Bass . How low can you go ? That may well depend on the right arrangement and determine up of your subwoofer .
For what could be viewed as a kind of one - trick pony when it comes to audio , subwoofers are actually more complex than you might retrieve . Everything from room sizing , shape , furniture , and flooring can strike its sound , so site the gratifying spot on any throw way is of the essence . Setting up a subwoofer also postulate correctly adjusting its loudness , phase control , and crossover absolute frequency to ensure it ’s working perfectly with theexcellent speakersyou’ve copulate it with — this symbiosis is predominant .
For consumer speaker Cartesian product , bass frequencies typically range from about 20Hz to 200Hz , which is below the capacity of most stock speakers — a subwoofer can facilitate enhance the operation of your verbaliser by taking over the obligation and nervous strain of delivering those humbled frequence . Subs are design to turn in recondite , impactful heavy effects in music , movies , and video game , and are used in concert withstereo receivers and integrated amplifiersorAV receivers , and evensome soundbars .
How to place a subwoofer descend through tribulation and error , but it ’s not as hard as you might cut — and do n’t worry , we ’re here to help . Want to take your dwelling dramaturgy ’s low - oddment carrying out to the next layer ? Check out this guide .
Why a subwoofer?
You get way more ( and far better ) bass for your dollar sign from a box aim - build to belt it out . Subwoofers are less obtrusive than the sort of floor - stand up speakers with drivers big enough to pull off the same task . Also , hoagie have dedicate power onboard , lessening the melodic phrase on your Ab receiving system or multichannel amplifier . In scant , they are a more efficient route to fulfil low - death pauperism .
The proper integration of a subwoofer will also improve the overall sound quality of your system , sum up an increase in profoundness and width of your organization ’s soundstage , as well as better audio from your loudspeaker system since they ’ve been salve of a lot of the heavy lifting .
If the walls could talk
Most folks do n’t think of it this direction , but when you listen to an audio organisation , what you ’re really get word is the result your room has on the sound scheme . Walls , window , and article of furniture all color the sounds you take heed , but bass frequency are particularly sensitive to room factors . That ’s why placement is really important .
Among your subwoofer ’s biggest enemies are parallel surfaces — you acknowledge , those crazy thing called walls in your life room or den . Bass waves are basically omnidirectional , so they tend to jounce all over the room . When they reflect off your walls , they will often bound back into one another , produce one of two scenario : stand waves or bass null .
Standing waves — which are influenced by the size of your elbow room and the length of the well-grounded wave — are an excess of bass part energy . This go on when a specific frequency is reinforced by room factor or by exchangeable wavelength come at some the same time and place . What you hear in such a case is that “ boomy ” effect or “ one - note bass ” which lacks definition or tautness . On the opposite end of the spectrum are freshwater bass nulls , which happen when reflecting waves cancel one another out , pass on you with a dead spot .
to sell with room acoustic and the effects they have , you’re able to select to wreak either with the room or against it . Working with the room demand acoustical intervention along with smart subwoofer placement and adjustment . go against the way can involve anything from fancy EQs to room correction package . We favour the former tactics to the latter when potential .
Where to put it
As a worldwide formula , placing your subwoofer in a corner or tight to the paries is going to result in more bass , but not necessarily the best bass . little , lowly - powered subwoofers like the ones that usually amount with dwelling house - theater of operations - in - a - box systems and soundbars tend to use small drivers twin with low-down - power amps and , thus , tend to benefit from some boundary reward . Unfortunately , all you ’re really getting is more of the same icky bass . While we cede that a corner is often the most convenient choice , it is rarely the ideal option .
Subwoofers with declamatory drivers and more hefty amps do n’t need to lean on your rampart for help . In fact , high-pitched - quality subs be given to sound their beneficial when pull at least 8 to 12 inches from any wall . Subwoofers also work better in the front half of your hearing space , direct closer to your front - communication channel speaker unit to subside timing time lag and phase cancellation .
Here are some handy suggestion for where to place your sub base on what sort of tractability you have , and what to expect from it inhabit there .
whole tone 1 : bill of fare blanche — Have the flexibility and the space to put your subwoofer anywhere you wish ? Here ’s what we evoke , then : Move your hearing chair or couch out of the way of life from where you normally sit . Now , stick your subwoofer right where your chair used to be and cut slack with some heavy - responsibility bass part cognitive content .
Walk and crawl around the elbow room , listening carefully for where the bass voice sound most even and defined . It ’s not just about that visceral gripe to the gut . You require to hear the timbre ( tonal quality ) and the grain of the notes . Put a piece of tape measure down on the floor when you notice things are sounding good , then move to another spot . Keep doing that until you have three to four options so you could narrow down the big succeeder .
The estimate is that , by target your subwoofer a third of the way into your way as measure out from a wall , you melt off the effect of standing waves , cypher , and sucking - out where the bass can sound slender or be less responsive . Mathematically speaking , by following this guidepost , the odds that your baby-sit orbit will be a “ beneficial bass voice spot ” are increase .
stride 3 : It has to be in a corner — Look , nobody want to put their awesome fresh sister in a recess , but sometimes you have to . Here ’s what you’re able to do to palliate problems that come from putting a bomber in a corner .
First , if your subwoofer is port on the rear of the locker — meaning , it has a muddle in the back of the storage locker with a section of tubing in it — you could stuff the port with tennis Lucille Ball , pencil eraser ball , or even rolled - up wind sock to seal the console and cut down its interaction with the wall behind it . Many producer now provide customs duty plugs with their products so that you’re able to experiment with the sound .
secondly , move the subwoofer at least 6 to 8 inch out from the quoin . Giving it a footling space will help void plebeian box problems .
Step 4 : Under a couch or table — This is not the uncollectible plan in the world , but expect a hole in the auditory sensation if you have really small satellite speakers that depend on the sub for frequency over 120Hz .
stone’s throw 5 : Inside another console — We realize that , sometimes , certain portion ca n’t be exceed . But you need to know that this is the uncollectible possible scenario . put a sub inside another cabinet pretty much defeats the purpose of a subwoofer . Those non - directional low frequencies want room to rest in the room , and you ’ve just crammed them in a closet and shut the doorway .
stride 6 : Inside the paries — This is becoming more and more popular with custom installers , and while there are some really right in - wall subwoofer available from JL Audio , Paradigm , and B&W , this is not the character of product renters should even consider installing — unless you ’re really , really good at revivify drywall , and even then you chance badly anger the neighbors .
In - wall subwoofers demand to be professionally instal with special boxes that are designed to hold the subwoofer cabinet in place and isolate it from the rest of the way . Done decent , it can be an in effect solvent . One thing to recall : In - bulwark subwoofer are really expensive because they often need external amplification , crossover , and a pile of childbed to instal them right .
Step 7 : What about wireless?If it ’s the wiring that has you compromising on subwoofer placement , weigh start a wireless subwoofer adapter such as theSoundPath Wireless Audio Adapter from SVS .
This wo n’t rid you of the need to find a convenient office outlet ( in fact , it total to that requirement ) , but it eliminates the pauperism for a physical tie-in back to your A / cinque receiving system or amplifier .
If you get one , make certain it ’s designed for ultra - low latency . Some Bluetooth models have an unacceptable amount of hold ; that ’s fine for headphones , but lousy when you ’re strain to synchronize with up to nine other wired utterer .
Automatic vs. manual calibration
Most midrange and upAV receiversthese Clarence Shepard Day Jr. feature automatic room chastening ( ARC , but please do n’t disconcert this with HDMI ARC , which is an entirely different technology ) , and while they do a decorous job of detecting things like verbaliser distance and communication channel levels , they are notoriously inaccurate when it fall to learn crossover configurations . For the purposes of this treatment , the condition crossover refers to the stop at which a speaker unit stops producing bass and the subwoofer takes over . As you could imagine , this setting is decisive for get the best possible bass reply in your room .
Some ARC software does a well line of work than others . Anthem ’s ARCis by far the most effective we ’ve see , followed bySonos Trueplay , which is more effective mainly because it only has to portion out with ahandful of Sonos speakers . There ’s also a lot of love in the A / quintuplet community forDirac Live . Yamaha ’s YPAO , Audyssey , and others are by and large less effective .
Rather than relying on the automatise system , it ’s worth test to determine the best crosswalk background for your organisation yourself . you could still use machinelike standardisation for the rest of your speaker unit , and only manually calibrate the subwoofer . For a closer feeling at just how to do that , see below .
Manual calibration
Note : Some subwoofers are relatively hired man - off , with few configurations available for consumers to manually exchange . Others have an array of dials and toggles to line up . Do what you could with what you have , base on our instructions here .
Once you ’ve found the good location for your subwoofer and pick off some essential organisation setting , you require to dial in the sub ’s phase , crosswalk point , and volume .
Step 1 : Set the crossover — determine the crossover voter dial is easy : Crank it all the agency up . If you have a relatively modern A / V receiver , it will mechanically take care of the task for you and essentially vote down the sub ’s intragroup crossing .
If you are not using an A / quintet receiver or preamp / processor to contain your crossover voter ( perhaps using line - level inputs for a stereo trucking rig ) , then set the crosswalk as snug as potential to the point at which you require the sub to start bring forth bass .
The smaller the other speakers , the higher the subwoofer crossover frequence is exit to be . If you do n’t already know what your utterer are capable of , look up the frequency reply spectacles for your speakers in their manual or online — it could be something like 48Hz-28kHz . Now take the downhearted number ( 48Hz , in this case ) , and bump it up by 10Hz .
Next , dally some bass - intensive euphony ( moving-picture show are unreliable and do n’t give your auricle something conversant to latch onto ) . If while listen you notice an obvious drop-off in bass voice energy ( or what we care to call “ sucking - out ” ) near the frequence at which your subwoofer and independent speakers crossing over , you need to make registration to your phase control .
stone’s throw 2 : Set the form — Play the same track over and over again and listen while a friend changes the form setting ( this could be a continuous dial or a dewy-eyed electric switch with one or two positions ) . Stop when you ’ve arrived at the setting that results in the full sound . If the adjusting form does n’t rid you of your suck - out , then the job may be due to unfit placement . Go back to the placement section of this guide and try again .
Step 3 : Set the intensity — With respect to volume , a common mistake is to crank your subwoofer ’s volume telephone dial to its maximum scope . Instead , go down the volume dial to about 75 % or so and set the subwoofer turnout degree from your AV telephone receiver or preamp / mainframe rather . release the volume up and down in wide-cut swings at first , then in smaller increment until you reach out the point at which you do n’t really comment the subwoofer . It should essentially “ vaporize ” into the sound , creating the illusion that your entire system is procreate all of that bass part answer . A well - integrated subwoofer will also boom the soundstage in term of both profundity and width .
If you ’re looking for an easy but less rigorous way to dial in your crossover , subwoofer manufacturerSVS has a full lot of guidelinesfor the crosscut frequencies for different size and types of speaker system .
Work with your room, not against it
Rather than trying to out - muscle the effect your room has on sound by tweaking the sound itself , pluck your room so it does n’t bear upon the sound in the first place . One of the gentle way to do this is to put some variety of acoustical treatment in the corners of the room . you could go with basso traps or some other purpose - built sound - soaking up twist , but these can be expensive — and surly . To bust up the acoustic mess in your elbow room ’s corners , try placing a piece of furniture ( avoid glass or large , flat surfaces — that ’s what we ’re trying to fix here ! ) or a large potted industrial plant ( it can be fake ) in the blank space . Shelves filled with books are great for this sorting of thing , too , and they do n’t calculate nigh as frightful as froth sound absorber .
If you have hardwood or concrete floors , gift in some carpet or a rug will help tremendously . For those with hardwood floor , the usance of floor spike and protective magnetic disc under your sub will make a difference . If you need to spend more money , you could also consider a dedicated subwoofer stand ( yes , they make those ) .
Double down
Before we divvy up our final bit of advice , bear in mind that we ’re not salespeople — we have absolutely no interest in queer you of your hard - realise money . What we ’re about to say you is true . We ’ve tried it ourselves , and the outcome are fantastic .
You need to have two subwoofers .
Seriously , you really do . Todd Welti , an acoustical technician at Harman International ( the fellowship responsible for Harman / Kardon electronics , JBL talker , etc . ) penned one of the best enquiry papers ever pen on this topic , andthis was one of his conclusions . It ’s truthful that the multiple - subwoofer route is n’t always practical in residential applications , but there ’s no denying that it sound spectacular . If you may swing it , you should . A multiple - sub setup wo n’t set the offspring of stand wave , but it will give everyone in the elbow room a better mother wit of basso response by eliminate the potential for those plaguy void spaces .
It may take a slight piece of trial and wrongdoing to get thing just justly , and you might even upset a few neighbors or roomie along the way . But that glorious moment when your subwoofer pitch the spine - tingle bass voice you ’re after is worth any associated effort involved .
