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Subwoofer Question

Has anyone setup a subwoofer at 90° off axis to the listening position and gotten it to integrate well?

My sub is currently near the front wall between the two satellites, and sounds quite good there. However, because of my limited space I may have to move it halfway between the mains and the listening position, and place it on a side wall. It's a front firing sub with an external[separate] amp/crossover. The room is 12 by 16 feet, with the mains on the narrow wall.

I don't have a dedicated listening room. This is a bedroom that also serves as an office/home theater/music room, so space is VERY cramped. I'm very hesitant to do this, but would like to hear of any success stories if there are any.

Thanks.
gunbei
wirehead
140 posts
 
Gunbei: I was told there was only way to set up a sub: place it in your listening spot and then crawl around on all fours till you find the spot that sounds the best and that's where the sub should be. Oh, and don't do it when your non-audiophile friends are around. I hated explaining myself to a shrink.
costrosk
101 posts
 
Gunbei:

I haven't tried it (Luckily, I haven't had to), but in theory it should be possible to do. The theory is that the location of a properly set up sub, operating at the correct crossover, should not be audibly detectable. At least that's the theory, and that theory is completely contigent on the level and crossover frequency being low enough that localizing the source is nigh on impossible. In the real world (or more precisely, in your bedroom) results will vary, but to give it the best chance, you may have to run it at both a slightly reduced level and possibly lower crossover point. Since it sounds good where it is, just move it to the new location and try it out. Work the level down slowly til you feel it's either acceptable, or you hear the loss of the low end as just too great. If the former, you're done; if the latter, bring it up just as gradually as you went down, listening carefully to get it as close to level matched with your mains as you can. Once there, if the sub still doesn't integrate as well as you'd like, all you have left is lowering it's crossover point. Same shtick - lower gradually until you like it, or decide the loss is too great. With the lower crossover, you might then try bringing the level up a bit, but it might get a little bloated. It'll be tricky, either way, but... Theory says you can try!

chas


sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Try putting it in one corner behind one of the satellites. Try the right corner first.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
PS: In most cases (not all) I find it hard to integrate a sub putting it on a midpoint away from the corners. Some will disagree with this, however may subs were designed to be put in the corner, so try the corner for a while and play around with the crossover and volume settings. Much better to have a low frequency crossover setting and more volume than vise-versa.
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