DIY Subwoofer Risers

[gates70]

Finally built myself a riser. Big Daddy, let me know if I did it right. Picks in my gallery. Thanks !

[erict]

Originally Posted by gates70

Finally built myself a riser. Big Daddy, let me know if I did it right. Picks in my gallery. Thanks !

Looks good to me I was looking at the floor riser you built and wondered what all the holes are for?

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by gates70

Finally built myself a riser. Big Daddy, let me know if I did it right. Picks in my gallery. Thanks !

Well done gates ! It close to the one I built for my 110 . You even put A piece of carpet on the floor under it witch is A good thing !
Nice Job !

[gates70]

Originally Posted by erict

Looks good to me I was looking at the floor riser you built and wondered what all the holes are for?

Thanks ! With the holes it acts as a broadband absorber.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Well done gates ! It close to the one I built for my 110 . You even put A piece of carpet on the floor under it witch is A good thing !
Nice Job !

Thanks Crazy...I was going to just leave it at the rubber feet but then I decided to cut a small piece of carpet. Your sub setup is just out of this world !

[erict]

Originally Posted by gates70

Thanks ! With the holes it acts as a broadband absorber.

I'm not familiar with that, can you explain more?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by gates70

Finally built myself a riser. Big Daddy, let me know if I did it right. Picks in my gallery. Thanks !

The riser looks beautiful and perfect. Great job.

My concern is about the position of your front speakers and the subwoofer. Make sure you move the front speakers away from the walls. When the speakers are that close to the walls, they will interact too much with the room boundaries and you will end up hearing the room and not the speakers.

Also, the position of the subwoofer in the room may not be optimal. You need to perform the subwoofer crawl to find out a better position. It may also be too clos to the wall. Usually, a good location for the subwoofer is in a corner, about a foot away from the walls. Since you don't have any room up front, try putting the subwoofer in the rear corner away from the walls.

It may be helpful to read A Guide to Subwoofers and A Guide to Subwoofers (Part II): Standing Waves & Room Modes. They both have stickies in the subwoofers section. The Subwoofer Crawl technique is explained in the middle of Part II with a link to a video from Axiom Audio.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The riser looks beautiful and perfect. Great job.

My concern is about the position of your front speakers and the subwoofer. Make sure you move the front speakers away from the walls. When the speakers are that close to the walls, they will interact too much with the room boundaries and you will end up hearing the room and not the speakers.

Also, the position of the subwoofer in the room may not be optimal. You need to perform the subwoofer crawl to find out a better position. It may also be too clos to the wall. Usually, a good location for the subwoofer is in a corner, about a foot away from the walls. Since you don't have any room up front, try putting the subwoofer in the rear corner away from the walls.

It may be helpful to read A Guide to Subwoofers and A Guide to Subwoofers (Part II): Standing Waves & Room Modes. They both have stickies in the subwoofers section. The Subwoofer Crawl technique is explained in the middle of Part II with a link to a video from Axiom Audio.

Thanks for the comment on the riser !

For the speakers, I put them there because my screen makes up pretty much the width of the room minus a foot and a half on each side which gives the speakers a bit of space to "peek out". If I move them away from the wall then they will be completely hidden behind the screen.

For the sub, ya I know it's not the optimal place and when I took the pics I placed it there in the meantime until I find it's final resting place. The only problem is that again, there's not that much space. The only idea I'm getting for now is to do away with the toy cases and place it there. Only problem with that is I'll have a sub right in my ear since it's so close to the couch

[Yautja]

Just found this thread, I could see in some of the picture galleries subs raised & wondered what the hell is this ???
oh well, sorry for my ignorance but most definately going to raise my sub of the floor as well

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

You need to perform the subwoofer crawl to find out a better position. It may also be too close to the wall. Usually, a good location for the subwoofer is in a corner, about a foot away from the walls. Since you don't have any room up front, try putting the subwoofer in the rear corner away from the walls.

I've been using a Auralex SubDude HD under my bedroom sub( Def Tech SuperCube III ) in tandem with a Auralex LENRD bass trap since late 2007. My bedroom is 11.5' x 11.5' with a 8' ceiling. The front right corner is the only spot for the sub. After finding this thread & reading up on the benefits of sub raising, I decided to give it a try. Since I have no carpentry skills, I ordered a SubTrap from ASC( from the link found in Big Daddy's thread opening post http://www.asc-home-theater.com/subtrap-flyer.pdf ). It took about 3 weeks for them to make & 1 week to arrive once shipped. It is 18" cubed, weighs 25lbs & can hold up to 250lbs. It has a very solid construction. It performs 3 functions( riser, isolator & bass trap ). By raising the sub above the level of the bed, I get better Audyssey auto calibration results. I don't have any means of measuring before/after performance, except my ears & they approve .
These professional reviews get into the technical details:
http://www.asc-home-theater.com/home...trapreview.pdf
http://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12...ap-6-2005.html
http://www.asc-home-theater.com/wide...rap-review.pdf

sub on SubTrap in right corner




SubTrap base


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[picture_shooter]

BD - this is a cool topic and thanks for sharing.

As for risers, they do make all the difference.

If you ever sit down almost ear level with the sub you can feel the bass really well. Then as you stand up, the bass does drop a good bit of DB's.

A+++, I do plan to make my own risers here very soon.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by picture_shooter

BD - this is a cool topic and thanks for sharing.

As for risers, they do make all the difference.

If you ever sit down almost ear level with the sub you can feel the bass really well. Then as you stand up, the bass does drop a good bit of DB's.

A+++, I do plan to make my own risers here very soon.

Good luck, and when you do, go to Lowes or Home Depot, you can get everything there.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

I've been using a Auralex SubDude HD under my bedroom sub( Def Tech SuperCube III ) in tandem with a Auralex LENRD bass trap since late 2007. My bedroom is 11.5' x 11.5' with a 8' ceiling. The front right corner is the only spot for the sub. After finding this thread & reading up on the benefits of sub raising, I decided to give it a try. Since I have no carpentry skills, I ordered a SubTrap from ASC( from the link found in Big Daddy's thread opening post http://www.asc-home-theater.com/subtrap-flyer.pdf ). It took about 3 weeks for them to make & 1 week to arrive once shipped. It is 18" cubed, weighs 25lbs & can hold up to 250lbs. It has a very solid construction. It performs 3 functions( riser, isolator & bass trap ). By raising the sub above the level of the bed, I get better Audyssey auto calibration results. I don't have any means of measuring before/after performance, except my ears & they approve .
These professional reviews get into the technical details:
http://www.asc-home-theater.com/home...trapreview.pdf
http://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12...ap-6-2005.html
http://www.asc-home-theater.com/wide...rap-review.pdf

sub on SubTrap in right corner




SubTrap base


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product label

Congratulations. Looks beautiful and big. Don't you wish your subwoofer was that big? You would be chased out of your home by the neighbors.

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Congratulations. Looks beautiful and big. Don't you wish your subwoofer was that big? You would be chased out of your home by the neighbors.

I'd probably burst my eardrums if I tried using my PA-120 or ED A2-300 in the bedroom with the door closed . I think my smaller subs( Def Tech SuperCube III or ML Dynamo ) are better suited for a smaller room( 11.5' x 11.5' with a 8' ceiling ). On the other hand, I recall seeing this member( https://www.blu-ray.com/community/ga...&folderid=2070 ) running dual SVS PC12-NSD's in a 11' x 10' with a 7' ceiling room .

In the living room I'm using Def Tech[ BP-2006( L & R ), CLR-2300( C ), BP-2X & BP-1.2X( 4 rears ), no sub other than the built ins on the fronts ]. Here too, subwoofer crawl wouldn't be possible. Never had a problem with bass running these. It's no wonder, with the bass spread across the fronts & the optimized crossovers. Leave it to Def Tech to consider these issues when designing a speaker system over 10 years old .

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

I'd probably burst my eardrums if I tried using my PA-120 or ED A2-300 in the bedroom with the door closed . I think my smaller subs( Def Tech SuperCube III or ML Dynamo ) are better suited for a smaller room( 11.5' x 11.5' with a 8' ceiling ). On the other hand, I recall seeing this member( https://www.blu-ray.com/community/ga...&folderid=2070 ) running dual SVS PC12-NSD's in a 11' x 10' with a 7' ceiling room .

In the living room I'm using Def Tech[ BP-2006( L & R ), CLR-2300( C ), BP-2X & BP-1.2X( 4 rears ), no sub other than the built ins on the fronts ]. Here too, subwoofer crawl wouldn't be possible. Never had a problem with bass running these. It's no wonder, with the bass spread across the fronts & the optimized crossovers. Leave it to Def Tech to consider these issues when designing a speaker system over 10 years old .

Are you running the built-in subs in the Def Tech super towers as LFE? I have the two 15" built-in subs in my super towers connected to the pre-outs for the front and run the two front speakers as full-range speakers. The low frequency extension of the the two front speakers is in the teens.

[ZIPPO]

Nope, just using speaker wire connections & running the three fronts as large. The built in crossovers create the signal to be sent to the built in subs, right?

From: http://www.definitivetech.com/docume...20101_edit.pdf

"Large vs. Small - When a channel is selected as "Large" it means the bass
information for that channel will be directed to that speaker along with all the
other frequencies. When "Small" is selected, the bass is filtered out of that
speaker and directed to either the subwoofer output jack or to the Left and
Right channels (depending on whether the subwoofer is selected as "on" or
"off"). For example, if you select the center channel speaker as "Large," the
center channel bass will go to the center speaker. If you select "Small," the
center bass will go elsewhere.

Subwoofer - If you have connected your subwoofer to the subwoofer output
jack (sometimes labeled “LFE”), select subwoofer as "On" or “Yes.” The
subwoofer will now play the Low Frequency Effects bass channel plus the
bass of any channels that you set as "Small." If your subwoofer is connected
to the system in any other way (such as L&R pre-outs or L&R speaker
outputs), set the subwoofer as "Off" or “None.” LFE and bass from channels
selected as small will now go to the Left and Right front channels.

Left and Right Front Speakers - Sometimes the choice between "Small"
and "Large" is not so clear-cut. These are the tradeoffs: When the main
speakers are set to "Small" you will enable the speakers to play at higher
volume levels with lowered distortion. Setting them as “Large” will improve
lower midrange/upper bass performance and speaker-to-subwoofer blending
(better sound quality) but at the expense of high volume capability. Here are
some speaker set-up suggestions for the major categories of speaker types.
Follow these guidelines and you can’t go wrong; but we encourage you to
experiment and see what works best for you. Provided you don’t play the
system at ear-splitting levels you will do no harm by trying various settings.

Floor-standing - If your main front speakers are floor-standing
models with good bass response, select "Large." If you have speakers
with built-in powered subwoofers such as Mythos ST or BP7000 series
speakers you must select the “Large” setting. If your subwoofer is
connected to the subwoofer output (LFE) jack and you wish to limit the
bass response of your main speakers for the sake of higher volume,
select "Small." "

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

Nope, just using speaker wire connections & running the three fronts as large. The built in crossovers create the signal to be sent to the built in subs, right?

The speaker wires should run the built-in subwoofers. However, I am not sure if the speaker wires will use the built-in amplifiers in the speakers. My speakers are a few years older. They may have changed the wiring on the 7000 series.

When I connect the pre-outs of my receiver to the the speakers, the built-in 300 watt amplifiers are used to drive the 15" subwoofers. It is possible that when you use the speaker wires, your receiver is running the subs and the built-in amps are not used. Check and make sure.

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The speaker wires should run the built-in subwoofers. However, I am not sure if the speaker wires will use the built-in amplifiers in the speakers. My speakers are a few years older. They may have changed the wiring on the 7000 series.

When I connect the pre-outs of my receiver to the the speakers, the built-in 300 watt amplifiers are used to drive the 15" subwoofers. It is possible that when you use the speaker wires, your receiver is running the subs and the built-in amps are not used. Check and make sure.

I checked the manual for my BP 2006TLs, it reads the same as the BP 7006 manual in regards to hooking up with speaker wire only. Built in amp is active & runs the sub woofer with speaker wire only hook up, no LFE cable connection needed. The sub power cables are plugged into power outlets of course.

Hooking Up With Speaker Wire Only
The simplest implementation of use with DTS or Dolby Digital is to simply
hook-up your BP7002/BP7004/BP7006 with speaker wire as described above and
set your receiver or processor’s menu to “Large” left and right main speakers and
“no” subwoofer. The bass management system will then send the LFE .1 channel
into the left and right channels and it will be reproduced by the subwoofers in your
BP7002/BP7004SC/BP7006s giving you all the benefits of the discrete LFE signal.
The speakers have a special circuit that takes an infinitesimally small signal from
the speaker level input and converts it to a low-level signal which then drives the
subwoofer power amp.

Hooking Up With Speaker Wire Only
The simplest implementation of use with Dolby Digital is to simply
hook-up your BP 2006TLs with speaker wire as described above and
"tell" your bass management system that you have “Large” left and right main speakers and
“no” subwoofer. The bass management system will then send the LFE .1 channel
into the left and right channels and it will be reproduced by the subwoofers in your BP 2006TLs giving you all the benefits of Dolby Digital & the discrete LFE signal.
The speakers have a special circuit that takes an infinitesimally small signal from
the speaker level input and converts it to a low-level signal which then drives the
subwoofer power amp. Bass management for the center & rear channels will normally be set on "small". (Although this will vary depending on the specific speakers; for instance, if you are using a CLR 2300 as a center channel, you would normally set center on large.) However, you may wish to experiment with this for best sound in your system.

BP2006TL :Specifications

Dimensions | Metric :38-1/4" H x 6-1/4" W x 11-1/2" D | 97.2 x 15.9 x 29.2 cm
Driver Complement :Two 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter; Two 4-1/2" high definition upper bass/midrange drivers; One 8" cast basket subwoofer
Frequency Response :19 Hz - 30 kHz
Impedance :Compatible with 8 Ohms outputs
Recommended Associated Amplifier Power :20 - 250 watts
Internal Amplifier Power :250 watts
A/V Receiver Crossover Setting :Large; Full Bandwidth
Auto On / Off :Signal Sensing (US) | Signal Sensing and Switched (International)
Power Requirements :110 volts Alternating Current (US) | 220 volts Alternating Current (International)
Inputs :One set of five way binding posts; One LFE input (optional)
Available Finishes :Piano-Gloss Black; Golden Cherry
Packaging :One to a Carton



You must be using these based on the specs

BP2000 :Specifications

Dimensions | Metric :50" H x 9" W x 16-7/8" D | 127 x 22.9 x 42.9 cm
Driver Complement :Two 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter; Four 6-1/2" high definition upper bass/midrange drivers; One 15" cast basket subwoofer
Frequency Response :15 Hz - 30 kHz
Impedance :Compatible with 8 Ohms outputs
Sensitivity :90 dB
Recommended Associated Amplifier Power :30 - 500 watts
Internal Amplifier Power :300 watts
A/V Receiver Crossover Setting :Large; Full Bandwidth
Auto On / Off :Signal Sensing and Switched
Power Requirements :110 volts Alternating Current (US) | 220 volts Alternating Current (International)
Inputs :Three sets of five way binding posts: Triwireable; One full range low level RCA (optional)
Available Finishes :Piano-Gloss Black; Golden Cherry
Packaging :One to a Carton

[crazyBLUE]

Real NICE ZIPPO !!

[erict]

I think I will head over to Home depot tonight and get some supplies (round board) to build a new riser/isolation pad for my SVS. The only thing is I can't go any higher then 4/5 inches because the wife does not want it to be a focal point in the room We will see what I come up with. Not sure if I should use three or four legs or should I say stubs