[falcorthedog]

Hi guys,


So I just got the Logitech Z5500's. I love the speakers and am trying to find the best subwoofer placement. I'd like to maximize sound quality while minimizing the annoyance of the old man who lives right underneath me.


Here's my setup:

http://imgur.com/kajGY.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

I can put the subwoofer:


-under my desk (directly on the floor)

-in the little wooden cubby on the lower left of my desk (which would have it sit slightly above the ground and behind the wooden door that is opened in the photo)

-in the little wooden cabinet to the left of my desk (behind my guitar in the photo)


The other option is to put it way up on top of my big wooden armoire (which is actually where it is now):

http://imgur.com/G2Fkh.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

I suppose I could even put it inside the armoire.


I don't know much about acoustics, and any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Eyleron]


Bass transmits more omnidirectionally. Like if I tried to aim a fart across the room and hit the middle of a dart board....it's pointless. It'll just fill the room with stink.

It does get transmitted through solid objects. So your filling the room with bass will be less annoying to your downstairs neighbor then the sub vibrating the floor and thus his ceiling. 

 

Put the subwoofer on some sort of isolation platform, like a Subdude, or rubber of foam matting of some sort. 

 

As far as YOUR enjoyment is concerned, you might get way better bass with the sub in different positions in the room. Try a few, playing test tone sweeps off your computer, or music with a lot of varied bass notes (as opposed to one droning note) and hear how it sounds at your listening position with the same content and different positions. "Better bass" means more output and also more even output. 

 

If you're curious why, you can google subwoofer standing waves or "subwoofer modal response".

 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyleron  /t/1230642/optimal-speaker-placement-for-not-annoying-neighbors#post_24423047


Bass transmits more omnidirectionally.

+1. It doesn't matter all that much where the sub is as far as dispersion. However, if it's placed where room cancellations result then you'll play it at a louder volume to compensate for that, which will bother the neighbors more, because the boundary sourced nulls in your room don't exist in theirs. Do the sub crawl so that you get the best bass in your room at the lowest actual power output.

Quote:
So your filling the room with bass will be less annoying to your downstairs neighbor then the sub vibrating the floor and thus his ceiling. Put the subwoofer on some sort of isolation platform, like a Subdude, or rubber of foam matting of some sort.

-1. The only thing those isolate is you from your cash.

The sub doesn't vibrate the floor. The sound waves it produces does.

 

[crazyrob425]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Fitzmaurice  /t/1230642/optimal-speaker-placement-for-not-annoying-neighbors#post_24423427



-1. The only thing those isolate is you from your cash.

The sub doesn't vibrate the floor. The sound waves it produces does.

Please explain how when I had an isolation pad and did a direct comparison with and without by going into my neighbors apartment and with the isolation pad I wasn't shaking anything on their shelves, light fixtures on ceiling and picture frames on wall.


The bass audio waves transfered the same but I was no longer shaking everything in their house.


To the OP: the best solution to not annoying your neighbors is a good set of comfortable headphones

 

[Jack D Ripper]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyrob425  /t/1230642/optimal-speaker-placement-for-not-annoying-neighbors/0_100#post_24426136

 

...

To the OP: the best solution to not annoying your neighbors is a good set of comfortable headphones

 

That, or moving to a detached house.  Many apartment buildings are absolutely terrible for sound.  The last one I lived in, whenever the neighbor above me just walked across his floor, it sounded like he was stomping about.  That kind of thing is what got me to move out.

 

If you cannot move, get some good headphones.  On the plus side, great headphones are far cheaper than great speakers.  $200 does not get you much in the way of speakers, but it isn't a terrible budget for headphones.