SW-118M Operation Manual
15
Subwoofer Series | rev.
2.00
4.5 Placement for SW-118M
An important factor governing subwoofer response is their placement relative to adjacent
surfaces. Subwoofers gain significant power by coupling (or loading) with nearby floors and
walls. Placing any loudspeaker against a large plane (relative to wavelength) produces a half-
space loading condition, meaning that all the energy radiating spherically (equal energy in all
directions) from the loudspeaker is now being radiated into a hemisphere, or half the area. This
result in a 6 dB increase in energy radiating into the hemisphere, the same increase that
happens by doubling the number of subwoofers, compared to the same subwoofer in free space
(suspended).
4.5.1
Flying SW-118M subwoofer
It is beneficial in some cases to fly subwoofers, even though they will not
benefit from half-space loading. For example, placing subwoofers in a flown array of
mid-high loudspeakers can create a smoother full-range frequency image because the
subwoofers are not separated by distance from the flown array to the floor. When flying
subwoofers, consider deploying some sort of low-frequency directional array to keep the
low-frequency energy going to the audience and headroom requirements of the system.
Summary of Contents for Sub Series
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