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Do unpowered Subwoofers/Speaker effect room modes?

In my "small two channel" room I have two small powered subwoofers. Both are ported, one with two 6.5" woofers and the other with a single 6.5". These are part of a Computer system in which I mostly sit and peruse A'gon =). Neither have anything to do with the Audio rig. They are physically located under the desk on the opposite wall from the system.

I am attempting to apply various room treatments and I am wondering what effect these woofers may have on the them. Maybe some absorptive qualities? Could they effect room modes?

I read some on this topic a few years back. I recall that someone advocated that even the tiniest of speakers, like that in a phone receiver, could have a noticeable effect.

So before, I dig through a tangled web of computer cables, I humbly ask for your opinions.
distortion
warnerwh
539 posts
 
Ditto, if you want better sound try some Monsoon speakers and a sub. Personally I have an old Marantz receiver and Sennheiser headphones for my computer. No room modes here.
rives
953 posts
 
The answer is yes--they do affect the sound. They act like a capacitor and absorb eneregy and then release it. In principle it can affect (reduce) the peaks caused by room modes. However, in practice, it is so inefficient unless you had a very large woofer and it was designed to have the least resistance at your peak frequencies, that it doesn't make sense.

Yes, I read the thread that you mention about the phone receiver speaker. That to me was something like--could an ant be crawling on one of my cables? Things sound different.
distortion OP
571 posts
 
I agree the phone reciever seemed just ever so slightly absurd. But hey, we are always splitting hairs in this hobby.

Well, I may just go ahead and pull those subs out just for grins. Though I bet after ubntangling all that computer cable I wont be grinning anymore. (We really dont need the subs for the Computers anyway)

Thanks for your replies, expecially Rives for sharing your experience and time, you're a real asset to A'gon and this hobby.
xiekitchen
821 posts
 
I have in my music listening room 4 pairs of speakers on two systems, one a 2 channel music system, the other a quasi-home theatre. I have a pair of jbl L-166's with 12 inch woofers, a pair of JBL L-200's with 15 inch woofs, a pair of Chario Academy 1's and a pair of Spica TC-50's. Usually only 1 pair is playing at any given time... I have noticed that if one of the mini monitors is playing, the woofers on the jbl's do, if you feel them, resonate somewhat. I have never been able to hear any sound or any interference on the part of the woofers in the room. I think I remember reading an article way back by Linn stating that you should only have one pair of speakers in a room and recommended to their dealers that only 1 pair of Linn speakers should be set up in a listening room. Anyone remember that?
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Xiekitchen...Rumor is that Linn promoted this notion that extra speakers degrade sound as a way to pressure audio dealers to install dedicated Linn listening rooms.
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