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Placement of Single Subwoofer Affecting Sound of Main Speakers

Due to a recent furniture arrangement in the room, the subwoofer that was sitting dormant for several years had been reluctantly reinstated in the main system. I have been experimenting with the placement of the sub in the room. Due to limited placement options, the sub can only be placed in these 3 spots ;

1. In one corner of the room, very close to the side and rear wall (1 or 2 inches from the walls)

2. Just behind the left speaker, 5 inches from the rear wall

3. In between the speakers but very close to the left speaker, not at the centre of speakers.

 

To cut to the chase, I’ve briefly tried all options. The 1st option with the sub placed in the corner of the room gave the worst result. Now, the interesting part. Even though the sub was turned off, the sound quality of the system degraded. It appears that the physical presence of the box in the corner of the room made the sound worse.

I am currently settled with the 2nd option and this configuration sounds much better than the 1st option irrespective of the sub powered up or down.

The sub is currently on spikes as I’m still waiting for some Nobsound springs to arrive before I can plonk the sub on these.

I’ll be trying the 3rd option again although the WAF is the worst on this one.

Has anyone here experienced a worse sound quality from the system with the placement of the sub in the room? A sub that’s switched off and not working.

ryder
snapsc
674 posts
 

One other possibility in those locations is to move the sub up off the floor a foot or two and see what happens.

Also, if you don’t have a room measuring system, try this:

if you have a tv in your listening room that can connect to your audio system and to YouTube you can run a frequency sweep video and listen from your seated position and you will hear the peaks and nulls. Then move your sub around and see what changes… hopefully the room isn’t too bad and you can improve things at the listening position with slight moves left right forward backward or up off the floor… and you might find the solution by moving the mains or even the seating position just a few inches as well.

Good Luck

 

 

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larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,008 posts
 

What components do you have?  What subwoofers do you own?  What is the size of your room?  Sounds like you don’t have room for your subs anyway?

musicaddict
370 posts
 

I don't know anything about your sub but I'd still try to set the crossover low like you have been. I really enjoyed one REL Britannia B1 sub set deep in a corner away from both speakers but crossed at 30Hz or so.

My main speakers go way low (not high passed yet) but B1 sub made the bottom two octaves fill in for a solid foundation that was very enjoyable from my singular listening position. I even achieved a +- 2dB from 31-200hz in the 'seat'. It was smooth and deep.

I've since moved to three sealed SVS subs for a distributed bass array and need to get one more sometime soon so as to have four total. (I still have to explain what the two old RELs and single DefTech subs are for... (TV and home theater rooms, 2).

I'd try in between the mains. I did that twenty years ago and it worked well in another home.  Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

jheppe815
64 posts
 

I can echo others in stating that integrating a sub or subs can be a big challenge. I’ve fought many rooms and many single sub setups over the years trying to get things to sound right.

My advice is to keep trying since that sub you have seems to be a very nice piece and should add quite a bit of enjoyment. Move things, change settings, etc. as you have been doing until your ears tell you it’s right.

I’m a firm believer in a dedicated outboard crossover too where you can just assign low frequencies to the sub (low pass filter) and roll off the low end to your main speakers (via high pass filters). As stated a million times on these boards, getting those low frequencies out of your main / satellite speakers really reduces intermodulation distortion and makes a world of difference.  For me (but other persons experiences may vary), having that dedicated crossover makes integration of low frequency cabinets much easier.  I've never had too much sucess with running the main speakers full range, then adding in a sub with just a low pass crossover (which is typically built into self powered subs).  24 db per octave minimal slope helps too on both high pass and low pass.

I have 4 systems in my home ranging from decent stuff to stuff that’s in the garage. Three of the systems have subs and I don’t think I could live without subs, especially on the two critical listening systems I have set up.

hshifi
572 posts
 

Hello,

Besides all of the good things to try above I would also check the Phase of the sub. If it’s out of phase it can really mess with the sound if it’s in a bad location. Sometimes there is a switch on the sub itself. If you don’t mind spending $150+ IsoAcoustic makes a sub platform that come with spikes. I think it’s called Alperta Sub. It works great as long as you subs don’t have a driver on the bottom of the sub like a REL T9. I think putting the sub in the listening position and crawling around is your best option. People sometimes turn the sub too loud. Turn up the crossover to 60 hz and turn down the volume until it disappears from its location. 
If you are in the Chicagoland area this store is an IsoAcoustics dealer and they can help with the sub placement. Maybe a wireless kit is the trick. 
holmaudio.com

They let you try before you buy something in your home. Very easy to deal with. I hope you can get the sub to work. It really made my system great. 

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