Best place to put a single subwoofer?


I know there are many opinions regarding subwoofer placement. I have had multiple subs (4) all in the same listening space. Way too much! I have had matched pairs hooked up in stereo. Right now I own only 1. It is part of my dedicated 2 channel music room and not a theater system. I have a pair of MBL 101e Mk2's which are excellent speakers IMHO, and they produce POWERFUL bass in their own right. However I am a bass freak (as noted above), so the harder it hits the better. Plus I tend to listen to a fair amount of rock music which I like to play loud, (hence MBL 101e's). Right now I have my sub positioned dead center between the two Radialstrahlers and it does ok. But I feel as though I'm missing something and that I ought to do something to increase performance, although I'm not exactally sure where to go with it. Not too many places I can move it to, but input and suggestions would be much appreciated. I have tried moving it closer, and then farther away from the wall but have not noticed any dramatic improvements. What about bass "suck out"? Could I be having some cancellation issues? What things would you Audiogoners do to improve on (already good) bass performance?
martinmobile

Showing 1 response by elevick

3 things:
1-Spikes should get you more bang regardless of where you put it, maybe even a sandbag on top of it.

2-Someone taught me a long time ago that if you don't have test equipment, a great way to find the best position is to start with the sub where it is and crawl around on the floor. Where ever in the room you hear the best bass, try moving the sub to that position.

3-Bass is power hungry. If you can adjust the crossover to a lower frequency, ie from 60hz to 40hz, you will maximize the sub's ability to apply the power where you need it most. On the other hand, if you are running it full frequency, try crossing it over at 60hz or so. Why waste it's power reproducing what the MBL's can do so easily.