The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[MikeDaWiz]

Originally Posted by slickooz

yea my hd10 arrived to new jersey today!!! but tried calling their customer service and asked if it might come early they said no it will be here tomorrow.

Yeah, it still says it hasnt reached corpus christi yet. Looks like we both have to wait.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by Baldeagle

The color is black and I am using this as a 2.1 system. With regard to my corner location, I built a speaker stand for my subwoofer that elevates it nine inches. Even though I must still deal with the two corner walls, getting the subwoofer off the floor completely changed its sound. 90% of the boominess is gone.

Have you added any isolation to your riser? Also, have you thought about adding room treatments such as bass traps? You could also add some Poly-fill to the inside of the subwoofer to remove even more boominess.

[duneaholic]

Originally Posted by Baldeagle

For the record, I called Thedeepdiscount today to complain about my subwoofer. I received a return call from a person named Jason who was very helpful. In light of the fact that UPS beat the crap of it, he said he would contact them to request that they ship it back to Thedeepdiscount and that Thedeepdiscount would send me another new subwoofer. If UPS declines the return, Jason said Thedeepdiscount would still pay to return it and send me a new one. That sounds very fair to me. If this actually happens, I would consider that to be excellent customer service. I’ll keep you posted.

Yeah whatever you do don't talk to a guy named Andrew.

[Baldeagle]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Have you added any isolation to your riser? Also, have you thought about adding room treatments such as bass traps? You could also add some Poly-fill to the inside of the subwoofer to remove even more boominess.

Wow. Forgive my lack of familiarity in this area. I didn’t add insulation, primarily because I don’t know where it would go or what it would do. Is a riser the same thing as a speaker stand? I just made a simple wood frame on which the subwoofer rests. From the name “base trap” can I correctly infer that this some material that absorbs unwanted bass? As you may have already inferred from that response, I haven’t added whatever it is. But I am very happy to say that I know what poly-fill is. And no, I did not add any. I wanted to wait until the speaker had broken in fully before I opened it. But as it stands now, there is a good chance I will send this sub back to Thedeepdiscount and get another.

I appreciate your input and sincerely welcome an explanation or existing link to information that explains how insulation might help and how bass traps work. Thanks.

[Driver_King]

No problem at all. We all start somewhere. Isolation for a riser, or a speaker stand as you called it, helps reduce any unwanted vibrations and noises transferred to the subwoofer to the riser and back to the floor. The idea is to isolate the subwoofer and decouple it as much as possible from the ground. You could attach rubber pads to the bottom of the legs of the riser or use spikes and discs (or simply spikes if you just have carpet). Adding foam to the bottom of the riser will help reduce the riser's resonancy and extra vibrations. Carpeting the entire riser is also ideal for isolation and appeal (unless you've done a wood stain or something already on the riser). In some cases, attaching small table legs along with the riser will also help in performance, especially with downward firing subwoofers where they benefit from the extra height for breathing room. As for the Poly-fill, skip it for now until you get your replacement subwoofer. The riser can be something you can use for any subwoofer. You can purchase a pound of Poly-fill at Wal-mart for a little less than $4 with tax. A pound and a half may be better since you have a 15" subwoofer. Just make sure to pack it loosely, but not too loosely. I found that if you fill the subwoofer, you should allow a path of space for around the driver to ensure the air can ventilate properly inside and around the port as to not let any get blown through the port during some LFE passages. I hope that was helpful. If you have any more questions, please see the DIY riser thread and the building and upgrading speakers/subwoofers thread. You can learn about how risers affect the axial room mode in the Subwoofer placement threads as well.

[billlh]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Make sure you register your sub. You only have 10 days for warranty to be valid.

File a complaint with them and ask for some money back. I remember another member had a minor cosmetic problem a few months ago and got a few dollars of reimbursement.

That would be me Big Daddy. And yes they were willing to negotiate.

Bill

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Baldeagle

Wow. Forgive my lack of familiarity in this area. I didn’t add insulation, primarily because I don’t know where it would go or what it would do. Is a riser the same thing as a speaker stand? I just made a simple wood frame on which the subwoofer rests. From the name “base trap” can I correctly infer that this some material that absorbs unwanted bass? As you may have already inferred from that response, I haven’t added whatever it is. But I am very happy to say that I know what poly-fill is. And no, I did not add any. I wanted to wait until the speaker had broken in fully before I opened it. But as it stands now, there is a good chance I will send this sub back to Thedeepdiscount and get another.

I appreciate your input and sincerely welcome an explanation or existing link to information that explains how insulation might help and how bass traps work. Thanks.

As Driver King explained, you can get better bass response in your room.

Read the DIY Subwoofer Riser thread. The benefits of a riser are explained in Posts #1 & 2.

Also, read DIY Subwoofer/Speaker Building & Upgrading thread. The benefits of polyfill are explained in the middle of Post #2.

Buy two or four corner traps and put them in the 4 corners of your room. That is what I have done in my HT room.

http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acoust...usticfoam.html

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

As Driver King explained, you can get better bass response in your room.

Read the DIY Subwoofer Riser thread. The benefits of a riser are explained in Posts #1 & 2.

Also, read DIY Subwoofer/Speaker Building & Upgrading thread. The benefits of polyfill are explained in the middle of Post #2.

Buy two or four corner traps and put them in the 4 corners of your room. That is what I have done in my HT room.

http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acoust...usticfoam.html

You forgot to mention the Jazz singers

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

You forgot to mention the Jazz singers

The Jazz Singers definitely add to the room ambience and acoustics. They love me and won't dare go into another person's room.

[duneaholic]

I hope those guys aren't in the room with your 5 subs....they'd really be dancing!!!!

[slickooz]

my sub is out for delivery now, goign be here soon prob. what do i need to be ready? right now all i have is a monster cable for the sub. do i need anything esle?

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by slickooz

my sub is out for delivery now, goign be here soon prob. what do i need to be ready? right now all i have is a monster cable for the sub. do i need anything esle?

A wall outlet to plug the new toy in & you should be good to go !
Then you can build A riser for it to make it happier & sound better !

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by slickooz

my sub is out for delivery now, goign be here soon prob. what do i need to be ready? right now all i have is a monster cable for the sub. do i need anything esle?

Besides what crazy said, start thinking of a location....unless you only have a short RCA audio cable, then you'll be limited in where to place the sub of course.

[Baldeagle]

Many thanks Driver King. Good explanation. Big Daddy, thanks for the pictures of the bass traps and suggested readings. For my next step, I will add spikes to the legs of my riser and poly-fill to the box. Of course that is after I learn if I get a new sub from Thedeepdiscount.

I have a question for you guys. The customer service rep at Thedeepdiscount raised the point that any failure related to the beating the subwoofer incurred during transport may not surface until some point in the future. For example, something electrical might have loosened but still function at this time. However as time passes, the inherent vibrations of the subwoofer may cause this loose connection to fail prematurely. The argument is that had the subwoofer not been jarred, that potential loose part would have always been tight and not been adversely affected by vibrations.

Did I explain that clearly and does it make sense? At first, I would have thought if the subwoofer works fine after the violent UPS transport, everything is well connected inside and should last. In effect it was tested. If anything were prone to failure, it would have already failed.

If this second argument makes more sense than the first, would it be better to keep this one and ask for some type of compensation. From Thedeepdiscouint’s perspective, they will still incur another $70 cost to ship the new one to me and perhaps eat the full cost of this blemished one.

For all you electonic gurus out here, does the first arguement hold water? If you were given the choice to get a new one at no charge or keep this blemished one with a reimbursement of perhaps $70, which would you chose?

[slickooz]

yea i only got space to place the sub in front of the room. should i put the sub on the right side because there is nothing there. or put it on the left side of the room? but that side has a sofa blocking it. if i put it behind the sofa its kinda hidden away in the corner but will i hear it better on the right corner because nothing is in it way? its an L shape sofa so the armrest is like 5 feet away from the wall and if i place the sub in between the sofa and wall will it block out the sound?

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by slickooz

yea i only got space to place the sub in front of the room. should i put the sub on the right side because there is nothing there. or put it on the left side of the room? but that side has a sofa blocking it. if i put it behind the sofa its kinda hidden away in the corner but will i hear it better on the right corner because nothing is in it way? its an L shape sofa so the armrest is like 5 feet away from the wall and if i place the sub in between the sofa and wall will it block out the sound?

Low frequency sound waves are non directional , so if you put it behind the couch you will still hear it ! The best thing to do is move it around to find where it sounds best within you're room as to where you are sitting !

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by slickooz

yea i only got space to place the sub in front of the room. should i put the sub on the right side because there is nothing there. or put it on the left side of the room? but that side has a sofa is blocking it. if i put it behind the sofa its kinda hidden away in the corner but will i hear it better on the right corner because nothing is in it way? its an L shape sofa so the armrest is like 5 feet away from the wall and if i place the sub in between the sofa and wall will it block out the sound?

Low frequency waves are non-directional, so they are projected through-out the room. I like the following post from Jomari in providing a visual:

consider the subwoofer as your primary source for LFE signals, and having it interact with the room. think of the room flooded with an inch of water. the sub would then cause ripples to show you how it interacts with your room at a certain lower frequency. we can also see that the different frequencies would also show the different lengths produced, by the spaces in between them.

Everyone has different boundaries and dynamics working and interacting with the sub's frequencies, that no one can say where the best spot would be for your sub, only you can. You will need to move the sub and listen for yourself. Just try to keep it about a foot from each wall if you place it in a corner. You can put the sub in either corner, and give it a listen. You may find that behind the sofa to sound better than in the other corner. I do recommend getting a longer CL2 rated audio cable to allow for better location sampling. You want to get the best performance the sub can offer, so investing in a relatively cheap audio cable should not set you back very much at all. Here is a link for a longer cable from Monoprice.....

25' Sub Audio Cable

[slickooz]

thanks. cant wait to test the sub . which movie in my collection should have the best bass performance? 3 movies that i want are sin city, iron man and transformer that i never got to buy because it cost so much. i might pick up iron man today because they have it on sale for 20 at BB.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by slickooz

thanks. cant wait to test the sub . which movie in my collection should have the best bass performance? 3 movies that i want are sin city, iron man and transformer that i never got to buy because it cost so much. i might pick up iron man today because they have it on sale for 20 at BB.

Ironman is a good one, especially the scene when he comes out of the cave! The more popular blu's for your sub around here are U-571, Cloverfield and War of the Worlds (even though this is not on blu yet, it is amazing)......

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by slickooz

thanks. cant wait to test the sub . which movie in my collection should have the best bass performance? 3 movies that i want are sin city, iron man and transformer that i never got to buy because it cost so much. i might pick up iron man today because they have it on sale for 20 at BB.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
RAMBO
BEHIND ENEMY LINES

These would work well for finding A spot for the new toy !!