Subwoofer question

[erict]

Just out of curiosity when I here people talk about bass being to localized what do they mean? I always thought bass was omni directional and normally you're unable to tell where it's coming from. If you had a sub woofer lets say 10' from you're sound stage would it be easy to tell if the bass was coming from where the sub is located versus you're sound stage?

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Originally Posted by erict

Just out of curiosity when I here people talk about bass being to localized what do they mean? I always thought bass was omni directional and normally you're unable to tell where it's coming from. If you had a sub woofer lets say 10' from you're sound stage would it be easy to tell if the bass was coming from where the sub is located versus you're sound stage?

The higher the frequency, the more localized the sound will become. For example, 120hz is easier to locate than say 60hz, and so on and so on. This is partially because of the room and the wavelength of the frequency.

Another way bass would become localized, would be when you have poor sub placement. That's why so many suggest doing a bass crawl with a SPL meter in hand. There might be one place in your room that might spread the bass better than say two feet away where it would be localized.

Regardless, you should resource to the sticky threads that big daddy has written on bass management and sub placement.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by Audiophile_At_Birth

The higher the frequency, the more localized the sound will become. For example, 120hz is easier to locate than say 60hz, and so on and so on. This is partially because of the room and the wavelength of the frequency.

Another way bass would become localized, would be when you have poor sub placement. That's why so many suggest doing a bass crawl with a SPL meter in hand. There might be one place in your room that might spread the bass better than say two feet away where it would be localized.

Regardless, you should resource to the sticky threads that big daddy has written on bass management and sub placement.

as audiophile has mentioned, its being able to 'find' or 'see' the subwoofers location in the room. this isnt a good thing because you want to try to dissipate the subwoofers frequencies throught out the room evenly, and have a cleaner signal instead of an overpowering one.

hes also mentioned a great part of it, the higher the frequency, the more localized the subwoofer can be. this is one reason why most people default to 80hz as a crossover point, as to avoid being able to locate the subwoofer.

its also a matter of properly calibrating your subwoofer and the front stage too. if we can locate the sub even at lower frequencies, your fronts arent 'blending' with the subwoofer, with a high crossover to be the main reason.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by jomari

as audiophile has mentioned, its being able to 'find' or 'see' the subwoofers location in the room. this isnt a good thing because you want to try to dissipate the subwoofers frequencies throught out the room evenly, and have a cleaner signal instead of an overpowering one.

hes also mentioned a great part of it, the higher the frequency, the more localized the subwoofer can be. this is one reason why most people default to 80hz as a crossover point, as to avoid being able to locate the subwoofer.

its also a matter of properly calibrating your subwoofer and the front stage too. if we can locate the sub even at lower frequencies, your fronts arent 'blending' with the subwoofer, with a high crossover to be the main reason.

This is very good stuff. Makes a lot of sense!

[jomari]

this is also another reason why a number of individuals also consider having two or three or even four subwoofers in a fairly large room. aside from flattening out the bass response in a particular spot in the room, it also devoids being able to 'find' the subwoofer because (ideally), you have the subwoofers producing a balanced output. in contrast to such effects, you might end up having an overpowering experience, which is why calibration is key here. and we're not talking just using your ears.

first rule of entering the intermediate level is purchasing a SPL meter. this is your key to the city so to speak.