Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Subwoofer ports against wall...good, bad, neither?

WAF dictates the to-be-purchased subwoofer be placed snug against the corner of a room. How, if at all, will the placement of side-mounted ports within 1-2 inches of a wall affect performance?

It would most likely negatively impact performance. The air leaving the ports would bounce off the wall and interfere with more moving air that is just leaving the ports. If at all possible, I'd give them a couple more inches to breathe.

You could get the Outlaw Audio LFM-1 with that sub the ports fire into the floor.You could then have it as close to the wall as you want.

I have the outlaw sub and love it.

The subwoofer I was leaning towards buying was the SV PB12 ISD (side ports), the Outlaw was in the running as well. I understand that the Outlaw has ports on the bottom.

If the Outlaw ports are no more than 1-2 inches from the floor surface and it doesn't affect performance, why would the SV subs ports be affected being 1-2 inches from a wall surface?

Looking at the PB12 it is ported in the rear.An email to SVS would certainly answer your question.

Sam, by "side" I assume that you actually meant back. It's usually suggested that ports be given a "few inches" of breathing room. Do you mean that if you moved it out just another 2-3" that this wouldn't be acceptable?(if the answer is yes, Ray might have a suggestion relating to your wife). Would pointing the back away from the wall be aesthetically acceptable? Somehow you'll work this out and it won't significantly affect performance. In general, unless the room is square or nearly so, the best place for a single sub is right in a corner, so in that respect your wife's requirements are in accord with the principles of acoustics.

Suggest the sub can either be pulled away from the wall 4" or you could put it into the corner and just turn that big ugly switch-laden arse of it into the room. She might see it your way. *G*

Bren R.

That "switch-laden arse" comment doesn't have anything to do with your proclivity toward evening flails, does it?

Samson,

As JohnK and others have indicated, a few inches from the port to the wall is all you need to let the deep bass pressure escape into the room.

But what is far more influential than the port-to-wall distance is the actual locaton of the sub (any sub) relative to the corner and intersecting room boundaries. If the deep bass is too "boomy" or "one-note", you may want to move it away from the corner along one wall to reduce the bass reinforcement that the corner provides.

Regards,