Sub placement? (1 Viewer)

[BobHaymond]

My room is 13x20x6; will have Sony36XBR & C recessed in short wall; L/R prutruding ~1.5'; 2 side, 2 rear surrounds. Question is where to put the sub? I had planed to place it in the corner of TV wall-=-say, 8' cable. A friend swears that so placed I'd get objectional directivity regardless of common presumptions. If I place it at the rear, the cable runs might be 25' by the time I route thru walls. Would apprciate any experience you care to share.

 

[Kevin T.]

Im kinda new to this, but let me try, with some of the knowledge i have, as far as subs go, bass is non directional,im thinking you can place it anywhere you would like, without any problems. Somebody correct me if im wrong tho
HTH
Kevin

 

[Bill Kane]

Bob,

Here's a test trick if you're willing to spend less than $25 on it. This presumes using RCA connectors from the amp SUB OUT to a powered sub amp.

Get a 25-ft length of black RG6 cable with F-connectors at Radio Shack. Get a package of two F-connector to RCA adapters.

Now you can place your sub in the front corner, then in the rear, to hear what works best in your room. Afterward, you can look for a nicer subwoofer cable in the appropriate length for final placement (Hopefully, the front!)

 

[TimDoss]

The best way to place a sub is to put the subwoofer in your

listening position, play something bassy through it and crawl around

the room... where it sounds best is where you should put it.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Sub placement is actually a bit tricky.
There are 2 competing theories on where to place the sub:
Corner Loading - This puts the sub in the corner of the 2 longest, un-broken walls. The walls will now reflect the lowest-possible frequency creating an extra-deep sound. Most Home Theater systems perfer this.
Mid Wall - The extra enhancement caused by wall reflections is fun, but not accurate. People with nice/accurate music systems prefer placing the sub 1/3 or 2/5's along the longest wall. This does not give you the lowest-possible reflection, but reflects some higher-frequencies to create a more balanced sound.

...get objectional directivity regardless of common presumptions.

WOW! I thought I was good at techno-babble.
What I think your friend is trying to say "You cannot tell where the sub is located". This is only sorta true.
You DO get direct sound from a sub. But you also get a lot of wall-reflections which tend to mask/hide where the sub is located.
Most systems have the sub up front with the rest of the speakers. There is usually a long, un-broken wall behind this equipment, it makes for short cable runs, etc.
When you get everything built, go to the speakers/subwoofer fourm and read about how to play with sub positions.