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Subwoofer placement tip.....

N

NokiaDude

Diamond Member
Today I was sick and tired of hearing my poor subwoofer "bottom out" constantly when I played my music. I had it placed in a spot in my "computer armoire" which is like a entertainment center for a computer, but I use it for my TV. Well I usually have the bass boosted to 80% in the volume control window. Today after doing a little experimenting I took my sub and placed it in my closet, which is in a corner right next to my computer desk and is concealed by mirrors on huge sliding thing a m'bob's. Well after turning it back on the bass was just amazing! I couldn't beleive I was missing out on body shaking bass for over a year! No wonder my poor sub was bottoming out, I was turning the bass way too high in order to "feel" it. So now my Altec Lansing ATP-3's are still going to be pumping out music for years hopefully, and now my sub won't have to work as hard since there's plenty at 50%.

Cliffnotes: Subwoofers should be placed in a corner, below your head.
 
it doesnt matter where subwoofers are really placed. normally the frequencies they play are not directional, and if you say they are, they are VERY hard to locate. also, always keep the gain under 50% else your just asking for problems on ANY amp to any sub, or speakers.

MIKE
 
yes, um, never put your sub in the "computer armoire"
it'll just ricochet off the sides and weakly come out the front

as far as i know
 
Subwoofer frequencies are VERY directional. If I walk around in a circle in my room I can hear loud and quiet spots.
 
no, they are not, the wavelength of "sub" frequencies should be low enough that you cannot tell where the sub is placed. and by directional, i do not mean loud and quiet spots, i mean, being able to listen, and pinpoint where the subwoofer is located.

MIKE
 
Originally posted by: Amorphus
way to go, capt. obvious. 😛
Click to expand...

Seriously. Are you new at this discrete speaker thing or something? Even my mother knows that "the bass speaker should go in the corner" ... my MOTHER, for fvck's sake!

- M4H
 
The sub shouldn't always be placed in a corner. Corner loading helps SPL's, but isn't always ideal.

Here's a great whitepaper by the folks at Harman International. I believe it was mainly Todd Welti and Floyd E. Toole's research.

Subwoofer placement
 
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Subwoofer frequencies are VERY directional. If I walk around in a circle in my room I can hear loud and quiet spots.
Click to expand...
Your subwoofer is crossed over too high. Ideally, the subwoofer should only play frequencies under 60Hz.

Anyway, putting a sub into the corner allows you to perceive more sound since it's radiating into eighth-space rather than quarter-space.
 
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Subwoofer frequencies are VERY directional. If I walk around in a circle in my room I can hear loud and quiet spots.
Click to expand...
Your subwoofer is crossed over too high. Ideally, the subwoofer should only play frequencies under 60Hz.

Anyway, putting a sub into the corner allows you to perceive more sound since it's radiating into eighth-space rather than quarter-space.
Click to expand...

It's a computer speaker system, of COURSE it's not going to be calibrated perfectly but now it sounds ALOT better. I just wished there was a FAQ for COMPUTER subwoofers.
 
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Subwoofer frequencies are VERY directional. If I walk around in a circle in my room I can hear loud and quiet spots.
Click to expand...
Your subwoofer is crossed over too high. Ideally, the subwoofer should only play frequencies under 60Hz.

Anyway, putting a sub into the corner allows you to perceive more sound since it's radiating into eighth-space rather than quarter-space.
Click to expand...

It's a computer speaker system, of COURSE it's not going to be calibrated perfectly but now it sounds ALOT better. I just wished there was a FAQ for COMPUTER subwoofers.
Click to expand...
All you need to know about PC subs:

1. Pray that nothing below 80Hz gets sent to it. 😛

The loud and quiet spots correspond to the peaks and nulls of the room you're listening in, which are mainly dependent on the ratio of the length of the ceiling:width:length of the room. IIRC the volume of the room affects the peakiness and "dippiness" (lol) of those spots (i.e. increasing the volume will lower the magnitude of the anomalies).

There are certain ratios that you should build the interior dimensions of the room to, and of course the larger the better.
 
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Subwoofer frequencies are VERY directional. If I walk around in a circle in my room I can hear loud and quiet spots.
Click to expand...
Your subwoofer is crossed over too high. Ideally, the subwoofer should only play frequencies under 60Hz.

Anyway, putting a sub into the corner allows you to perceive more sound since it's radiating into eighth-space rather than quarter-space.
Click to expand...

It's a computer speaker system, of COURSE it's not going to be calibrated perfectly but now it sounds ALOT better. I just wished there was a FAQ for COMPUTER subwoofers.
Click to expand...

It really has nothing to do with calibration, btw. Once you buy one, there are very few things you can do short of replacing parts.
 
.... why should I pray nothing above 80hz gets sent to it? It's connected to my Audigy 2 ZS via a headphone jack type cable. Am I safe playing nothing other than some DVD's and .mp3's?
 
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
.... why should I pray nothing above 80hz gets sent to it? It's connected to my Audigy 2 ZS via a headphone jack type cable. Am I safe playing nothing other than some DVD's and .mp3's?
Click to expand...

Howard is just commenting on the difficulty (if not near impossibility) of PC type "subwoofers" to handle sounds in the 15hz-80hz range at meaningful volumes without distortions and other quality problems. Correct me if I'm wrong, Howard.
 
Originally posted by: Apex
Originally posted by: NokiaDude
.... why should I pray nothing above 80hz gets sent to it? It's connected to my Audigy 2 ZS via a headphone jack type cable. Am I safe playing nothing other than some DVD's and .mp3's?
Click to expand...

Howard is just commenting on the difficulty (if not near impossibility) of PC type "subwoofers" to handle sounds in the 15hz-80hz range at meaningful volumes without distortions and other quality problems. Correct me if I'm wrong, Howard.
Click to expand...
I'd correct you even if you were right. 😉

That said, if I were in the market for a PC system I would definitely build my own. A nice sealed 12/15" sub in the corner with a 250W plate amp from PE, and 2 of these. I realize that they don't go all the way down, but for the price, they can't be beat.
 
from what i understand. corners will give you more bass, but it's more boomy, too. if you have the power, placing it in a more central location will yield more accurate bass.

those of you talking about directional sound are using the wrong term and therefore arguing two sides of two different arguments. directional = you can tell where it's coming from. this is a symptom of having the crossover set too high. it has nothing to do with perceived volume.

nokiadude, you are confusing "directional" with "nodes." as the waves bounce around in a room, there will be points where two bouncing waves are out of phase with each other and create quiet zones, and places where two waves are in phase with each other and make it way louder than it ought to be. in a typical room, you'll find out of phase places in the middle of the room and in phase plances close to the walls, but it's different for every room. of course, there's way more than two bounced waves in a room, especially one with bare walls, so there's lots of little weird nodes and things in a room. this is what you're noticing, and it's something we all deal with. that's why listening position is very important for audio!
 
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