best placement of sub... front or rear of room? (1 Viewer)

[Irfan Khan]

my choices with the sony wm40 is either up front beside my tv (10feet from me), or beside my couch? which do you think is besT? im not at home so i cant just move it right now thanks

 

[Chriss M]

You'll have to try it yourself because it really depends on your room. When i had my SVS 20-39, it was placed beside my couch. I always felt that i could localize the bass. Maybe it was my ears, or maybe it was all in my head, but it constantly bothered me. My new sub is placed up front, between my two main speakers, and i am much happier with this placement.

 

[ChadLB]

I had my old one forwared firing was up front next to my left front speaker. Now with my new sub downward firing I have it next to the couch because it sounds better there than up front. It is all in the ears and what you like.

 

[todbnla]

My Sony is in the front on either side, currently left, sounds great.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I have tried both methods. To tell you the truth, I like how 2 subs sound (1 in front and 1 behind). But with one sub, it is easier to set it up front and have it blend into the soundstage and much easier to localize the sub if placed behind, even with properly set crossovers.

 

[Keir H]

Chris, or anyone, did you lose any 'punch' when you moved it from the rear next to you to the front? Curious, because I am getting a bit better definition with my 22-31CS but seems like I am having a bass "valley" rather than hump until I get to the lower octaves...maybe this is more accurate and before I was getting reinforced freq. around 40-60hz..ex:sometimes I have to play something that I know has low info on it to make sure my sub is on now that it is in the front right corner and not near the right rear corner next to me..along the wall. Maybe this is what they call proper 'blending'. I think I like it but may have to get you use to it.

 

[Robert James Clark]

I've always felt that the old saying that "bass is non-directional " is something of a canard.
I've heard of some recent research that seems to agree that the human ear can hear directionally down to about 40hz, and I strongly feel that the subwoofer should be as close to the mains as possible...

 

[Richard Greene]

In general, for rectangular rooms:


Best integration with front speakers:

= place subwoofer halfway between the speakers
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Highest output and "smoothest possible" frequency response
at a variety of listening positions: ("smoothest possible" = not really smooth in most rooms unless a lot of bass traps are used, or parametric EQ, or both, to be accurate,
... just the best possible in that room)

= use corner nearest ears (but usually better integration with front speakers if you use a corner near those speakers)
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Most accurate frequency response if assisted with EQ boost and time delay:

= near field (sub right next to you) ... but not so great for integration with front speakers even with time delay
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Most accurate frequency response above roughly 40Hz.:

= stereo dipole subwoofers against side walls next to front speakers

 

[Citizen87645]

I have tried various placements and I suppose I may try something else someday. I currently have a Sony SA-WM40 in the front left corner (reverse phased) and a smaller Yamaha sub in the rear right corner. My previous placement was to have a sub on each side of the television, both between the mains. I switched to the room corners because there seemed to be more response there.

I have my mains (JBL S38s) set to large. I know some people are very devoted to the all small setting, but getting bass from the mains (which I think the JBLs do quite well) seems to help with the subwoofer blend. Plus I think music sounds better with the large setting. As usual its ultimately up to the individuals tastes.

 

[Bill Maeder]

I agree with Robert, I seem to be able to "hear" the sub if it not placed between the mains.
I have a Velo CT-100 located directly under the TV with the center channel above the TV.