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

I replaced a pair of excellent subwoofers (I will not mention the name/model) with a single RSL 12S (placed in between my Lascalas) and am thrilled with the coherence and dynamics of the combination. With your room, maybe a pair. Good luck. Always, MrD.

All your comments are great stuff, thanks!

@noromance - placing the main speakers on there long wall is not an option. Trust me, I have thought about it, including my wife's reaction! 

@souix - a lot to think about. I think the crawl method might be best. I have an opening to a stairs at one end and another adjacent space at the other end...It seems that is should be easier to find good placement for a listening chair rather than a listening area?

@tds3371 - I just can't get my head around the mid wall location. Probably need to better understand the physical properties of the sound waves and nulls?.

@mrdeci - Interesting that the one sub woofer is doing you good. Can you share why the new single sub is better than the two? Just too complicated with multiple subs for your space? Or the new one is just better fit to room? I was wondering if I should just start with one. I suspect that it would be am improvement, but would/could I be missing with two? Although most of what I am reading on forums is telling me two or more.

Do any of you have opinions regarding musicality of different brands of subs?

Do you think mating subs with horn speakers is more complicated than with non horn speakers? Read about that on forums and seem to be equal camps based on what I have read on this one.

 

Thanks!

a lot to think about. I think the crawl method might be best.

I completely agree and was hoping you’d be up for that.  The other placements are just general guidelines and may or may not work well/best in your particular room because every room is different, so the crawl method at least ensures you’re getting the bass tuned specifically for your particular room — it just takes a little more effort upfront, but it’s one and done and well worth it IMHO.
 

 

@ noromance  +1

1. I will second using a distributed bass array if you really want to improve low frequency quality.

2. I would also try moving everything further out from the front wall. Perhaps 8 feet.

3. If you do stick with two subs. Put them where they sound best, as opposed to where they look nice.

After reading OPs response, I think I disagree with Tony on every one of his points-  

1. Clearly there is a budget in mind as well as certain esthetic requirements that adding pile of bass speakers would be prohibited for multiple reasons. 

2.  Having speakers far out from the walls is seldom the best location, usually results in weak bass when applied to full range speakers, and ruins the feng shui of nearly any living space. The only types of speakers that I've heard that really benefit from being way out from the walls are dipoles. I have the Forte IV, 6-24in enough room for it's passive radiator.

3.  Subs, or more specifically bass, is omni directional.  They are also adjustable in output and phase so they can sound good in a location where they also look the best. 

The best audio systems that I've experienced are typically among the most visually appealing as well.  There is nothing worse then a carefully pieced together system that looks like a showroom in an audio store (the exception being showrooms that take the extra step to stage like a living room etc). If its in your home, make the system work around your space, not the other way around.