What kind of sub were you using. Which direction did the woofer fire? I experimented once with a Rel sub with my Dunlavy 4a's. It had a downward firing 10" woofer. I placed it in the right corner behind the speakers and it was amazing how it blended in. The sub sounded like it was just part of the speakers. The problem was, if the bass was weak in the recording it filled in very nice, but if the bass was already great the sub was just way too much. It seemed like I was adjusting the subwoofer level for every song and quickly returned it. Keep in mind, my speakers had great bass to begin with and I was just looking to fill in. It may have worked well with speakers less capable of low frequency response.
Subwoofer in the corner? Forget about it
Since installing new horn speakers, I have been learning a little about extracting their best performance. They require some effort and knowledge to get right - and the effort is the easy part.
Following "common wisdom", I placed the sub in the left corner, to the rear and outside of the left main speaker. The result was a disaster.
Boomy, one note bass, little tone and texture, very uneven response at different locations in the room, and no musical connection. This wasn't good enough for screening reruns of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" on a HT set-up.
I repositioned the sub to the midpoint of the right-side wall. Now, it is a little forward and to the side of the right main speaker. Initial results are promising: Lower bass output (expected going from 3 corner boundaries to 2 wall/floor boundaries), coupled with musical LF, toneful and engaging. The difference between just moving alot of air and making proper musical bass is huge.
Here are two articles I found interesting:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/SubwooferplacementP1.php
both use models and measurements to confirm my listening experience - corner loading the sub is loud and rough, compared with other locations. And multiple subs are smoother than a single sub. Now, I just have to bite the bullet and make room for another refrigerator sized horn sub in my listening room.
scott
Listening room: 15' x 18', suspended wood floor
Music used to evaluate sound:
Rachmaninoff, piano concerto 2
Astor Piazolla, Adios Ninos
Saint Saens, organ symphony 3
Rodrigo, concierto de Aranjuez
Doctor John, Duke elegant
Joe Pass, Portraits of duke Elington
Following "common wisdom", I placed the sub in the left corner, to the rear and outside of the left main speaker. The result was a disaster.
Boomy, one note bass, little tone and texture, very uneven response at different locations in the room, and no musical connection. This wasn't good enough for screening reruns of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" on a HT set-up.
I repositioned the sub to the midpoint of the right-side wall. Now, it is a little forward and to the side of the right main speaker. Initial results are promising: Lower bass output (expected going from 3 corner boundaries to 2 wall/floor boundaries), coupled with musical LF, toneful and engaging. The difference between just moving alot of air and making proper musical bass is huge.
Here are two articles I found interesting:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/SubwooferplacementP1.php
both use models and measurements to confirm my listening experience - corner loading the sub is loud and rough, compared with other locations. And multiple subs are smoother than a single sub. Now, I just have to bite the bullet and make room for another refrigerator sized horn sub in my listening room.
scott
Listening room: 15' x 18', suspended wood floor
Music used to evaluate sound:
Rachmaninoff, piano concerto 2
Astor Piazolla, Adios Ninos
Saint Saens, organ symphony 3
Rodrigo, concierto de Aranjuez
Doctor John, Duke elegant
Joe Pass, Portraits of duke Elington