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Subwoofer in the corner? Forget about it

Since installing new horn speakers, I have been learning a little about extracting their best performance. They require some effort and knowledge to get right - and the effort is the easy part.

Following "common wisdom", I placed the sub in the left corner, to the rear and outside of the left main speaker. The result was a disaster.

Boomy, one note bass, little tone and texture, very uneven response at different locations in the room, and no musical connection. This wasn't good enough for screening reruns of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" on a HT set-up.

I repositioned the sub to the midpoint of the right-side wall. Now, it is a little forward and to the side of the right main speaker. Initial results are promising: Lower bass output (expected going from 3 corner boundaries to 2 wall/floor boundaries), coupled with musical LF, toneful and engaging. The difference between just moving alot of air and making proper musical bass is huge.

Here are two articles I found interesting:

http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/SubwooferplacementP1.php

both use models and measurements to confirm my listening experience - corner loading the sub is loud and rough, compared with other locations. And multiple subs are smoother than a single sub. Now, I just have to bite the bullet and make room for another refrigerator sized horn sub in my listening room.

scott

Listening room: 15' x 18', suspended wood floor
Music used to evaluate sound:
Rachmaninoff, piano concerto 2
Astor Piazolla, Adios Ninos
Saint Saens, organ symphony 3
Rodrigo, concierto de Aranjuez
Doctor John, Duke elegant
Joe Pass, Portraits of duke Elington
skushino
skushino OP
91 posts
 
Redwoodgarden-

Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree that the corner is best for max SPL. But, I amicably disagree with one part, or perhaps simply misunderstand-

***Don't blame the corner for a one note, or boomy bass. Blame that on the resonance of your walls.***

Actually, I think it is the corner location. My wall "resonances" (does this refer to wall dimensions, construction, something else?) are uniform throughout the room. So that should not be a factor, again unless I misunderstand you.

I wish I had taken a response measurement when the sub was in the corner, to compare it with its present location, to have data for my room. But others have measured various placements. Check out the two links in the original posting. Maybe they will interest you as much as they did me. In both articles, corner location measurements show powerful but ragged output, compared to mid-wall. My personal experience was consistent with this. Both articles also used models and measurements to advocate multiple subs.

Food for thought.....

scott
skushino OP
91 posts
 
Warrenh and Stanhifi - Right-on! But the sub also added benefits, maybe most of the benefits, beyond simple LF response in my system. Mostly increased quality in the mid-range (sounds strange, I know) and a much better recreation of "acoustic space".

scott
bin
119 posts
 
My experience with two Nestorovic type 8 passive subs was:
Flatest responce, best sound, was the two subs in the corners but 4-6" out from rear wall and FACING (firing towards) the rear wall. Mile Nestorovic has always said facing the rear wall gets the best sound but had recommended 2 feet from the corners. Each sub is slanted for time aligning I beleive and has 2 12" speakers. They cover from 200hz on down to about 20hz. Radio shack meter and Rives test cd were used for measurement. I did not try every concievable position but many.
redwoodgarden
150 posts
 
Scott, I think that you misunderstood me. Banging on the walls will create a "boooom" sound all around the room (in the corners as well as the wall). That boom is wall resonance and will make your room vibrate at that frequency as the sub creates low frequencies making that ragged output as you called it. Check out my original response to see how to avoid that boomy ragged sound. Your article said that subs in the corner will produce a powerful bass. Now, with the wall treatment, you can avoid the ragged sound.

Another hint to avoid boom is to create a false corner made out of several layers of medium density fiberboard glued and screwed together as I have done. The false wall should sound like a rock when you hit it. This false wall will concentrate the bass and make it fast, but smooth. If you still have this THING about putting the sub on the side or front, just place the false corner behind it there.
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