Side firing bass designs - Pros & Cons?...

I agree with the placement difficulties, I had a pair of Definitive Technology 2004Tls with the side firing subwoofer... it was hard to get the room to really fill.

I think they figure that since under 100hz is non-directional, they can place the woofer on the side and make the speaker slicker and sexier and easier to get by the WAF, which would give them an edge on sales...

I think a pair of monitors and a good subwoofer works better than towers with a side firing woofer. cause that is basically what you are getting, is a monitor on top of a subwoofer.

At least that has been my experience.

Just get Vandersteen model 5 or 5A's and forget about it!

Vedric

Duke: Roy Allison used to work for AR, hence the similarities in design. For that matter, so did Ken Kantor, who designed / helped design some of the NHT stuff. From what i understand, the woofers used in the 9's were made by the same company that makes the NHT 1259 woofer. Both drivers work best in big, low Q sealed boxes, which is what i like anyhow : )

Slappy: Bass doesn't become "non-directional" until pretty low. I think that even at 100 Hz, one can still pretty well "localize" the point of origin without much fuss if they know how to listen. This probably has a lot to do with the harmonics that the driver is radiating and the distortion too. Sean
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Sean is right, you need to get very low in crossover point before it becomes impossible to localize it. Even a nominal crossover point of 100 Hz will still produce audible sound at several hundred Hz due to the crossover slope, and this is very easy to localize. Most full-range systems with side-firing woofers are crossed over at or above 100Hz, in some cases well above.

yeah, i agree that you can still tell where 100hz is coming from, but its not as easy to tell. I thought that 100 was where it was supposed to become non-directional
or is it that around 100 hz it starts to take non-directional characteristcs and the lower you go the harder it is to place?

either way, i think the side firing woofer is still a marketing ploy for audiophiles to get bigger spekers to pass the WAF, hence being able to sell larger models.

I mean, check out a set of those Vienna Accoustic Mahlers, those things are slick, they would fit in almost anywhere and are very non imposing for such a massive speaker.

then take a Vandersteen 3A, Big, bulky, darth-vader-esque, and rather difficult when considering the WAF.

It would be alot easier to get the Mahlers in the family room than the vandersteens.

heck, the mahlers almost look like pieces of artwork rather than a speaker