[bacrane]


Hi guys, finally set my system up in my living room. It sounds great but am noticing a terrible unequal distribution of sound for the subwoofer. 

 

Im running a denon e300 to power 2 klipsch rb-61 and premier acoustic pa 150. 

I have the sub on a subdude to reduce vibrations between the sub and wood floor. 

 

My problem is simple. Some areas of my living room are bass heavy, others are non existent. About 25 ft away in the third bedroom I can feel the bass better than while sitting in the living room. Im not sure what to do. It is corner loaded because thats the only place it will fit and like i said its on the subdude. 

 

I ran audyssey on the denon and adjusted the source input gain and woofer gain. I'm a novice at all this, how do i equalize the distribution of bass in my living room? 

 

[cel4145]

Yep. That's almost always a problem with a single sub. The cure is a multi-sub setup. A second sub, well placed, would help a lot to make the sub more even throughout the room.

 

[dsrussell]

Cel is right. Welcome to the world of subwoofer nulls and peaks. Everyone, to a certain degree, have (or will) face similar problems. As you have found out, subwoofer location and room smoothing are important aspects of enjoying bass. What is one to do?


There is a fairly simple way to get good bass at your listening position. It involves the subwoofer "crawl" and the flexibility to place your sub where the crawl test tells you to place it. If you can't possibly place it where it sounds the best, you need the flexibility to change your listening position to remove yourself out of the null area. If neither of these can be done, then it gets far more dicey and pricey.


In order to smooth out room modes (peaks and valleys … or nulls) one needs a second subwoofer, usually placed diagonally from the first subwoofer (this is room dependent, so it's a trial and error procedure). Finding the best sonic location of the subwoofer for your listening position, then adding a second sub, gives the best chance of enjoying bass frequencies over a wider area.


AFAIK, equalization is used to help tame peaks (boomy or heavy bass), and can do nothing for nulls.

 

[GLBright]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cel4145  /t/1526124/subwoofer-output-is-all-over-the-place#post_24575858


Yep. That's almost always a problem with a single sub. The cure is a multi-sub setup. A second sub, well placed, would help a lot to make the sub more even throughout the room.

Would multiple subs be an asset if one were only interested in the sound at the singularity known as the "Sweet Spot"? I have nulls there and must live with them.

 

[cel4145]



Quote:
Originally Posted by GLBright  /t/1526124/subwoofer-output-is-all-over-the-place#post_24576412


Would multiple subs be an asset if one were only interested in the sound at the singularity known as the "Sweet Spot"? I have nulls there and must live with them.

Yes. Another sub, if properly placed, can help further smooth the frequency response.

 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bacrane  /t/1526124/subwoofer-output-is-all-over-the-place#post_24575779


I'm a novice at all this, how do i equalize the distribution of bass in my living room? 

You can't. The response at any spot is determined by the distance relationships between the sub and that spot, the sub and all the room boundaries, and that spot and all the room boundaries. Since the boundaries are fixed the only way to change the response is to move the sub and/or move the listening position.

Quote:
It is corner loaded because thats the only place it will fit

Murphy's Law of Sub placement: Wherever you think it looks/fits best, or you wife will let you put it, is the place where it will give the worst results.

Quote:
and like i said its on the subdude.

No matter, as the subdud doesn't have any effect on room response. It's strictly a placebo gimmick.

Quote:
Another sub, if properly placed, can help further smooth the frequency response.

+1. For that matter with correct placement you can get a very good result with only one sub in a small listening area. But the key remains correct placement.

 

[Raven Crimson]

I have a nullspot RIGHT in my seating position in my room.


I was wondering, would it benefit me in getting, say, a front firing sub instead of a down-firing one in this instance, or do I really have to live it it? (I don't want another sub, but wouldn't mind replacing it if I can get better results).


Regardless of where I put it in my available locations, the nullspot is the same. My room is quite small (10x12). What irks me is that if I move away from my seating position, the bass gets incredibly thunderous, and I no doubt would bother neighbors. Sigh...

 

[cel4145]

Is your seating position close to dead center between the front and back of the room? That's the best place for a null.

 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven Crimson  /t/1526124/subwoofer-output-is-all-over-the-place#post_24582010


I have a nullspot RIGHT in my seating position in my room.

I was wondering, would it benefit me in getting, say, a front firing sub instead of a down-firing one in this instance

All subs have exactly the same radiation pattern, 360 degrees. It won't make any difference changing subs.

Quote:
Regardless of where I put it in my available locations, the nullspot is the same. My room is quite small (10x12). What irks me is that if I move away from my seating position, the bass gets incredibly thunderous, and I no doubt would bother neighbors. Sigh...

You can fight the physics all you want, but you'll never win. You must place the sub and/or the LP where you get the best results. As for the neighbors, they won't experience the null that you do, because they're not sitting where it occurs. You can be getting no bass where you're sitting while they're getting pounded, especially as your inclination to compensate for the null will be to turn it up louder.

 

[crazyrob425]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven Crimson  /t/1526124/subwoofer-output-is-all-over-the-place#post_24582010


I have a nullspot RIGHT in my seating position in my room.


I was wondering, would it benefit me in getting, say, a front firing sub instead of a down-firing one in this instance, or do I really have to live it it? (I don't want another sub, but wouldn't mind replacing it if I can get better results).


Regardless of where I put it in my available locations, the nullspot is the same. My room is quite small (10x12). What irks me is that if I move away from my seating position, the bass gets incredibly thunderous, and I no doubt would bother neighbors. Sigh...

Find a new spot for your subwoofer doing the " Subwoofer Crawl " that way you will have the best bass response in your seating area

 

[derrickdj1]

Moving the LP or sub is the only solution short of using multiple subs.