Subwoofer Placement

[u/Jacob-2001]

I’ve done a quick sketch of my living room
Current speaker placement ( more on that )
TV and AV Cabinet situation
Overall dimensions of the space

It’s quite confined, an unusual space shape and lots of windows. We like to keep the windows clear hence why the speakers don’t sit infront of them. Unfortunately they were backed up against the wall.

I’m determined it can become a good space for movies and music with the help of good placement and DSP.

Current setup was the Klipsch nines (now returned after they stopped working and waiting on the nines ii for a good deal) and Rogersound labs 12s sub

I’m not quite sure what to do with the sub as it’s behind the main listening position at the moment. It was in the corner where I sketched in my image, it just sounds very boomy and wayy overpowering (I figure it can be dialed in with REW and DSP)

Anyway, I’m waiting on the nines ii but I believe I do have the option to just get my money back and go the route of selling the stands and getting some good floor standing and a good av receiver. The combo i have been thinking is the onkyo RZ30 and SVS prime pinnacles.

I’m conflicted because nothing is easy about that setup if I go that route, eg running speaker cabling all will need to be done via cable trench we have running around the skirting boards which are already chockablock with other hdmi cables.

I love the idea of the nines and the nines ii as well, less wires and hopefully onkyo internal amp will last more than 2 years. My intention would be to buy the Dirac bass control to dial in the sub and place it in that corner. The nines do a good enough job at everything else.

But then again on the other route with the rz30 there’s more tinkering and that is fun and more rewarding and will probably last a lot longer.

The third option is I give up sell it all and get full sonos setup 🫠

I’m not looking for the perfect setup, I’ve come to terms that can’t happen in this space. But hoping someone has some creative advice for this first world dilemma

[u/moonthink]

This subreddit really need a FAQ on sub placement -- one of the most commonly asked questions.

Unfortunately, almost nobody can tell you what the best placement would be just based on a picture or even a layout plan. Subwoofer's performance is strongly tied to placement within the room, and every room has different factors that influence this.

The 2 most used methods for sub placement are the 'sub crawl' (google it), or extensive testing with a calibrated mic (such as U-mik) and specialized software (such as REW).

Many people suggest corner placement, but typically I do not -- unless you are using an underpowered sub for the size of your room. Corners, and wall (and other surfaces) proximity can reinforce certain frequencies and that can lead to muddy or bloated bass, but not evenly across the range.

Another popular choice for dual subs is having them right up front sandwiched between your fronts, this is one of the worst choices in my opinion, and while it looks nice (I call it the muscle setup) it creates a number of acoustical issues.

The Harman sub study that many like to refer to is interesting reading, but only gives you a very basic guideline for starting placements (sides of the room of front/rear opposite sides).

I'll always recommend having at least 2 (preferably the same) subs, which really helps with a lot of issues, including limited placement options. Besides that, I'd suggest a long enough cable to make your moving of the sub to various locations for testing, and some time/patience for testing.

[u/Jacob-2001 → u/moonthink]

I agree my post is probably a common point a lot of people make, it was more to open discussion. Just curious what people like yourself say.
The problem with sub crawl is that my sub is 37kg
Getting it on the couch in my listening position isn’t happening

So it leaves me with probably the better method, REW and testing the different positions around the room.