subwoofer placement,,, unconventional

[jaejw1]

what would happen if i placed a sub in the spot where the plant is... right below the surround speakers.

i have just came from HSU and demoed a few subs and the subs they had in their room were located directly behind the sofa..
liking the sound i was wondering since this is the only way i can place a sub behind me...
how will this sound.. ?
how will it sound for a downfiring sub with a rear port?
a forward firing sub with a rear port?
forward,, with forward port?
forward with downward port?

im sure each option will yield different results since the area the enclosure will be in is and enclosure itself.. just open on one side..

[Fors*]

I hope you mean the floor behind the couch? I am almost certain you do not want to place the sub on the shelf behind your ears for various reasons. If it is on the floor behind the couch, then all I can say is that from what I know, placing a sub behind the couch under the plant area would basically require you to have 2 subs (one within the front soundstage area and the one behind the couch to properly fill the room with even bass. I do not think that one sub behind the couch is going to give you what you are looking for. As for one on the shelf......I'll leave that to the many better expert members we have here to explain in better detail why not, than I can.

[jaejw1]

trust me i understand what your saying.. also that area is about 3 feet from the rear of the couch..

and if i hadnt seen it for myself at HSU i wouldnt think it would work being directly behind the couch... but they had all the subs in the demo room behind the couch... nothing in front..

[Fors*]

Its a great sub, don't get me wrong. But I am still digesting how effective a one sub setup behind the couch is going to provide you with the proper bass response you would expect. I mean, you shouldn't "hear" the bass, but "feel" it. What kind of flooring do you have in the room? I see ceramic tile in the kitchen area....

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

Its a great sub, don't get me wrong. But I am still digesting how effective a one sub setup behind the couch is going to provide you with the proper bass response you would expect. I mean, you shouldn't "hear" the bass, but "feel" it. What kind of flooring do you have in the room? I see ceramic tile in the kitchen area....

carpet.. with a 5x8 rug between the entertainment center and couch

[Rob J in WNY]

All things considered, subwoofer location behind the couch is not the only consideration, even though you saw and experienced a nice demo with a sub behind the couch. Whole-room configuration (location/angle of walls/doorways/openings, acoustically live/dead wall/floor/ceiling surfaces, etc.) will impact the best sub location more than most other factors.

My living room has challenging acoustics to it. I have tested my subwoofer in various locations, and if you look at my gallery, you'll notice that you can't see the sub anywhere, except for the direct shot of it. It is actually off to the side of the couch, against the wall. One of the places I tried placing my sub was - you guessed it - right behind the couch. Did not fare well there - too much cancellation. Where it sits now, however, the sound is very good.

Why not try it with your current sub and see for yourself? There's nothing better than a little enthusiastic experimentation, and you never know! It might be an optimum location with your room geometry/materials. With your sub right behind your heads, and providing solid LFE from there, you might find the sensation of LFE a little more noticeable.

[Fors*]

That looks like a vaulted ceiling....so that is one big room. How do you feel about that part of your room? With audio, it's all about how you hear it as it is your set-up, but with one sub behind the couch and a room that size....I just don't know...?

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

All things considered, subwoofer location behind the couch is not the only consideration, even though you saw and experienced a nice demo with a sub behind the couch. Whole-room configuration (location/angle of walls/doorways/openings, acoustically live/dead wall/floor/ceiling surfaces, etc.) will impact the best sub location more than most other factors.

My living room has challenging acoustics to it. I have tested my subwoofer in various locations, and if you look at my gallery, you'll notice that you can't see the sub anywhere, except for the direct shot of it. It is actually off to the side of the couch, against the wall. One of the places I tried placing my sub was - you guessed it - right behind the couch. Did not fare well there - too much cancellation. Where it sits now, however, the sound is very good.

Why not try it with your current sub and see for yourself? There's nothing better than a little enthusiastic experimentation, and you never know! It might be an optimum location with your room geometry/materials. With your sub right behind your heads, and providing solid LFE from there, you might find the sensation of LFE a little more noticeable.

i will give it a try with my current crappy sub... it is forward firing with a down port... but that crap only extends to 44hz..

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by jaejw1

i will give it a try with my current crappy sub... it is forward firing with a down port... but that crap only extends to 44hz..

Good luck with it. Please report your findings!

Just a thought. You may find that your shelving/cabinetry and any objects on the shelves may rattle a bit too much for your liking.

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

That looks like a vaulted ceiling....so that is one big room. How do you feel about that part of your room? With audio, it's all about how you hear it as it is your set-up, but with one sub behind the couch and a room that size....I just don't know...?

I KNOW,, I KNOW..

my initial plan was to go with dual subs on the sides of the tv stand... but i just wanted to get others reactions to the cubed area behind the couch...

so far.. before i was running my sub way too hot... didnt realize it.. doing so to get some low end... but now that i have it calibrated it is about 6db or so higher than the rest of the speakers... atleast now i dont get that extreme low bass while sitting in the loft.. bass sounded louder and lower in the loft than in front of tv... yes i know .. bass waves had chance to complete themselves..

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Good luck with it. Please report your findings!

Just a thought. You may find that your shelving/cabinetry and any objects on the shelves may rattle a bit too much for your liking.

i dont care for them being there anyways... wasnt my idea... but yeah your right..lol..

[Big Daddy]

Don't get fooled by the demo. Their rooms are probably treated well and the acoustics measured very carefully. You are not going to get the same effect in your living room.

My recommendation is to get two subs: a bigger sub and a smaller sub. Put the bigger sub up front in a corner, a few feet away from the walls and put the smaller sub behind you. Adjust their levels very carefully so that one sub does not over power the other. This way, the bigger sub will give you deeper and lower frequency bass sound and smaller sub will give you upper frequency bass sound. You will go deaf in a couple years, but you will live in BASS HEAVEN.

I believe Hsu Research makes a small sub for this purpose.

[Fors*]

It sure can't hurt to just try your old sub behind the couch to give you some kind of idea. I know the other sub is down firing, but I believe location and acoustics can easily make up for this with a front firing sub.

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Don't get fooled by the demo. Their rooms are probably treated well and the acoustics measured very carefully. You are not going to get the same effect in your living room.

My recommendation is to get two subs: a bigger sub and a smaller sub. Put the bigger sub up front in a corner, a few feet away from the walls and put the smaller sub behind you. Adjust their levels very carefully so that one sub does not over power the other. This way, the bigger sub will give you deeper and lower frequency bass sound and smaller sub will give you upper frequency bass sound. You will go deaf in a couple years, but you will live in BASS HEAVEN.

I believe Hsu Research makes a small sub for this purpose.

yes your right.. very much treated.. and they do have a midbass unit that will be out soon...

Originally Posted by forsberg21

It sure can't hurt to just try to give you an idea. I know the other sub is down firing, but I believe location and acoustics can easily make up for this with a front firing sub.

i will see.. and report back,,, i just have to find a long enough patch cord to run to the rear... might do this tomorrow..

[StimpsonJCat]

Always put the sub on the floor.

As far as having a single sub behind the couch I don't think you could say that it couldn't work depending on the sub and room layout. It also depends on what you want from the sub.

Like forsberg21 said you would have more chance of covering the room with even bass with two subs in different positions.

But, it is more about finding the right position (or positions if you have more than one) of the sub for your room. You can reduce the peaks with filters, but the nulls will only be fixed by placement. You just have to experiment with placement. If it is about WAF then find out all the places she will accept and try them all...

Do try to give the sub some room from the wall. I had my sub too close and it was giving me all kinds of problems. It sounds much better after giving it a little breathing room. A good distance is the size of the driver + 1/2 that. So for my 10" I have it 15" from the wall. The subwoofer does not produce a directional sound so you don't need a direct line of sight to the sub. I don't think you want to be sitting right next to the sub.

[jaejw1]

yeah.. im still gonna go for duals.. but just as frustrating it is to find a location... i have to choose the right sub for me..

i do want to put them up front.. but i can also try out the side of couch location aswell.. i think that will be the only thing the wife will allow... moving her plant wil have to be done while she is at work.. lol

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by jaejw1

yeah.. im still gonna go for duals.. but just as frustrating it is to find a location... i have to choose the right sub for me..

i do want to put them up front.. but i can also try out the side of couch location aswell.. i think that will be the only thing the wife will allow... moving her plant wil have to be done while she is at work.. lol

With the 2 sub set-up, take Big Daddy's advise (I always do!) and look into a big sub within your front soundstage and the lesser of the two near or behind your primary seating area.

As far as the wife.... maybe you could try a different placement with her as well within the house? LOL!!! I know all too well myself....good luck!

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

With the 2 sub set-up, take Big Daddy's advise (I always do!) and look into a big sub within your front soundstage and the lesser of the two near or behind your primary seating area.

As far as the wife.... maybe you could try a different placement with her as well within the house? LOL!!! I know all too well myself....good luck!

I Just read this & I must say Big Daddy's ADVICE WOULD BE YOU'RE BEST BET !!!!!

my .02c

[liquidice]

Originally Posted by StimpsonJCat

Always put the sub on the floor.

Wrong. Look into these risers called the GRAMPA that a few of us have been building per Big Daddy's request. Subwoofer placement doesn't only deal with horizontal (moving it around the floor of your area), but also vertical, meaning, get that that thing up off the floor! You can call me crazy all you want, the impacts of getting a sub off the floor is remarkable. Check here, and take a quick spin through the thread to see what I'm talking about. Around page 6 of that thread, you'll see where we all start kicking in with our idea's. Another is to stuff the subwoofer with poly-fill that you can get from the Walmart crafts section for 2.47, or so. There is quite a bit of detail about this on the same linked thread. BUT, putting a sub up as high as you want to, behind the couch, may be too much depending on where your sitting, but it's worth trying! One thing you can never do wrong is try something, you never know the result. Even if someone tells you your crazy, give it a shot anyways. One thing I would do is the subwoofer-crawl. Check out the video I linked to you. You basically would move your couch out of the way a little, put the subwoofer where you sit, and then play something with nice repeated bass, probably music, and then literally get down on the floor and crawl around trying to see where the bass sounds the best. When you find that spot, place your subwoofer in that exact spot, and then the bass should sound the same when your seated on your couch. Have fun, the wife will think your crazy.

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by liquidice

Wrong. Look into these risers called the GRAMPA that a few of us have been building per Big Daddy's request. Subwoofer placement doesn't only deal with horizontal (moving it around the floor of your area), but also vertical, meaning, get that that thing up off the floor! You can call me crazy all you want, the impacts of getting a sub off the floor is remarkable. Check here, and take a quick spin through the thread to see what I'm talking about. Around page 6 of that thread, you'll see where we all start kicking in with our idea's. Another is to stuff the subwoofer with poly-fill that you can get from the Walmart crafts section for 2.47, or so. There is quite a bit of detail about this on the same linked thread. BUT, putting a sub up as high as you want to, behind the couch, may be too much depending on where your sitting, but it's worth trying! One thing you can never do wrong is try something, you never know the result. Even if someone tells you your crazy, give it a shot anyways. One thing I would do is the subwoofer-crawl. Check out the video I linked to you. You basically would move your couch out of the way a little, put the subwoofer where you sit, and then play something with nice repeated bass, probably music, and then literally get down on the floor and crawl around trying to see where the bass sounds the best. When you find that spot, place your subwoofer in that exact spot, and then the bass should sound the same when your seated on your couch. Have fun, the wife will think your crazy.

naw.. she has played this game with me before... i used to spend hours in my car playing with timing .. phase and eq settings.. for best sound quality..

but tomorrow i will give it a try.. will go buy a cheap long patch cord and an extension cord for location change..