Audio Kinesis Swarm Subwoofer Awarded 2019 Golden Ear Award by Robert E. Greene

Congratulations Duke!!
Even a newbie like me can understand how well deserved this award is (not to mention how overlooked and underappreciated your design is)!

@Duke - you mentioned that:
What would be really sweet is, three subs near the ceiling and the fourth one closer to the floor

This looks like a deal maker for me since my room is very small.
What are some ways you can suggest to position (suspend/hang?) the subs near the ceiling?

Thanks,
Hans

I also just placed an order with Duke.

@noble100 - Thanks for being a staunch advocate for the DBA concept!
I learned quite a bit from your postings!

@millercarbon - Thanks also to you for your timely explanations!

Thanks to everyone else who responded to my initial thread: " Searching for matching(?) Subwoofer solution
"

Looking forward to crawling around the room setting up the system!

Thanks Tim!

After speaking with Duke, looks like the crawling will be limited to perhaps just one sub. The other three subs will be positioned up facing the ceiling.

Is there a "crawl" or other method for adjusting the subs up near the ceiling?

I also spoke with Duke about positioning 2 subs directly beneath my main speakers and 2 subs up near the ceiling.

The subs near the ceiling would be more difficult to experiment with placement (unless I install temporary long shelves high up on two walls).

@Any Swarm/DEBRA owners out there - Have any of you placed subs up near the ceiling?


Thanks,
Hans

Hi Tim,

Yes, I just couldn’t figure a way to situate 4 subs on the floor in my small office. So I didn’t place the order.

Then I saw the thread where Duke mentioned positioning subs up near the ceiling.

I spoke with Duke for a while about this. He explained, among other things (wow you can get a college education on one phone call with Duke!!) that this would help with distribution in the vertical plane. Still tripping up on the terminology/jargon but beginning to understand more.

We also talked about placing one sub under each of the main speakers and the other two facing up near the ceiling.

Even better!

This way, with two subs up high, the ones on the floor will not take up any additional space since the main speakers will be over them anyway.

I then placed an order for the Swarm in black finish.

Will probably reach out to you when they arrive for set up advice.

Hans

@noble100  - Your guess is accurate regarding my room/listening position.  Still trying to figure the shelf situation for experimenting.
I know it will be worth the effort though.

@davekayc - Duke told me that the ceiling aimed subs should be placed high on the wall a few inches from the ceiling opposite from the wall where the floor subs sit under the main speakers.

If I understand correctly, one of the ceiling subs can be in a corner with polarity reversed. 

@Duke - please correct me if I have it wrong.

Thanks,
Hans

Thanks Tim!  
No need to rush on Experiment#2.  Duke told me he needs about 8 weeks ordering cabinets, amp and build time.

I will probably end up placing shelves along each right and left sidewall as you mentioned in step A.  
Probably will place a shelf on the back wall while i'm at it.(If I am going to drag out tools, measure and mark, drill, etc anyway)

With the floor subs under the mains, and one ceiling facing sub in a corner, that leaves just one sub to experiment with.

Unless I'm missing something, ...

@Duke - Do you place the subs directly under the main speakers?
If so, facing which way?

Thanks,
Hans

@millercarbon 

Yes, I feel I have a basic understanding of the reasons behind the advantages of the Swarm/DBA concept.

Landing right into the "fine tuning" stage makes sense now.

So after everything is set up, I look forward to some listening comparisons:
   
1) Swarm off
  
2) Swarm on but with just one sub (one of the subs under the main speakers) powered on to simulate a traditional single sub setup.

3) Swarm on (all subs on)


@noble100 
 
Really appreciate you taking the time coming up with the experiments! 

I plan to install shelves long enough to span each wall (left, right and rear) but with a 2' clearance from each adjacent wall.
That should accommodate all 4 experiments. 

Would it make sense to experiment positioning the subs on the floor to face the floor (on tall spikes) instead of facing the wall?


Thanks,
Hans 

 

@c_morris999 +1

Agree 100%!  noble100 has always been very forthcoming with detailed and thorough explanations. I now understand the basics behind the major advantages afforded by the DBA concept.  

It really does make sense. 

millercarbon is another great resource as he has built his own DBA system from scratch and is also very knowledgeable.  Learned a lot from him as well.

My listening room is a small office 9 x 11 with no floor space to spare and there was no way I was going to practically fit in a sub (let alone four of them!).  It just would not work.  I did not place an order.

Then about a week ago I read a post earlier in this thread from Duke mentioning that 2 or 3 subs can be mounted up high facing the ceiling. 
  
I called Duke from AudioKinesis (who was very accommodating and patiently spent a lot of time on the phone with me answering all of my newbie questions while giving me a mini education in acoustics) and ordered the Swarm in black finish.

Duke also explained that in addition to saving floor space in a small room, ceiling facing subs help with the vertical plane (don't ask me to explain) in most room sizes.

Duke also mentioned that the two subs on the floor (one under each main speaker) can be placed facing any direction and not necessarily right up against a wall.  

Now I can have two subs up near the ceiling and the subs under each main speaker will not take up any additional floor space!!

He said I might want to experiment with just one ceiling facing sub, one sub under each main and the fourth sub under my desk.  Perfect for a foot rest with the benefit of one less shelf to mount up high on the wall.

Now that's versatility!! 

I will post results after setting things up. Would be interesting to compare setup notes/results with other Swarm/DEBRA/Custom DBA owners using them in small (or any size) rooms.

Hans

@davekayc - Did you place the sub up on the listening chair itself or on the floor where the chair would be located? Interesting (and clever!) that placing a sub down the stairwell enhanced impact of the lower bass.