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Subwoofer Height and Number of Drivers

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Does subwoofer height factor into the way its sound is dispersed? I see that most subs are of the short box-type cabinet. However, there are a few configured as towers in a two-channel speaker system. Most of those in the short box configuration have one or two drivers. The tower configurations have four or more drivers in its cabinet.

The VMPS Very Large Array towers are six feet tall with five 12 inch woofers and one 15 inch woofer.

VMPS Subwoofer
Tower

Does having multiple drivers in a taller cabinet provide better sound dispersion throughout the room than a shorter cabinet with fewer drivers?

Back in the seventies, most of the speakers that I saw in the stereo stores were the box type that sat on the floor without any feet.

Iconic ad with speakers on the floor

Now, all speakers are elevated off the floor. Why not all subwoofers?

Is there an optimum subwoofer height?

Are more drivers better?
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128x128mitch4t
hifihvn
943 posts
 
Back in the seventies, most of the speakers that I saw in the stereo stores were the box type that sat on the floor without any feet.
Maxell ad? Anyway, I remember the dealers doing that. Maybe they didn't have room for all of them with stands. Stands didn't seem as common either.

Another possibility, a lot of young people were buying audio then, and maybe they didn't want to break the bank making them think they needed stands also, and may pass on their store. A lot of those speakers did need elevated on stands IMO. I raised mine.

I can't see why the subs would need to be line of site to your ears, if they are really only for the bottoms octaves. If it was at higher directional frequencies, I could see them being at ear level. Just my thoughts FWIW.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
Some raised ones might give a more live in your chest impact, for those who want it.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Large tower subwoofers like large tower speakers can have a negative affect on sound and stereo imaging because it is a large reflective surface. The larger the speaker is the bigger the problem it will create with its own sound quality.
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t OP
1,611 posts
 
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@Rrog, the Genesis 1.2 woofer tower is seven and a half feet
tall with a dozen 12-inch woofers per tower.

Genesis 1.2 Woofer Towers

@HiFivn...yes that was the Maxell ad.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Mitch4t, That is correct.
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