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Will bad things happen if a place my Hsu VTF-15H sub near my upright piano?

post #1 of 9
1/27/13 at 5:43pm
Thread Starter 
I'm moving into a new condo, and tomorrow the movers arrive. While both the sub and the piano can be moved after the fact with effort, I'd really like to get the positioning it right the first time, or at least as close to right as possible (especially the piano)!

With that in mind, what could go wrong if I place the sub and the piano near one another in my living room? (When I say "near", I'm talking 1 to 4 feet of separation.) The one thing that occurred to me is that the sub might induce some resonance in the piano and cause strings to vibrate, which I don't think would cause damage but which might not sound great while watching movies or listening to the stereo. Anyone know if this (or anything else bad) is likely to happen to the piano?

While I'm interested in theoretical answers, I'm especially interested in the experiences of people who've actually placed a sub near a piano and whether or not anything bad happened. Note that the sub will be placed on an Auralex GRAMMA isolation pad, which, when I used to live in an apartment with a fireplace, solved the problem of rattling fireplace chains due to sound waves traveling through the floor. Also, the floor in the living room is hardwood on top of a cement subfloor (in case that makes a difference)

Thanks in advance!
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post #2 of 9
1/27/13 at 6:17pm
The sub needs to go where the sub needs to go, based on the results of doing the sub crawl. Having the piano close to it shouldn't bother anything.
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post #3 of 9
1/27/13 at 7:01pm
By putting additional stress on the strings of the piano, it might cause the piano to go out of tune faster. Personally, I wouldn't worry but I will recommend giving a piano tuner a call and ask them what their experience is on the matter. I'm sure they have some experience in matters of this kind.

In the case of your move, envy does not come to mind. Good luck with tomorrow's pending move.
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post #4 of 9
1/27/13 at 9:19pm
I don't think it would be a big deal. I can't imagine the sub playing at even full blast would put anywhere near the pressure on the strings that they take when they are normally struck by the key hammer. Playing the piano is what knocks it out of tune.
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post #5 of 9
1/27/13 at 10:09pm
Should be fine. Playing your piano will cause more stress on the strings than your subwoofer will. I had subs on both sides of my upright piano and didn't notice any usual wear. Although you will probably want to tune your piano after moving.
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post #6 of 9
1/28/13 at 6:02am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys, all very helpful. Yeah, I haven't been looking forward to today. It's gonna be a long day.
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post #7 of 9
1/28/13 at 7:23am
I actually have experience with this from a few different times and can't remember anything bad happening.
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post #8 of 9
1/28/13 at 7:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunder240 View Post

With that in mind, what could go wrong if I place the sub and the piano near one another in my living room? (When I say "near", I'm talking 1 to 4 feet of separation.) The one thing that occurred to me is that the sub might induce some resonance in the piano and cause strings to vibrate, which I don't think would cause damage but which might not sound great while watching movies or listening to the stereo. Anyone know if this (or anything else bad) is likely to happen to the piano?

Pianos are self-damping. If the key for a particular string is not being pressed, the string(s) related to it are highly damped. When a key is pressed, the damping is temporarily released. When a key is released, the strings related to it are again damped.

At church we have a dual 18" subwoofer that is driven by a 2,000 watt amp that serves an electric bass, an electric guitar and a keyboard located right underneath a grand piano. It occupies about 2/3 of the space between the piano's legs. No problems with interaction.
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post #9 of 9
2/1/13 at 2:56pm
Thread Starter 
Hi folks, well, I can add my name to folks with experience. Like others suggested, the sub did not induce any ringing in the piano.

That said, I wasn't thrilled with the response I was getting from the corner spot proximate to the piano (it sounded a bit too boomy), so I rearranged a few things and moved the sub to an area midway along the back wall. Unfortunately the room is too full with clutter (my word for tables, book shelves, and other things that make a livingroom a livingroom but don't contribute to the auditory experience) to conduct a proper sub crawl, but I'm pretty happy with the new position.
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