Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Subwoofer Crawl

Just pondering the Subwoofer Crawl......I have read many of the threads about Audysey (sp.?) and Yamaha has YAPO. The majority of the advice says leave the furniture as is to get the truest readings. Logically this makes sense to me.

Here is my question - is there a standard school of thought on the sub crawl? Specifically, do you move the couch (in my case) or chair to the side and place the sub in the main seating spot? Do you set the sub as close to the seating spot as possible? Do you guys even do the sub crawl?

For those of us without dedicated rooms, most of us have to make do with good enough. Compromise is the name of the game. Without rearranging all the furniture, maybe the second best spot in terms of numbers and even frequency readings is the only spot where there is room for the sub.

Well...I do have a fair amount of leeway across the front. I may slide the couch over about a sub width's worth and crawl around the front of the room. I recently bought the DVE disc but have not explored all of it. Are there good tracks on there for the crawl - or does anyone have suggestions for a DVD with lots of lfe to crawl by - so to speak?

I actually put my EP600 on my couch. I haven't done a sub crawl since getting my EP800s.

Charles, how did that work? I too was not sure placing the sub on the couch seemed like a good idea. Would I face it forward, left or right? Would it matter? I did not know these answers. I chose to put the subs where they fit best with the furniture (other than all up front) basically left and right of the list. pos. with a third in the back 1/2 of the room. Today I just moved 3# to the front between TV and RF speaker. This sounds great. So I sort of did a reverse crawl by placing the subs where I thought they would work best, then crawled around the room to see where base was good and where it was missing. I lucked out in that where I had available for R & L of the list. pos, actually sounded and felt better in the primary list. pos. than when I had all three up front. I got lucky I guess.

I faced it forward, since I had it on its side, not standing up. The driver wasn't exactly where my head would be, so maybe I should have stood it up? I don't think it's supposed to matter which direction it's facing with the low frequencies. I found a couple spots along one wall that seemed to sound the best, though I wouldn't mind having a more solid selection of material to use during the subwoofer crawl. Those spots did seem to correspond rather well, so I considered it a success. After I get the SVS AS-EQ1, I think I'll have fun watching the graph change as I try different positions.

Dave - sounds like a good idea.

Any suggestions for LFE/Bass heavy material....Bueller?

This video may help you, as it explains how to correctly execute the subwoofer crawl.

I followed the video, but actually placed my sub on the couch facing forward. I never thought to try the sub in different orientations on the couch while I was crawling.

Maybe it's just my ears (or lack of ), but I found 2 broad regions of my room where I thought the sub sounded best, not a specific spot. I then placed the sub in the region that worked best for the physical use of my HT room. Then played with sub orientation within that region. At this point i don't know if any changes were real or placebo, but I have tricked myself into being happy so am leaving well enough alone!

Dan, you should not have to change the direction of the driver orientation as you crawl around. Sub frequencies around 80-120hz or less are omnidirectional. Think of when you throw a pebble in a pond, the waves ripple outward all around that location.

Thanks Sirquack,
That means I don't need to do go back and do multiple sub crawls!

Argon - looking forward to seeing your impressions as someone else who purchased Axiom without hearing them 1st.

Are you the one that responded to me earlier? I did go audition some Paradigms at Peter's suggestion. The audition was only on the mains - no center - no sub - no surrounds. THAT is what I really wanted - but c'est la vie. I always knew I was going to purchase anyway based on reviews - this forum and the original reco that I look into Axiom. T minus 3 weeks & 5 days.....not that I'm keeping up with it or anything.

I used a particular scene from Wall-E where the alien ship was just landing. I just kept rewinding it numerous times. That way I was hearing the exact same passage for an apples and apples comparison. (seemed like a good idea) Having a particular source with continual LFE would have been nice too.

By crawling around, I found that the back half of the room (16' back of list. pos.) was pretty null, which is perfect. the LFE happened to sound and FEEL much better with my subs in their new location (L & R of list. pos.) than in the front. I was very pleased. Two days ago, I moved one of the two smaller KLH 10" subs from the back half of the room, to the front between TV and RF speaker. A smaller degree of improvement than the main change, but better, none the less! So now I have subs left right and in front of the list. pos. I don't know if it is 'optimum' for my 31' x 23' room, but of all the aesthetically WAF locations, this set up is Great.

Argon,
I am the one that recently purchased the W series HT - you asked me on the thread if I had auditioned before ordering. I did read the thread with your Paradigm audition at Peter's suggestion.

Congrats on your order - pardon my ignorance/laziness to search - what model(s) did you order?

I ordered the Epic 60 500. It is what Joe Montana would have done.

Nicely done! I can't speak for the 60's, but you're gonna love the EP500. My sub position ended up being behind my couch, and while the sound itself is not localized behind me, the shockwave from the proximity rocks the couch! Who needs D-Box anyway? (Well, ok...I'd take one) Also, I am very impressed by my W150 so far, so the VP150 should likely be even better than what I have.

Cheers

I laugh a little everytime I see D-box mentioned. My old sub was an early D-box model(now 14years old) and they moved on from there.

Jay, I had no idea that D-Box started out with subs. It would be interesting to know how they transformed into what they are today. Has anybody experienced any of their systems?

My local shop sells D-Box and recently installed 2 of their game sims as well as an HT setup for showcasing. If you get the chance, go experience it - very cool. I will stop in on a Saturday afternoon to play R-Factor (car racing sim) for a few laps. Truly amazing stuff - you'll be grinning for hours after. On the HT front I have experienced some scenes from Bolt and it's also awesome (but expensive).

Oops, thread hijack!