Subwoofer recommendation with pr. Sierra-2EX V2, music only, not HT

[shinny]

N Boros,
I'm curious about your comment, "not flanking the main speakers the way you typically see it." Please explain further.

Thank you.

[N Boros]

N Boros,
I'm curious about your comment, "not flanking the main speakers the way you typically see it." Please explain further.

Thank you.

Harmon research by Todd Welti years ago has shown that the best placement of two subwoofers in phase with each other is placing them across the room from each other. So if you have one of them at the midpoint of the front wall then the second subwoofer should be at the midpoint of the back wall, in order to get the most consistent response from seat to seat that also minimizes the room modes (minimizing peaks and dips).

Very often online you will see photos of folks having two subwoofers where one is next to the front left speaker and the other is next to the front right speaker, because it looks nice aesthetically. But, this placement is not great for trying to get a consistently good sound from one seat to the next with minimizing room modes.

On the other hand, newer versions of high end room correction like Audyssey in the flagship receivers can do EQ for multiple subwoofers where they also vary the phase differently for each subwoofer with the goal of getting the most consistent response from seat to seat while minimizing the room modes. In that case you might be able to improve the placement that isn’t ideal, but it probably still won’t be as good as getting the optimal placement of the two subs to begin with. There is only so much that can be done to fix poor placement.

[shinny]

So, after crawling my single Rythmic HP 15 around a large room (27' great room x open to the house x 16'/9' ceilings, the best spot for sub placement with my ELX Towers was placing the sub right next to and forward of the face of one speaker firing directly across (perpendicular to front) into the center. Go figure, impossible to identify sub placement in the dark, and sounds fantastic.

[racrawford65]

From what I read, best sub placement for 2, in best to good order, is opposite corners, midpoints of opposing walls, 1/4 & 3/4 points on same wall. Of course, sub crawl/REW is probably best for those not too lazy. Unfortunately, the room and/or WAF many times dictates placement options.

[davef]

So, after crawling my single Rythmic HP 15 around a large room (27' great room x open to the house x 16'/9' ceilings, the best spot for sub placement with my ELX Towers was placing the sub right next to and forward of the face of one speaker firing directly across (perpendicular to front) into the center. Go figure, impossible to identify sub placement in the dark, and sounds fantastic.

The "subwoofer crawl" is the best method to find the ideal placement for a subwoofer, next to taking actual measurements. Glad everything is sounding great!

[SunByrne]

From what I read, best sub placement for 2, in best to good order, is opposite corners, midpoints of opposing walls, 1/4 & 3/4 points on same wall. Of course, sub crawl/REW is probably best for those not too lazy. Unfortunately, the room and/or WAF many times dictates placement options.

And let me just say, if other considerations dictate that you have to use less-than-optimal placement, this REALLY makes it a big deal to get a second sub. In general, less good placements mean at least one null at some frequency at the listening position, and almost any second placement, even another not-great one, is likely to have different nulls. I'm in this situation and getting a second sub was a substantial upgrade, even though the second one isn't really in an optimal spot, either.