Have To.

03-21-2006, 07:54 PM	#17 (permalink)
esc Stay behind my aura! Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: camrose, alberta, canada	pretty much, ya, thats it. and you're not just feeling for bass, you want nice, high quality sound that you can't really pinpoint where it is coming from.

03-21-2006, 08:01 PM	#18 (permalink)
Pirate Moderator Emeritus Loves Yellow Subtitles Join Date: Jun 2003	If the good sound ends up being where I have it now, I'm going to have to mount my center right above the sub. -PH __________________ Early Adopting So You Don’t Have To.

03-21-2006, 08:02 PM	#19 (permalink)
esc Stay behind my aura! Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: camrose, alberta, canada	I'm guessing it will be off to the side slighty and not quite parallel to the wall... if it is a rectangular room.

03-21-2006, 11:00 PM	#27 (permalink)
Iguana Man Ex-BadHumor Man Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Jersey, USA	PH, how far above the sub are you talking? And how anal do you really want to get with this placement thing? Just wondering. __________________ Get outside and have fun! Nacho Website Focus

03-22-2006, 03:16 AM	#28 (permalink)
chipmac Actor Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Hardyston, NJ	Since you're going to try different locations for the sub anyway I thought I would point out that you don't need to place the sub in the front of the room. Not many people realize this or consider it but rear placement often works just as well or better than front placement. Also having it behind or near your seating position can often increase tactile response. Give it a try. __________________ My DVD collection at DVD Profiler that needs major updating.