Ok guys, I have some lower end subs that I would like to know the best placement for them. My room is about 12x10'.

The subs I have are a KLH 10" 120 watt sub that goes down to about 25-30hz~ (modded this sub a lot, sounds great now), Yamaha 10" YST-SW216BL 100 watt sub, goes down to about 25hz. Lastly, I have a Klipsch Promedia THX dual 8" sub, goes down to about 25hz as well, and is 175 watts. I realize there are better subs, but these are what I have and I can't afford to upgrade right now. (actually, I just got the Yamaha a few days ago, can't beat $70 brand new :P)

The way I have these placed right now is the KLH is in the front left corner, about 3 feet from couch, the Klipsch is in the rear right corner, about 6 feet from couch - and the Yahama is in the rear left corner about 3 feet from couch. I have them all tuned to 120hz for the cut-off frequency. They sound good, but I know I can get them to sound better. The subs are all facing at a 45 degree angle towards the seating position.

What would be the ideal placement for these? (and my room does not open to any other areas)

I will be using these for HT, games, and music.

Any suggestions?

I have three subs one located to the left of the TV one in the right corner of the room and one back near the back of the room near my recliner on the right side of the recliner, and this works for me pretty well.

Well, my HT room has a door at the front right, and my yamaha sub was across the room but facing towards the door - I think that was decreasing the bass big time. I took the Yamaha sub and decided to stack it on top of my Klipsch sub, seems to have made a difference, it sounds better and more powerful now. The front left corner has the KLH 10" sub facing the Klipsch and Yamaha sub across the room - they are basically in opposite corners aiming at each other (at 45 degree angles).

Is there a better way to place them then this?

No one can predict with any certainty what subwoofer locations will work best in your room, for your listening position. Sub's interact with the room, with each other and with the listening position in unpredictable ways. The only solution is trial and error. Try locating the subs in different positions. Try moving your listening position. Try different crossover frequencies. Experiment until you find the best combination of sub positions, listening positions and settings. Then, let us know what you found.

In the meantime, read the Harmon White Paper by Welti:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
and the one by Toole:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/LoudspeakersandRoomsPt3.pdf

Craig

No one can predict with any certainty what subwoofer locations will work best in your room, for your listening position. Sub's interact with the room, with each other and with the listening position in unpredictable ways. The only solution is trial and error. Try locating the subs in different positions. Try moving your listening position. Try different crossover frequencies. Experiment until you find the best combination of sub positions, listening positions and settings. Then, let us know what you found.

In the meantime, read the Harmon White Paper by Welti:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
and the one by Toole:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/LoudspeakersandRoomsPt3.pdf

Craig


those papers seem to disagree. Seems like the second is saying that in practical rooms you should use only one sub. did i miss somoething?

No one can predict with any certainty what subwoofer locations will work best in your room, for your listening position. Sub's interact with the room, with each other and with the listening position in unpredictable ways. The only solution is trial and error. Try locating the subs in different positions. Try moving your listening position. Try different crossover frequencies. Experiment until you find the best combination of sub positions, listening positions and settings. Then, let us know what you found.

In the meantime, read the Harmon White Paper by Welti:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
and the one by Toole:
http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/LoudspeakersandRoomsPt3.pdf

Craig

Well, it would seem the best results I got were when I left the KLH in the left front corner and I stacked the Klipsch on top of the Yamaha in the rear right corner. The subs are exactly parallel to each other at 45 degree angles. I am now getting MUCH stronger bass this way.

In general:
Center of each wall = most linear response
corners = greatest response (with low linearity... i.e. large peaks and potential nulls)

You will want to play around with placement, an SPL meter and a frequency sweep device (CD w. tones or PC + free test tone SW) to fine tune everything.

I use several subs in each of my two rooms dedicated to audio(HT...more like music listening...99% of the time).

In each room I have a WALL of subs stretching along the front(to my sitting position)wall. I place subs where there is no doors or openings. The floor and wall behind subs reinforces the percieved output at listening position(3/4 in the room,center).

The match is great,even with 14 subs running at one time(dumb but they work as a team).Make sure you set PHASE on each properly.

First you start with the mains,and one sub. Once the PHASE in in check. Move on to the second,plaing mains and first sub...making sure they do not cancel each other.Add the third,this time you can only play sub A and C and B and C to again make sure the subs work as one,and not against eachother.


It may get more complex,but in general it works great.

I will not go into detail how I dialed all my subs. :p In normal times I will use one or two,the rest servng as DECORATIONS ! :o

And I prefer to stay OUT OF CORNERS. Sealed subs like the JL work great in and out of corners(one f113 in each front corner for me),ported...rear ported are best left out of corners. Ported tuned very deep can stay in corners and sound great,it is lesser ported that will have a tendency to leave a BOOMY signature(even cut low).

Hmm, some excellent advice. Think I'm gonna try the center of my front and rear walls. :) They do tend to sound a little boomy in some scenes.

UPDATE: I just moved them as you guys suggested, BIG difference. WAY less boomy and "boxy" sounding. They sound much more natural and "smooth". They blend MUCH better with the rest of my system now.

One more question though, I do not have phase control on my subs, what do I do about that? I am running my subs through a Kenwood 5.1 receiver, then to an HTPC via coaxial cable with an audigy 2 ZS sound card. I don't have any phase controls on my receiver either...

Oh, and I know this might sound stupid, but what does "linear output" mean?

Oh, and I know this might sound stupid, but what does "linear output" mean?

Since it was mentioned in context of center wall placement, I will go out on a short limb and claim the author was speaking of flat frequency response. That is, if the sub is fed a known signal, it actually plays it back at the proper volume at all frequencies in its range, without dips or peaks heard (measured) at the listening position. A standard test signal would appear as a flat line on a graph if it was properly reproduced.

those papers seem to disagree. Seems like the second is saying that in practical rooms you should use only one sub. did i miss somoething?

Yes, the best setup is having 4 subs, one located at each wall mid-point. The next best is having two located at opposite mid-points.
The reason for using mid-points of the walls is to provide a better, flatter bass response throughout the entire room.

Yes, the best setup is having 4 subs, one located at each wall mid-point. The next best is having two located at opposite mid-points.
The reason for using mid-points of the walls is to provide a better, flatter bass response throughout the entire room.

I too read your response in the first paper, which was based on a perfect, sealed room and small listening area. The second disagrees with that.

Room permitting you should try and play 2 right under you display and center channel and have your third as a floater. If you tune in your center 2 properly on your "sweet" spot and have your third tuned for the people who aren't near the "sweet" spot you should have favorable results.

I placed mine along the front of the room. I am very pleased w/ the results.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t287/lvisneau/100_2358.jpg

how do intergrate different brands together like that and do they provide different sounds?