subwoofer on carpet (1 Viewer)

[David Blair]

My sub is one of the original 12" Dayton's. Since I got it, it's been sitting on the carpet a couple of feet from my tv. It sounds pretty good but sometimes it does sound a little sloppy. So earlier this evening I was playing around with some scenes from ROTK. I would play the scenes with the sub on the carpet then put it in the kitchen with lanoleum floors. The sub sounded considerably better on the kitchen floor.

My question is, what material should I use to build a platform/stand for the sub? Are there anything "special" that I need to use?

 

[Dick Knisely]

Well concrete would work well

Seriously, what kind of criteria have to be met here and how restrictive the WAF?

Anything you put it on is going to become a passive radiator. I think you'd need something with enough mass so its vibrations don't become more of an issue than just leaving it on the carpet. The more I think about it the less sure I am just what kinds of material might work well, other than the concrete slab Ceramic tile on a particle board base? Piece of 1/4" steel?! Interesting question... sure hope some of the pro's here can enlighten you (and me!) more.

 

[DougRuss]

Something like this might help:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SubDude/

 

[Phil A]

With some of my subs I use a ceramic tile underneath. I think it was $3.55 for a 16x16 inch tile at Home Depot. I've found it can help in some situations. A tile is easy to cut (e.g. Home Depot will do it) if you absolutely need it not to stick out on the sides.

 

[Chu Gai]

So you moved the sub to different locations and you're thinking that the reason for the differences are due primarily to the flooring substrate and not to level differences or that you're now exciting different room modes?

 

[Dick Knisely]

Hmmm... interesting and valid point Chu.

David -- as Chu is pointing out, there is probably much more going on here than just the flooring and focusing too much there might just be wasted effort. The reason it sounds better may have nothing to do with the carpet and everything to do with something like where the walls are in relation to the sub. I think I'd want to experiment a bit more with positioning of the sub within the room. Also, is it feasible to change the orientation of the sub -- rotate/flip it temporarily so it isn't firing downward if that's what it normally does?

 

[David Blair]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Chu and Dick, you could be right.
The sub does fire downward and when I have it placed in it's normal location on the carpet there is a wall directly behind it. When the sub was on the kitchen floor, the nearest wall was at least three feet away.
I hadn't considered laying it on it's side. Only issue with this is my 18 month old boy and his curious little hands. Before I started my experimentation last night I had to take off the amp and pulled two toys and a handful of paper out of it.

 

[ScottCHI]

slate or even a piece of marble will work

 

[Dick Knisely]

Thanks, I needed the chuckle. That's good--been there, done that. At this point my kids are way past that stage. However, along the way one receiver and two speakers :frowning:died:frowning: as sacrifices to the "learning" experiences of my kids.

Best thing to do is experiment. Can't hurt much except to waste some time. See if you can find a flat "something" reasonably heavy you could experiment with under the sub just to see what impact it would have and how bad the vibration / coupling is likely to be.

 

[Chu Gai]

Also consider readingSub Placement & Setup by Tom Nousaine which may provide some useful suggestions. I take it you're using an SPL meter and all that.

Great story on your son btw. My youngest was similarly curious and among other things, torched a couch, stuffed Matchbox cars down a toilet so deep I had to replace it, stuffed wheels, GI Joes, and anything else into a VCR, fixed the lights on an '87 GT 5.0 with a hammer, examined the inner workings of a telephone by taking it off the wall and dropping it repeatedly down the basement stairs till it opened up, and a whole lot more.

 

[Brian L]

Sounds like you have a budding engineer there, Chu! Wonder where he gets that?????

Brian

 

[Chu Gai]

The destructive nature comes from his mother.

 

[Rob White]

Does a front-firing sub work better on a carpeted floor? Just curious because I'm close to buying a sub for my carpeted living room.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[PaulCa]

As phil mentioned this works good on carpet,You can try cutting a piece of plywood and gluing the 12x12 marbel you pick up at home depot,I suggested this to my friend and he made two platforms for his subs,It works excellent.

 

[Dustin B]

Carpet would need to be ridiculously thick and porus to affect bass frequencies. Room placement is orders of magnitude more important than what the floor is made out of. 4" thick wall treatments stuffed with fiberglass insulation don't do anything to bass frequencies under 100hz. Carpet will do even less

 

[David Blair]

Well, in the end I just left the sub on the carpet.