New Ported subwoofer sounds best Facing away?

Question

I've finally added a ported 12" polk subwoofer to my home theater system; the rest of the system comprises of polk center, front and rears powered by a yamaha receiver. I've played around with positioning of this new sub and oddly found that it sounds best, produces the strongest and cleanest 'thump' facing away from the sitting area, ie facing the corner/wall.
It's located in the front left corner of the room, about 1 1/2 feet from each wall, the right side of the 'system area', opens into a larger portion of the room, but that area is outside the "system", ie the room is shaped like a short L with the home theater area being in the leg of the L.
I started with the sub facing toward the viewers, as is common, but on a whim a friend spun it around and it's undoubtedly better.
I get that sound bounces and the walls are creating this effect, but is this common for a ported sub? Is it just reflecting better due to the positioning of it and the wall vs a straight shot at the listeners?

Answer 1

You get a LOT of the subwoofer sound from wall reflections, rather than direct radiation.

The problem is the sound waves from 4 walls and the direct sound often collide and create areas in the room where the sound is extra loud and other areas where it is extra soft.

Turning the sub to face away from the listeners created a less-complex interaction so it could sound 'better' or create larger areas of smoother, louder bass.

ANOTHER TRICK:

Make a long RCA cable with CATV coax and "F-to-RCA-Male" connectors. Put the sub in place of the main seat. Disconnect the other speakers and fire up a bass-heavy scene. Walk along the walls where you might place the sub and listen. Some spots will have smooth & tight bass, other spots boomy sound.

Relocate the sub to the position where the bass was smooth & tight. By the law of reflections, you primary seat will now have smooth and tight bass.