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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
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,689 posts
 
Putting a sub in a corner, even if lifted off the floor, will result in maximal excitation of the major room modes. You will get maximum level output but it will be highly irregular and vary with listening position. This position is good only if you have some electronic equalization for those modes.
meiwan
399 posts
 
My understanding is that the sub has to be set slightly behind the main speakers. I place mine beside the right speaker 6 inches or so back. Integrates very well. Centred between the 2 would be even better.

If you are having issues, it's likely the room or the sub itself - or the sub setting, many people volume the sub too high thinking it will give 'more' bass but instead it muddies everything.
elevick
2,637 posts
 
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.
hevac1
812 posts
 
Try moving the chair you sit in and put the sub there. Then walk on your knees around the room with your head at about the same hight as you would be in your seat. Find where the sub sounds best to you and that is where you put it. There can be more than one locations so if you do not like the first place move around the room till you find another. I liked the location that had the tightest bass but not the lowest.
In a corner you will usually have the most bass. But it can be over powering with no detail or good decay and also hard to intergrate with your system correctly.
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