[Shkuey]

I've got two questions relating to my subwoofer that internet research has given me opposing answers to. Help/Thoughts are greatly appreciated.


The first is placement. I have a Velodyne SPL-800, the original room this was purchased for had very little space, hense I bought the smallest subwoofer I felt sounded good. Now I've moved my setup into a 16x12 room, and have plenty of space, but I would hope I can continue to make due with the small sub. Because I've set it up for front projection, most of the equipment is on a rack at the back of the room. Will placing the subwoofer in the back of the room make an audible difference? I've seen websites that say it should be in the front, and some that say the human ear is incapable of determining the source of low frequency sound and it doesnt matter. Also, will this sub suffice to fill the room? It will be about 4.5-5 feet behind optimal seating.


Second question is regarding calibration. When I listen to some test noises as well as something like the THX intro, there is a noticable drop off in decibal level as the frequency gets lower, and then it picks back up again as it gets even lower. Is there relatively cheap equipment I can get to determine at what range this dropoff is occuring, and is it possible to fix with my current subwoofer (Velodyne SPL-800) and receiver (Denon 3805)?


Thanks in advance.

 

[klipsch]

Placement of sub:


Put the sub in the position where you sit. Then walk around the room with your head low to the ground and where the bass sounds the best is where you should place the sub.


Calibration:


Play test tones at different frequencies. By using an SPL meter you can see which frequencies are higher, lower and adjust accordingly so that they all remain around the same db.



Those are the really short and simplified answers. There are tons of threads on both of these issues. Do a search and you will find more than you want. Hope that helps.

 

[failure complex]

i have my front-firing sub directly behind the couch i sit on. it's great because you can feel the whole couch shake, but i wonder if it might be too close? it's literally an inch from the back of the couch - facing towards it.

 

[mercury]

as for calibration follow the points in this thread,...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=455506

 

[REWJR]

You can also follow " getting the bass right " Harman white paper on the subject see link -

http://www.infinitysystems.com/homea...nf-rooms_3.pdf

 

[spider_bill_2003]

Quote:

Originally posted by Shkuey I've got two questions relating to my subwoofer that internet research has given me opposing answers to. Help/Thoughts are greatly appreciated. The first is placement. ---- Will placing the subwoofer in the back of the room make an audible difference? I've seen websites that say it should be in the front, and some that say the human ear is incapable of determining the source of low frequency sound and it doesnt matter. Also, will this sub suffice to fill the room? It will be about 4.5-5 feet behind optimal seating. and When I listen to some test noises as well as something like the THX intro, there is a noticable drop off in decibal level as the frequency gets lower, and then it picks back up again as it gets even lower.

It all depends on how low this "low frequency sound is".


I can tell the difference.


I ended up using my mains set to large (integrated subwoofer in speakers) and one subwoofer near the right front corner of the room. In effect, I am running three subwoofers. This helps smooth out that bass "drop off".


If I set my mains to small (80 hz crossover), I can "hear" a lack of bass to the left!


I recommend that you get along cable and move the subwoofer around. After a FEW WEEKS of fiddling, you will find the proper spot that YOU like!


--Bill

 

[Shkuey]

Thanks everyone for the comments and the links.


To Bill,


I am also using full range towers as my main speakers, which produce a decent amount of bass on their own. The sub provides that extra bit of oomph when watching something that has an LFE channel (DD, DTS). The volume dropoff is definitely entirely in the subwoofer, as I can hear it when I have all the other speakers disconnected. Is this a problem with the unit? I think if it is I'll just live with it; I use them for 95% movies and it's mostly undetectable during regular listening. I guess I will not be able to tell if placement is an issue until everything is setup. The basement should be done in a week, I'll know then.