Does a subwoofer have to be placed on the floor, or can it be placed higher up?

Question

I.e., can it be placed at waist level, head level, etc?

Answer 1

you can place it anywhere you like, so long as the bass result is what you like.....corner loading usually yields a +3dB increase (which is almost the same as doubling your amp power or adding another sub) but may cause boominess or peaky bass. Bass from 60 hz and lower are usually non-directional, which means your not supposed to know where the bass came from, BUT, distortion usually reveals where its located so the best ideal place is between the two front speakers. But hey, experiment and you might be surprised!

Answer 2

Subwoofer Table

Answer 3

There is no ideal location for a subwoofer. Placement on the floor in a corner will give the loudest sound, but not necessarily the best; that location may have more location and frequency non-uniformity because of nodes in the room. An asymmetric location is generally preferred, meaning that the speaker is not equidistant from any two wall surfaces. In that regard, floor placement is preferred, but off-the floor can be ok as long as it is not halfway between floor and ceiling. Any speaker location should be checked by listening to a test tones at various listening positions in the room.

Answer 4

It depends on which type of subwoofer you have. If you have a down firing subwoofer the best place for it is on the floor since it uses the floor to disperse the sound. However if it isn't down firing then placing it higher would probably work fine. However, subwoofers are quite heavy so make sure the place you have it can support the weight.

Answer 5

I've always had my subwoofer on the floor, but now we're wanting to put in a corner floor lamp and the only way that works, is if we put the subwoofer resting on one of the legs of the lamp. So my question is, will I lose some of the bass by having it a couple of inches of the floor?

Answer 6

Subwoofers sounds better (louder bass) when placed on a floor, louder still when placed on a floor and beside a wall, and loudest when placed on a corner of a room. The reason for this is because the adjacent planes on which it is placed, augments (via sound reflection) the bass sound coming from it. The more adjacent planes beside the subwoofer for the bass sound to reflect on, the louder it gets.

Answer 7

Find a song that does a decent job of representing how most of what you listen to sounds. Then, walk around the room while that plays, and try different angles in different places. I don't mean sitting it in different spots, but listening while you move it through the room. Moving will make you more aware of the room's effect on the sound, and you'll notice patterns in how the sound reacts to the room fairly quickly. Then, start zoning in on where it sounds best, and put it there. Mark it with some tape, then find a different song, and do the whole thing a couple more times. Make sure you use some different pitch ranges as you select songs. Then, try all the songs in each spot you've marked and note which songs sounded best where.. Whichever spot sounds best for the most songs, wins

Answer 8

Hi. Yes you can .It will sound much clearer higher up because there will be less reflection from the floor.and behave more like an omnidirectional speaker.The problem with subwoofers is the multiple sound reflections caused by the room boundaries which set up resonances within the room and if the room is not long enough the bass below 40 hz will not develop properly creating standing waves between parallel surfaces interfering with the sound of higher frequencies.Make sure you place the sub[s]down the front near the two left and right main speakers. If you buy two subs you will get a better sound.Don't put the sub[s] to close to any wall.If you want them higher put them on top of very heavy stands.

Whoever is giving me "thumbs down" has no idea what i am saying to you.They should stick to video,and leave sound quality to the people who know.They probably have a" crappy" sound system anyway.They should read some articles about the interrelationship of loudspeakers and listening rooms. But i doubt it.

Answer 9

it can be place where ever you want its your sub and your house but then the acoustics of the room may make it less effective plus also depending on the size of the driver and how hard you play it, it may knock stuff off the wall. Try it and see if you like it would be the best way to answer your question

Answer 10

My downstairs neighbor is having a problem with the vibrations. Im gonna try placing it higher and see what happens.