6
Subwoofer Placement
Subwoofers offer somewhat greater flexibility in placement, since the frequencies
they reproduce are not readily localizable by the human ear. This is due to the fact
that the wavelengths they reproduce are more than ten feet (3 meters) long, but our
ears are located only about 6-7 inches (17 cm) apart. Thus these extremely long
waves do not contribute meaningfully to the imaging that the main speakers create.
However, this fact does not mean that the placement of the subwoofers has no
effect on the sound quality in the room. Far from it. The subwoofers are the
most
likely to suffer from the response irregularities introduced by the room itself,
operating as they do below approximately 80 Hz in most systems.
For the best location(s) we recommend contacting us directly at
and we will run a subwoofer analysis on your
room to help find the absolute best placement for each of your subwoofers.
Room Treatment
Rectangular rooms have six reflecting surfaces (four walls, ceiling and floor)
that reflect sound to the listener, after various delays introduced by the indirect
routes the sound take on their way to the listener. These first reflections are
particularly damaging to sound quality. Looking at the simplest case of stereo
reproduction, you have a minimum of
twelve
first reflection points in your room
that deserve some attention.
Unfortunately, it is often difficult to do much about the ceiling and floor reflections,
even though they are arguably the most destructive. (The minimization of these
reflections is one of the strongest arguments for the tall, line source loud- speakers
that Wisdom Audio builds.) This leaves you with eight “first reflections” that you
should consider minimizing somehow. These points are easily found by having an
assistant slide a small mirror along the four walls of the room, while you sit at the
listening position. Any place on the wall where you can see a reflection of
any
speaker is a first reflection point. Concentrate on the first reflections for the Left
and Right speakers first.
If you can, arrange to apply either absorption or diffusion at these eight points
(don’t forget the wall behind you). Absorption can be as simple as heavy, insulated
drapes; diffusion can be provided by a well-stocked bookcase with books of varied
