Subwoofers and Seating Position for Klipsch Forte iv's


Hi All, 

I am trying understand seating position and subwoofer size/power requirements.

My room is 35 X 15 x 8 = 4200 cubic feet. The room setup (music only and no HT) is such that my main speakers are on one end of the 35 foot length and my seating position is about 11 feet from the speakers, such that half of the 35 foot length is behind me. There is nothing obstructing the whole 35 foot length except the seating position.

My thought is that I would obtain two subwoofers and start with them on the same end of the room as the main speakers. I realize room modes may impact subwoofer positions, but I am hallucinating that only one of the subwoofers would  ever come further into the room than on either side of the listening position and not end up at the other end of the 35 foot length.

So I am imagining that I am really trying to energize just the half of the room that is closest to the main speakers.

My speakers are Klipsch Forte iv's connected to a Don Sachs preamp and then to a variety of amps between 25 and 100 wpc per channel (Van Alstine, FW F7, DS  Kootenay, and Quicksilver horn monos). The Fortes are specified as handling 100 wpc continuous at 112 decibels. 

I used to run Thiel CS5i's in this same space and a McCormack DNA 500 would provide "in my chest" bass response when I cranked it.

Been looking at HSU (15 inch & 450 watts, SVS (13 inch & 800 watts), and Rhythmic (12 inch & 400 watts) as these manufacturers seem to garner good reviews for being musical without going beyond the $900 to $1200 per sub range.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for listening,

Dsper

 

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dsper

You might look into Distributed Bass Array or Swarm setups.

What about reconfiguring the room to have the speakers on the long wall instead?

From your options I’d go with two Rhythmik F12Gs.  For placement and to excite room modes the least put one of the subs close to the walls at the midpoint of each of the front and back walls or the two side walls.  If that’s not practical, put them 20% of the way into the room from the front wall (7 feet in your room) and 25% into the room from the side walls (3.75 feet).  These are basic/general placement guidelines for a rectangular room from Todd Welti who’s a foremost expert on subwoofer placement.  The other option is to do “the crawl method” to find two places where the subs sound best from the listening chair and then set the volume, crossover, and phase as per these links…

https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/crawling-for-bass-subwoofer-placement

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-properly-set-your-subwoofers-volume-without-sh-1506136549

Just some thoughts and a couple ways to attack it.  Hope this helps, and best of luck.

My listening space - at approximately 18 x 15 x 8 - is markedly smaller (and less rectangular) than yours, but I faced the same problem. I, too, use Quicksilver tube amplification with a pair of Klipsch Belles - and struggled to find the best placement for a pair of badly-needed Rhythmik F12SE subs. (I realize this is all too big for the available space, but it’s what I have to work with. Plus, it makes for a nicely intimate "nearfield" listening experience). With the Belles placed along the "long" wall, I have each sub facing inward (across from one another) at the midpoint of each side wall (as suggested, I think, by @soix above). I experimented with them in the corners and, vice versa, on the long wall just inside the Belles . . . . neither of which sounded optimal. Since my "room" is a squarish formal living area that connects to the formal dining room and to the front foyer, my placement options were necessarily limited. Frankly, your Forte IV’s would be a much better fit in my space. wink Good luck!