Where are the subs?

dbphd:"Tim, the speakers are on the 14' wall, an HGS-15 in each corner, an HGS-10 behind each speaker.  The carpet on the wall and ceiling are for video projection, not audio."

Hello db,
     That's all good news since there's no need to reconfigure your room's video or audio orientation.  Interesting you use carpet for video projection.
      Another decision you and Tony need to make is the best positioning and distribution of your two 15" and two 10" subs in your room.  I thought it might be useful for you guys to know the details of how I positioned my 4 subs in my very similar sized room (23'x16'), with my main speakers and video display also along the short wall in my room,
 and then include some final advice.  An important difference to keep in mind is that I have four identical 10" subs and you'll have two 15" and two 10" subs.

Here's the setup procedure I used:

1. Disconnect the main speakers

2. Sub#1 is hooked up and placed on its back (driver facing the ceiling) at the normal listening position. Music is played that has good and repetitive bass.

3. Walk around the perimeter of the room, starting at the front right corner of the room and walking counter-clockwise, to]determine exactly where the bass sounds best to you (most accurate, detailed and natural).

4. Place sub#1  at the spot you determined the bass sounded best.

5. Sub#2 is hooked up and placed on its back at the primary listening position. With sub 1 & 2 playing, continue walking from sub#1 around the perimeter of your room counter-clockwise to determine the next spot where the bass sounds best to you.

6. Place sub#2 at the spot you determined the bass sounded best.

7. Repeat this procedure for sub#3 & #4.

Small positioning adjustments may need to be made for each sub due to avoiding furniture and the WAF.

8. Once all 4 subs have been positioned, reconnect the main speakers and verify the sound is to your liking.  If not, start over from the beginning.                                                                                                                     

     Since you're setting up a custom DBA system, utilizing two 15" and two 10" self-amplified subs rather than my four identical 10" subs, there's a need for you and Tony to decide the specific order of positioning your subs; there are multiple options:

Option1: Position your two 15" subs first as subs #1+#2 and your two 10" subs last as subs #3+#4.   This option would likely result in the two 15" subs placed near the front of your room and the 10" subs near the rear of the room.

Option2: Position your two 10" subs first as subs #1+#2 and your two 15" subs last as subs #3+#4.   This option would likely result in the two 10" subs placed near the front of your room and the 15" subs near the rear of the room.

Option3: Position your 15" and 10" subs in an alternating pattern starting with a 15" sub as sub#1, a 10" sub as sub#2, a15" sub as sub#3 and a 10" sub as sub#4.  This option would likely result in a 15" and a 10" sub placed near the front of your room and a 15" and a 10" sub placed near the rear of your room.

Option4:Position your 15" and 10" subs in an alternating pattern starting with a 10" sub as sub#1, a 15" sub as sub#2, a10" sub as sub#3 and a 15" sub as sub#4. This option would likely result in a 15" and a 10" sub placed near the front of your room and a 15" and a 10" sub placed near the rear of your room.      

    If you and Tony don't feel up to moving your heavy subs around to try all 4 options, I wouldn't blame you. My opinion is that option1 has the best chance of working well.  You could place both 15"s along your front 14' wall, one at each end and below your video carpet.  Place a 10" on each 19' wall on either side of your listening seat and about the same distance back from the front 14' wall as your listening seat.  The 10"s may also work well on opposite ends of the rear 14' wall,  with each 1-2' in from the corners.

    Another configuration I think would likely work well is a 15" sub in the middle of each of your front and back 14' walls and a 10" sub in the middle of each of your 19' side walls.

     I'd  avoid placing any of your subs in a corner.  They'll produce more and louder bass in corners but avoiding corners, even by 1-2', will produce higher quality bass. 

Tim

Tim, light from projection can splash beyond the screen. The purpose of the dark carpet (could be dark non-reflective paint) is to control that splash. We achieve a superb 100" video image. I’ve boxed up all the stuff for surround, but four LS50s are still on the side and rear wall.

This afternoon I discovered I could select disc 2 of the Price/Vickers Aida on Roon, so I played selected tracks from the two discs, first using the microRendu, Ayer Codex, and Amp 7e with LS50s, then using the 5 Twenty digital hub, preamp, and amp with Ref 1s.  Unlike my usual baroque and jazz, Aida showed the clear superiority of the Ref 1s.  Whether the superiority would hold with sub arrays added I don't know. 

Good Morning DB,

     If you and Tony don't screw things up, anything that sounds good now will only sound better with a 4-sub DBA SMS-1 bass system incorporated.  You'll hear Price/Vickers Aida sounds even better, with all the musical content from about  20-40 Hz you were not hearing suddenly mixed back in and reproduced in high quality and with seamless integration with your Ref 1s...……….IF you and Tony set the volume and crossover frequency just right, which most likely means as low as possible without compromising bass impact, bass dynamics and seamless integration.


No pressure,
    Tim