Subwoofer's Front Firing vs. Down Firing

Sub Bass should not be directional. It should sound like it's everywhere. I have a Rel B3 which is front firing with a downward port. That said I personally find if I place the front of the sub firing to the left (it's on the right of my right speaker) it sounds like it's coming out of both the right and left channels and is pretty even throughout my room. If I face it right at me either in that position or between the speakers the sub bass seems less except if I walk around the room. Yep I have a pretty bad room... So I would think down-firing would easier to setup and place. I also only add to what my main speakers can't reproduce and NOT ADD to it (then it tends to get directional meaning I know where the sub is).

I have had EXACTLY the same results as Xti16 .

The main advantage of a downfiring is you get a lower freq. in your room. We Always call them party subwoofers. They can give a lot of fun. But....are they accurate? Not really!

Front firing is much more accurate and also realistic. When the subwoofer is sealed the timing is faster. Speed is the key to the best integration for a subwoofer.

The best subwoofers are Always sealed and have frontfiring.
With these kind of subwoofers I can create what I call stealth integration. I only can achieve this with Audyssey Pro. Then you have a full integration witht the subwoofer.
The energy is comming from were it is on the recording.

For music, not home theater, front firing sealed is more accurate to my ears.