User Manual

7
English
5. Subwoofer Placement
Itiscommonknowledgethatlowfrequencies(belowabout100Hz)arenon-
directional,meaningtheycanhardlybelocatedbythelistener.Itis,however,
acommonmisunderstandingthatthereforetheplacement ofasubwoofer
doesnotmatter.Itdoesmatter.
Duetothefactthateveryroom(geometry,furniture,etc.)isunique,thefol-
lowingdescriptionsintendtobearstintroductiontothesubject.Theaimis
toassistyoutacklingthemostcommonproblemswithsubwoofersandroom
acoustics,notablyinterferenceandstandingwaves.
Distance to satellites
Inmostsetupsitisadvisabletoplacethesubwoofernottoofarfromthe
satellitestominimizethechanceofInterferences.Interferencemeansthe
superpositionoftwoormorewavesresultinginanattenuation/cancellation
orenhancementofthespecicfrequency/frequencies.
Furthermore,bigrefelexionfacesincloserangeofthesubwoofershouldbe
avoidedifpossible.
Walls/Distance to walls
Generally, everywallinrelativeclosedistancetothesubwooferenhances
itssoundpressurebyabout6dB.Forinstance,placingthesubwooferina
cornerofaroomwillmakeitabout18dBlouder.Itislikelythatthiswillresult
inanimpairmentoftheprecisionofthemusicalreproduction.
Another problem related to the geometrics of the room concerns the so
called‘standing waves’.Thesearesoundwavesbeingreciprocatedbetween
reectingobjects,sothey‘stand’(don’tseemtomove)inbetweentheseob-
jects.Thespeakercontinuestoproducenewwavesthatcombinesitsforce
withtherstwave(s):aviciouscirclethatresultsinlocalimbalancesofthe
particularfrequencies.
Give it...
...atry!Themostimportanttoolforndingthebestpositionforyoursub-
wooferareyourears.Therearetworathereasyways:
Youcandetermineyourlisteningspotrstandthencomparethesoundof
thesubwooferatdifferentpositions.
Anotheroptionistoplacethesubwooferatthelisteningpositionandthen
movearound.Whereeverthesoundisthebestthesubwoofershouldbepo-
sitioned.
a)
b)
c)