Subwoofer on carpeted floor...is there anything else I can do? (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Orr]

Our entire downstairs is carpeted with the exception of the dining room and kitchen. Right now, I have my subwoofer located directly under the right front satellite speaker in a corner with an outside wall. It is sitting on carpet. It sounds great, but is there anything else I can do to maximize its performance, like putting a board under it or something. Relocating it to another part of the living room really isn't an option.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Mike LS]

Some folks opt to put a marble (or some kind of stone) slab under their sub.

 

[Cees Alons]

To be honest: no! Your sub should sound great and the carpet won't change that. On the contrary, I would say, less chance of standing waves between ceiling and floor.

Some people like to feel their subs resonating on the wooden floor. For those (and if there's a distance requirement - e.g. if it's a downwards radiating sub), there are carpet-piercing spikes. Won't damage the carpet too seriously, but may scratch the wooden floor beneath it. Useless on concrete floors, damaging on expensive parquet.

Cees

 

[Jim_Stu]

Stephen,
Is the sub:
1) A 'bottom firing' unit.
2) A 'side firing' unit.
Translation - Which way is the big, bad wolf pointed?
If its a 'bottom firing' unit, lay it on its side, point
it toward the corner, and check it out. Another, option
for 'bottom firing' units is place a piece of counter top
material under them.
NOTE: I would not bother to do any of this unless you can
validate an improvement with some good data from a SLP meter and Avia DVD.
http://www.sonicdesign.se/subplace.html
JRS

 

[JerryW]

You can try putting a marble slab or patio stone under it, or install some carpet spikes and couple it to your floor. I did both and it made a pretty dramatic improvement.
Of course, the slab only helps if your sub is of the down-firing variety.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

1. Get it as close to the corner as possible

2. Place it on a solid slab of concrete or marble type of stone

3. If the port is on the bottom, place a oil type of funnel under the port, this will direct the air away from the floor and into the room.

Gregg

 

[DanaA]

I have to agree with those suggesting trying out a piece of slab underneath. I'm on these boards because I'm undergoing a complete make-over in my bedroom HT. Every day here, I learn many, many new things. Two or three days ago, I heard the slab idea and went to Home Depot and bought a 14 by 14" piece of ceramic tile and, because the change over was so immediate, I did notice a significant difference in the subs performance. These people really know what they're talking about.

 

[Stephen Orr]

It's side-firing. The controls are on back, the "grill" on the front.

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

I have a front-firing sub (Polk PSW350), and I tried the patio stone thing just for kicks... and got a 2db increase in output just by putting the patio stone under it (14"x14"x2" slab from Home Depot). I also put a smaller slab on top of the sub (12"x12"x2"), and that made it noticably tighter-sounding for music. At first I thought perhaps I was perceiving a difference just because I thought I should, so I removed the stones and replaced them several times to verify it. Hell, for less than $5, it's worth a try!