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Subwoofer slam vs boom

Generally speaking what causes a subwoofer to be boomy, verses crisp and "slammy"?

Does placement and room acoustics greatly affect this, or is this just a common problem with lower end subs?

Currently I am using 2 HSU VTF-3's with opposite front corner placement, with all speakers set to large. The processor supports stereo subs, kinda a moot point with all large speakers thou. The subs should be doing the least amount of work possible, i.e. I am not rolling over 7 channels into one sub.

Thanks all
Marty
marty9876

Showing 2 responses by seandtaylor99

seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Hi Marty ... it might be corner placement. I have a REL Strata .. a very different, sub, but still a sub. It's crossed at around 30Hz with my mains. I found that corner placement sounded very very boomy, even with the gain turned right down. I now have it out in the room, quite close to my listening position, just inside the right hand speaker. Now there's no boom at all and the bass goes very deep. Now I have the gain quite well up.

Try pulling them out from the corner at least 2-3 feet into the room, just to see if some of the boom goes away. If it does you'll have to find an acceptable trade off between sound and position convenience.

I know a lot of people swear by corner placemeent, but I found that it only creates lots of boomy bass ... for quality bass the sub has to be well away from walls.
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Sugarbrie ... I have to disagree from personal experience. I had the REL on very little gain, with the rolloff down at about 25Hz and it still boomed away in the corner. The only way I could get good integration, and slam without boom was to bring it into the middle of the room.
I know you also have a sub (a REL I think) so I suspect that it's something to do with my room, perhaps that it's quite small.
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