Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice as I research subwoofer placement and firing direction. I have read great info on this forum and would like your opinions of subwoofer placement. When placing a sub against a rear wall would you recommend firing the sub into the wall or foreward firing position. The reason I ask is beacuse in my vehicle a rear firing sub setup produces tremendously superior bass responce as compared to a forward firing position. I will be setting up a 3808ci and epic 60/500 but may purchase an HSU-3HO instead of EP/500. My room is 20"x11.5x12 which is about 1800cu ft. Here is a link to a few photos. The 4th pic shows the right side of my couch where I believe may be a good spot to audition the sub. If the sub should fire into the wall towards the window, how far should the vent be from the wall for best responce. Thanks for any advice.
http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x150/demetman/

demetman

[quote=demetman] The reason I ask is beacuse in my vehicle a rear firing sub setup produces tremendously superior bass responce as compared to a forward firing position.

[quote] Superior bass response or a more pleasing sound?

I think it will be up to you to decide whether or not forward or wall firing is better, some may have found wall firing to be better other forward. I have mine firing into the side of my couch about 18" away from it's side and it sounds pretty good to me that way.

normally it does not matter which way the driver is pointed as freq's below 80hz become non-directional, just think of a pebble thrown into a pond.

where you place it in the room depends on the room characteristics and size, you will have to experiment.

The acoustics in a car are very different than those in a room. A trunk is a very small enclosure for a sub, and thus you can get great differences in sound by precise positioning, as you've discovered with the rear-facing sub.

But in a room, it's a bit different. The area is so much larger that I do not believe that precise orientation makes much of a difference. As the others have said, you're going to have to experiment. The general rule of thumb is that subs work the best when they're placed in a corner. But it depends on the room, the sub, and your taste for bass. But none of that relates to how exactly to orient the woofer. I don't think I've ever read anything by someone stating that it worked better one way or another. My SVS, for instance, has a down-ward firing woofer, so there's no choice as to how the woofer faces. It's absolutely fantastic. HSU subs are highly regarded as well, though of course the 'party line' around here would be to get the EP500.

One neat way of setting up a sub is to put the sub where you sit (on the couch, whatever), then put on some music and/or test material, and then crawl around the room. Where it sounds best to you is where the sub should go.

Edit: Looking at your pix. Holy cow, that's a big enclosure! You are a man passionate about your bass, that's for sure! I don't think you'll be dissapointed with either of the subs here, but if you're going to want the kind of extraordinary bass you're getting in your car, you might want to think about stepping up to the EP600.

Or a pair of SVS's, one on each side of the couch. That'd look cool. And be able to remove fillings.

I remember someone posted some frequency/db graphs of their sub (some type of 15" monster) that was in the front left corner of the room. The response was actually much better when they faced the sub to the left wall. When it faced forward there was a pretty good dip or two.

Probably not typical results though.

Thanks for the responces guys, I had a feeling a majority of your opinions would dictate room characteristics sub used and placement. This is my first experience with any home audio project and I am diligent with every detail before I jump into something of this stature. I plan to have all products and accessories by mid August to start by Sept.

PeterChenowerth, yes you could say I enjoy dynamic bass, but who doesn't. The enclosure you saw in my pics was an experiment for a 15" SI Mag Subwoofer. I previously had a 12" JL Audio 12W7 in a tuned enclosure(32Hz) powered by a JL Audio 1000/1 amplifier in my Dodge Magnum. I then purchased a 15" sub in the same class and built a sealed enclosure to document output differences and performance characteristics. I favored the sealed 15" for a more musical and linear responce plus a much tighter sound. The JL performed very well in the lower region 20Hz-40Hz but lacked punch with kick drum. Just to clarify, I am by no means one of those ignorant bass head kids who drives around blaring their system for no regards to neighbors etc. I enjoy tight musical, fast hard hitting bass which suits rock and metal. After reading everything on this forum I have come to the conclusion that the EP/600 does not appeal to me at all. Maybe EP/500 or 2ea EP/350v3 or the HSU-3 sub. Much more research and many questions in the near future. Thanks for your replies!

demetman

The only detrimental effects that I have experienced with a subwoofer firing towards a wall is that if the drywall is slightly loose it can cause an annoying vibration :-). Yup, he there done that.

For a little while back in high school I was an ignorant bass-head kid.

I am unfamiliar with SI Mag, but I certainly know and understand JL Audio products. Lovely.

We're all happy to help around here.

If you are still shopping for subs, my only real advice would be to take a look at SVS's offerings too. Yes, yes, the EP500 is a monster sub, no question. But HSU and SVS make some really sweet subs as well at a slightly lower price point. I love my SVS PCI+ 20-39. It's musical and tight, but can literally break my house when needed. And I dig the water-heater look.

"What's that?" That's my sub.

Until you hear them don't dismiss them, the EP series, at least to me, all have the same sound/expansiveness(distortion,ringing? but still sound very nice) just the EP350 is a little tighter/punchier sounding possibly due to the lack of lower end. So if you think 2 EP350's would work then why not 2 EP600s?

The EP600 gets a bad rep around here, at least lately. I don't think that is deserved, but I've only heard a couple of them.

Not just here, pretty much all the forums I have been to and the sad part is most people trashing it have never heard one.

I was kind of thinking of Mojo, hate to say it...

I trust you did get his notes on his much more thorough comparison.

Ah, no I hadn't. I should really read that before casting aspersions, huh.

In a nut shell, they are 2 good subs, just different sounding.

"Help! I'm in a nutshell! How did I get into this bloody great big nutshell? What kind of shell has bass like this?"

Burled walnut

Wow! that's one interesting looking sub! I have never hear of SVS and after looking at their website I can see that this small company has very well know high performance products. The problem I am encountering now is selecting a subwoofer for the system I choose. I like many on this board tend to overthink every element of a HT system and decisions are merely impossible! The EP500 is probrably perfect for my application and I'm just to indecisive. Thanks for making things more difficult

respectfully yours,

demetman

don't discount the EP350v3. It gives the 500 a run for its money.

After some deep thought I decided that the sub I choose to intergrate with the proposed M60's should be geared more for music than HT. After all I have no past experience with HT and car audio has been a hobby for many years. Simply, I love music and the best possible music reproduction (within a reasonable budget) is my goal. The thing that most excites me about putting this HT system together is to have the opportunity to listen to a Frank Zappa DVD called "QuAUDIOHPILLIAc" which is recorded in DTS 5.1 surround 96k 24bit resolution. I also have Frank Zappa "Halloween" which has been recorded in the same fashion. It does however seem strange when I think about having to sit on my couch in the listening spot to get the full effect of 5.1 surround material such as music CD's or music DVD's. It will all be a new experience and one I am very excited for. Researching this stuff is fun!