where else can i place a subwoofer?

Question

unfortunately my entertainment center shares a wall w/ my neighbor's bedroom wall so i've had to turn down the volume on the subwoofer which doesn't give me the full surround sound effect. is there anywhere else i can place a subwoofer that would be adequate? left/right/behind? any recommendation or suggestion would be really appreciative. it's a brand new system & feel i like i'm just wasting it.

Answer 1

It won't matter where you place it in the room. The frequencies of sound reproduced by a sub will create a vibration issue no matter where it is placed.

I have personally found in my own observations that in most systems the LFE on a sub is turned up to high to begin with. I recommend you get your system calibrated by a pro. The sound field should be transparent, meaning that your sub is not noticeable when it is on. To do this properly you will need a SPL meter to get close and maybe a little reading by my recommendation. depending on the system you go you may have an auto calibration feature already. But you neglected to include model numbers of your system so we will need that first to walk you through it.

Answer 2

Hi.Real subwoofers are speakers that supplement the main speakers and only play the lowest frequencies below 80 HZ,
Placement is important so that the bass blends with the rest of the music.Placing the sub. in the back of the room might give you a boomy sound.To integrate subwoofers properly into a system you must place the sub at the same end of the room as the main speakers,after all they are an extension of your two front speakers.To make the upper bass notes less directional and blend better you need to cross it over at a low frequency and ideally use a pair of subs.(only the very lowest frequencies are not directional).If you put isolation cones under the base of the sub.any structural vibration will be dissipated.and it will be de-coupled from the floor.

Sometimes,the absense of a sub will give you a better sound if you have a "difficult" room .Very few rooms let subs work properly ,they are just too small.,are the wrong shape and made of the wrong materials for low sound propergation.People hear the low notes in a Cinema and expect to get the same results at home.There is no way you can hear the very low notes the way you do in a Cinema .A Cinema is more than 56 feet long which is the length of a 20 hz note.In the average room only part of that note can develop giving you a false impression of low sound .Plus there is the issue of standing waves ,reverberation times too long and room resonances.Look, honestly if your main speakers go down to say40 hz that is low enough (thats all you will hear from you sub if 40 hz is the limit for your room.If you have good speakers you will get plenty of bass "slam" and wallop" and people who say your amp cant handel the lows for home cinema are wrong. with the right amp you can achieve excellent results but people don't believe me.Unfortunately if you share a wall with neighbours you will never get what you want.Subwoofers have made some peoples lives miserable but those that use them don't care ,they do as they please trying to change the laws of acoustics.Having the room buz,shake ,vibrate and rattle everything and anything in the room gives them the false impression of good low sound because if they don't get this result they are not happy with their sub.High Fidelity reproduction of very low notes is not about that.

Answer 3

If the subwoofer is magnetically shielded then definite. If it is not, then no. The magnetic field of an unshielded subwoofer can react badly with documents that's stored on a hard rigidity.

Answer 4

The best way to find the placement of the sub is take a long sub wire and hook it up at your primary viewing area send a test tone through it, then using a spl meter that you can get a radio shack cheaply walk around the room and take not of where its the loudest. Now thanks to the wonderful world of physics you can put the sub in any of those locations and get the same result in the sitting area. You can also Put the sub anywhere in the room as they are omni directional and just turn it up and make it work a little harder and that will also work.

Answer 5

if you have a coffee table between the sofa and the tv you can put it underneath, wont sound as good as being in front with the volume up but it at least it will be further away from the shared wall, you might want to keep the volume down anyway tho, you dont want the sub to overpower the rest of the speakers seeing as it will be much closer to the sofa.

Answer 6

ask your neighbor how bad the vibrations are, or ask what time you can crank it up, if not, consider having one or two really great subs that actually go lower than 25hz (tuned to 20hz) i found my sub rattles the walls around 28-25hz, then nothing but pure subsonic assault at 23hz and lower(tuned 23hz) having two subs mean you can lower the volume and still have the same effect otherwise, look for a "buttkicker" or consider treating you room with noice suppressing materials (drywall and insulation)

Answer 7

Under your couch or sofa is fine, or if you could find a corner that doesnt share a wall with neighbors that would be best.

Answer 8

There is no way to save your neighbour from the sub woofer. You need a soundproof room (expensive). Not practical in a codo or rental.

Answer 9

a subwoofer can be placed anywhere and the sound will not be affected because of its low frequency. if you check the bose website, this is what bose prides itself on. The modular (woofer) can be hidden anywhere.

Answer 10

You can place the sub on the rear as well. You will need a longer wire for this application.

You may also try two subs on the left and right.