Subwoofer Placement


I have no room between my front channel speakers (b&w 803 diamond 2s) and the side walls of my living room. So, to incorporate the sub, I have two options:
- get a sub like the Rel T9 and place it a few feet ahead of my left tower speaker (the sub would be 4 feet in front of the speaker and 10 feet away from the listening position as I have a long, rectangular living room)
- get two smaller subs and place them directly behind my two front channel speakers. I have only 10 inches of space between the back wall and the back of the front channels. Question here is will this impact the sound from my front channels and will the subs still sound good given they are not in hype open?

Thanks for your consideration.
aman4kr4
Good question.

The room is rectangular in shape. The shorter side is about 12 feet wide - so the speakers are about 10 feet away from each other. They are an inch away from the sides of their respective walls.

The longer side is about 22 feet long. So the distance between the fronts and the sitting position is about 16 feet. (I'm approximating).
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If it were practical within the limitations of your furniture placement, I think a 6-7' separation between your mains would be preferable. Of course, you would want to sit closer to the mains. Then you could place a pair of subs on either side of the mains. I wouldn't worry about stressing the subs.

db