subwoofer placement

familyguy · 02-03-2007, 11:18 PM

hey guys

i am now trying to also figure out where i should place my subwoofer

heres a very rough drawing as you can see of course! so i have a couch on the left and back. where should i place the sub. spot 1,2, or 3. any other spots you think are good let me know. also the back is open. in other words there are walls left right and in the front and alot of open space behind.
thanks

Arthur S · 02-03-2007, 11:39 PM

Hi Jup

If you can place the subwoofer in spot number 2 it looks like you will have what they call "nearfield placement"...this usually provides considerable impact at the listening position. Please keep in touch.

familyguy · 02-04-2007, 01:02 PM

thanks for the response but what is nearfield placement?

JohnRice · 02-04-2007, 02:16 PM

Nearfield placement means the sub is close to the listening position, so it needs less output and isn't likely to be affected as much by surroundings. Sounds like a solid theory, but I personally despise nearfield placement. The reason? It is only good for one listening position. If you move a couple feet away on the couch or to another listening position, the bass level drops significantly. Doubling your distance to the sub will reduce its volume by 75%.

My personal recommendation would be to the right of the TV, or if that isn't feasible, in position #3. The reason? The distance from the listening position to the sub remains relatively equal at all listening positions. I also can't stand the sub behind the listening position, though a lot of people disagree with that. There are other factors to take into consideration, but those would be my starting points.

Arthur S · 02-04-2007, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnRice

Nearfield placement means the sub is close to the listening position, so it needs less output and isn't likely to be affected as much by surroundings. Sounds like a solid theory, but I personally despise nearfield placement. The reason? It is only good for one listening position. If you move a couple feet away on the couch or to another listening position, the bass level drops significantly. Doubling your distance to the sub will reduce its volume by 75%.

My personal recommendation would be to the right of the TV, or if that isn't feasible, in position #3. The reason? The distance from the listening position to the sub remains relatively equal at all listening positions. I also can't stand the sub behind the listening position, though a lot of people disagree with that. There are other factors to take into consideration, but those would be my starting points.

Hi John

Thanks for contributing to this thread...I experienced nearfield placement and I liked it a lot...if I am not mistaken...nearfield placement virtually eliminates most major frequency response variations...at the recent high end show in Las Vegas, the HSU demo was a huge hit...people were leaving other high-end demos to come back to the HSU demo, largely due to the presence of the HSU MBM-12 (Mid Bass Module), which can deliver 120db at the listening position...I only wish I was living in a situation where I could supplement my pair of HSU VTF-3HOs + Turbos with the MBM which is about $400 plus shipping.

Hope you enjoy the Superbowl

**HTF Ads**

familyguy · 02-04-2007, 03:34 PM

i guess i could put it in #3 im just scared that it might be too far away?

Arthur S · 02-04-2007, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by familyguy

i guess i could put it in #3 im just scared that it might be too far away?

Hi Jup

Maybe you should just try both positions and decide which postion you like better.

familyguy · 02-04-2007, 05:34 PM

the reason that i cant do that is because my room is in the process of getting built. so i cant really listen to it yet and i wanted to know the position now so that i could run the rca cable in the wall. any more thoughts?

thanks

Bill_Weinreich · 02-04-2007, 07:06 PM

It all will ultimately come down to listining. If it were me, I would run seperate cables to different locations (at least 2&3). Cable is cheap in the scheme of things and will give you some flexibility if you need to change.

JohnRice · 02-04-2007, 07:21 PM

Quote:

nearfield placement virtually eliminates most major frequency response variations

As I already pointed out, yet you completely ignore the (what I consider) significant down side, which is that moving even slightly from the main listening position causes a considerable change in the volume of the sub. I prefer to find the best, more distant location, so standing waves are at a minimum, but the bass is more evenly distributed around the listening area.

Quote:

i guess i could put it in #3 im just scared that it might be too far away?

It is further than the mains, but in the system I have with the Hsu subs, they are a good 25 ft away and probably 10 further away than the speakers. My approach is this. This whole audio thing is nothing new to me. I've been into it for 30 years and have continually found that a setup which "Wows" you in the moment often becomes tiresome afterward. Sometimes people call it the "morning after" syndrome.

After you finish turning the sub up too loud and playing every explosion filled DVD you can find, you have to live with the system and not get tired of it, or be able to move around the room a bit, have people over and so on. That is where I come to the conclusions that I do. Notice I don't push you to buy the same sub brand I own in every possible thread. I try to consider all factors, plusses and minuses, without conveniently disregarding certain ones. A