Does it matter where a subwoofer is placed?

Stonedofmoo

Stonedofmoo

Stonedofmoo

Soldato
Joined
24 Oct 2002
Posts
6,242
Location
Portsmouth
Hi all

Am I right in thinking a subwoofer can pretty much go anywhere in a room, it doesn't have to be facing you or anything like that?

I'm going to buy this: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...e+Cinema/SC-BT222/Overview/3796238/index.html

..to provide me a bluray player, and to give upgraded sound over what the TV speakers are capable of.

Before people tell me it's not true surround etc or I can get better sound going for seperates, I know, this meets my requirements however.

Now the subwoofer I was hoping to tuck away behind the sofa behind me. Is this feasible or should it be in the open ahead of us?

Many thanks
 
ive always hid my sub-woofers in the past as they are not directional firing so can be put any where.

behind your sofa would be a good place but try different places as some might seem a little more bass happy in some places.

but i think behind your sofa is a good bet and will produce a bit more bass.
 
Thanks I've been looking at a few guides, looks like it's quite possible. I can put it right in the corner of the room if needbe.

Cheers all :)
 
Bass generally tends to sound better/richer from further away does it not?

Mine happens to be infront of me but in a courner as that's the only place I have for it.
 
Put the subwoofer in your usual seating position, and move yourself around the room, to find where it's clearest, with the same level of bass from a variety of different notes/frequencies.
 
Confused said:
Put the subwoofer in your usual seating position, and move yourself around the room, to find where it's clearest, with the same level of bass from a variety of different notes/frequencies.
Click to expand...

That is quite hard to do as low frequency audio's directionality in a hard acoustic environment is difficult to position.
 
In terms of directionality it shouldn't matter as you won't be able to locate frequencies below about 80Hz. It's a small sub/satellite combo though so the crossover may actually be high enough to locate it to some degree.

With subwoofers in general though you would probably consider taking advantage of a corner to provide boundary reinforcement, giving you acoustic gain and hence lowering amplifier load and distortion. You may however find you get standing waves more prominent in certain locations, dependant on the geometry of your room.

The best bass will very likely require some experimentation with its location, but in response to your original question, no, a subwoofer is not directional like a high frequency speaker and could be located behind you. You wouldn't want the path length from the subwoofer to you to vary greatly from the path length from satellite to you though, if anything locate the subwoofer closer to your seating position than the satellites.
 
Confused said:
Put the subwoofer in your usual seating position, and move yourself around the room, to find where it's clearest, with the same level of bass from a variety of different notes/frequencies.
Click to expand...

SimonR said:
That is quite hard to do as low frequency audio's directionality in a hard acoustic environment is difficult to position.
Click to expand...

Although SimonR is correct that sub-bass isn't directional, what Confused suggests is the right way to go about placing a sub.

Bass interacts with the room. It makes some notes sound louder than others. Then there is the relationship between the note and your listening position. If you want really horrible bass to test this then put your sub at a point when it is a quarter way from the front and side walls. Then put yourself in the opposite corner at a quarter distance from the back and other side wall. Listen to a movie with loads of bass. Some notes with sound really loud, others will be almost impossible to hear.

The trick with sub placement is to get even bass from as much of the frequency range as possible. You do this by avoiding a sub or listening position that is an even fraction of any room dimension. So, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 of room length, width or hight are bad. 1/3, 1/5, 1/7 of those dimensions are good.

It's inevitable that there will be some compromises when you come to place the sub. But if you start off with an idea of where is good and where is bad then you're more likely to end up with a decent result.

As for using a sound meter; I've always found that they don't work so well at bass frequencies.
 
lucid said:
As for using a sound meter; I've always found that they don't work so well at bass frequencies.
Click to expand...
I agree, they are pretty poor with lower frequencies, but better than nothing. RTA is definitely preferable, but most people are less likely to have a half-decent RTA setup. :)

Even just doing a few slow sine sweeps while watching the meter can be a handy way of finding and eliminating standing waves.

I find placing the sub in the corner is the best place to start...
 
I keep my sub in the corner of my room and i gotta admit its a lot better compared to having it next to the tv..i'm also a bit wary about keeping it next to the tv because of magnetic shields and what not hence it is a good 5 metres away from all other electrical devices.
 
nayan89 said:
I keep my sub in the corner of my room and i gotta admit its a lot better compared to having it next to the tv..i'm also a bit wary about keeping it next to the tv because of magnetic shields and what not hence it is a good 5 metres away from all other electrical devices.
Click to expand...

You have a CRT TV?
 
Massive difference when moving it around. Confirmed by REW and SPL meter measurements.

For example, one side of the tv bench was pretty random and had some nice dips, plus didn't crossover well with the speakers but on the other side it was perfect. Also with teh sofa on the back wall, if you lean forwards on the sofa then it isn't as good, but sitting back on the sofa in either seating position is perfect. Sound is fun!

In summary it makes more difference than you can think, and you cannot make an assumption that corner/near seating position are in fact best, when there are a huge number of factors that affect how good a sub is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom