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
skushino

Showing 4 responses by warrenh

for two channel sound I keep my subs as close to the mains as possible. Yes, two is better than one; and bigger is uaully better. Listen to two 10" subs in a system play the second cut Use Me on her Champion cd. Keep that in your typanic memory box until you get to hear the piece with two 15 inchers. You tell me which does it for you. This is particulary satisfying when you have oodles of air to move. warren
I have never had good experience with subs in the corner. I like mine right next (inches) from my mains. Makes seamless integration much easier to attain. I was very happy with one 10" sub in my last place, but looking back (I had the room for 2) two 12 inchers would have been better. Certainly, at loud volumes, with heavy bass lines, larger subs can crank and be very impressive, but they do just as well, at very low volumes, enriching bass Hz that the little guys have trouble with. In fact, that is what I appreciate the most. IMHO... warren :)

BTW, after oodles of tinkering, listening, back and forth from listening chair to subs, I found 50 Hz and 12 o'clock on the gain to be just right for my tympanics/room.-I adjusted the crossover by ear alone. When my rig sounded right? Whatever that Hz be it be. 50 in this case. The listening room dictates the crossover. Spoke to Jeff, the owner creator of James Loudspeakers. He does his subs the same way and recommends that to all two channel audiophools.
Stan, I don't think so...If one has a pair of speakers that are beautiful and accurate top to bottom, adding a sub can still improve the sound even though the sub is not handling any deeper Hz the main can't. A recording, say, with the lowest Hz level being at around 35Hz, can be produced beautifully and accurately by a pair of speakers: you're saying a sub is not needed then? A sub, particulary a large one, (I'm assuming a quality sub, of course)will move more air than 6 or 10 inch woofer in the main speakers. Comparable subs (same manufacturer) will produce the same effects, as well. A 15" will move more air than a 10. Two more than one. Same Hz, but different feeling. There is more to a sub than simply reproduction of frequencies that the mains cannot handle. "Nothing more or less." warren :)