View Full Version : newbie subwoofer placement


johnnyz86
08-21-07, 11:09 PM
edit: doh i thought i was in the sub forum. move please :x

ok so for little single dorm at college i took my crappy z-2300 speakers with me and am trying to decide where to put my sub for the smoothest response.

the room is quite small, and messy. naturally after the sound has been set up, i will clean the room and finish unpacking.

i tried the crawl for bass method but i found the moving the lil sub around more effective at gauge especially for multiple listening positions. i tried 3 sub positions, and i have 2~3 listening positions that are not all that close.

i don't have a spl meter although i may invest in one to help my brother place his HT sub, although it hasnt gotten there yet despite being ordered over a month ago. it was in the paint room for several days (i believe its being painted a flat black? several days??).

i used my ears and the 100 to 10 in 10 hz increments to test found here:
http://sinan.ussakli.net/basstest/

now for the positions:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4420/dscf0201cz4.jpg

sub position one, underneath the shirts in the back corner from this image

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/5951/dscf0202xi6.jpg
sub position two, under the desk for nearfield placement to my primary listening location, at the desk.

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/4951/dscf0204dn9.jpg
sub position 3, back right corner under the bed. listening position two is lying down on the bed, feet towards the desk, for getting my mack on. music and perhaps watching movies on my laptop while lying on the bed with the laptop on the edge of the desk. i can lay the other side for music purposes if it is much better

these are pc speakers so the cords are quite short so other corners are not possible, but anything inbetween the 3 positions or in proximity to the desk is possible.

my ratings from primary listening position on a scale of ... ok it started off as 10, then went to 11, and finally 12 because of the high bumps in the 50~60hz range of the latter.

hz 1 2 3
100 11 12 11
90 9 8 8
80 9 9 6
70 8 9 7
60 10 10 7
50 11 11 9
40 5 5 8
30 3 3 5

obviously these are very rough estimates, and i should redo 1 and 2 because they are kindof close. there was something i didnt like about it being right under the desk, however, i will get back to testing after this post is made. i am open to other suggestions or what you guys would think is the best sounding curve. although 1 is pretty even, 3 has that 40hz and 30hz and i love extension, but has that dip at 70-60.

is this an accurate way to determine sub placement? if i had a spl meter, that is.

apologizes, i am new to this, i come from the IEM world, until someone stole(?) my mp3 player again. hopefully it will pop up.. but until then, computer as source it is.

p.s. i dont care if my neighbors or roomates thinks it is loud.

bass addict
08-22-07, 12:08 AM
At least pick up a little before posting picture of your room. ;)

sivadselim
08-22-07, 12:32 AM
:eek: Damn, they cram ya'll in there these days. How much does that closet cost a semester?

With a room that small, it's not gonna matter too much where you put the sub. :)

And after a few beers, it'll matter even less. :D

johnnyz86
08-22-07, 12:39 AM
At least pick up a little before posting picture of your room. ;)

why, will the clothes and crap affected the bass response?

:eek: Damn, they cram ya'll in there these days. How much does that closet cost a semester?

With a room that small, it's not gonna matter too much where you put the sub. :)

And after a few beers, it'll matter even less. :D

hm well its affected it slightly, i guess i will have to decide between the two, im leaning towards position 3 although it makes listening to music on the bed sound pretty crappy.

well, is the method i used pretty good? with a spl meter? i will probably do something similar for my brother's HT system. he's got a 5.1 system with SVS SCS-101 speakers and some sub that i forgot because i wanted it to get there while i still lived there.

its part of an apartment, so this is my bedroom, the kitchen/common space/bathroom is decently sized, but the bedrooms are indeed miniscule
, but i am asian.

pics because i have a new camera and it isn't conducive to the topic:
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7783/dscf0208cy5.jpg
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6919/dscf0210wu1.jpg

there are larger apt singles than this, larger dorm singles, and of course the doubles are larger, but i wanted an apartment single so i could stay over winter, not check in people, and don't qualify for the larger apt singles because then i'd have to pay for it ;)

edit hey thats frozen food out there isnt it.. and i was about to go to sleep :x

sivadselim
08-22-07, 01:36 AM
but the bedrooms are indeed miniscule
, but i am asian.
WTF does that mean? :D

Kal Rubinson
08-22-07, 01:04 PM
At least pick up a little before posting picture of your room. ;)I thought those were acoustical treatments!:p

johnnyz86
08-22-07, 07:42 PM
ok ok its clean now i swear, now answer my questions and move my thread!