Problem with Sub placement...

EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
edited December 2003 in Hardware
The problem with powerful subs is you can put them under a desk.... or in a corner, especially not under a desk in a corner, as the 60, 70 and 100hz areas of sound get amplified way out of preportion and ruin the sound.

So the obvious point would be to move the sub out of the corner, right?

Not quite that easy.

I have tried placing it against the wall to the left of my desk. The sound is great, sounds as it should and no booming.... except I can tell that the sub is to my right next to the desk....

The sub is now where the Amiga was (white case, single black bezel machine) and the pedestal directly next to it has gone. So it's not where it is in the picture.

Any ideas?

NS

Comments

  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    you have a great place for it now IMO ...as long as it doesn't touch anything that can vibrate cept maybe the floor which is carpeted you should be ok. under the desk was a bad choice because it forms an "enclosure" and that should be avoided.
    beauty of a sub is that technically placement is not all that important but really should be at ground level preferebaly with carpeting.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Er... no I dont, as I said, I can tell exactly where the bass is coming from, so the sound field is screwed up....

    NS
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    sorry i didnt see the entire pic ...you still have the "enclosure" effect so to speak.
    move it someplace out in the open like a "coffeetable" type of deal. what does your floorplan look like in the rest of the room?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    This was the room before.... (see bottom pic).

    What I have now done is turned the sub so the port is facing into the room (in the pic its facing the side of the desk) and bought it out a bit, but it has only made a marginal difference....

    NS

    (Excuse the picture, if I turn the flash on then everything is too dark to see properly).
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    are you sure that you don't have to speakers mounted opposite each other? that's how mine is made.
    try it in the middle of the room first and work from there perhaps.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Are you drunk? ;)

    Sorry, that sentence just makes no sence at all to be honest.

    NS
  • croc_croc_ New
    edited December 2003
    lol....

    hmm, have you tried to the left of that shelf? where the blue thingy is?

    btw nice desk and nice headphones ;) I got the same headphones, love em to death. But unfortunately my desk is ghetto.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    NightShade737 had this to say
    Are you drunk? ;)

    Sorry, that sentence just makes no sence at all to be honest.

    NS
    no it didn't make much sense now that I look at it sorry ...I meant 2 speakers opposite each other in the same cabinet enclosure ...I can't tell from the pic.
    just don't enclose it between objects is all I can suggest without being in the room I guess. subs mainly move air and it should be placed in a open space.
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited December 2003
    NS, are those HD-570's by chance? :D

    I've always found the best way to eliminate the problem of being able to detect where the bass is coming from is to leave the sub right at your feet, either directly infront of you or just slightly to the left or right.

    Move it away too far and you can start to hear/feel the direction of the bass.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    SimGuy had this to say
    NS, are those HD-570's by chance? :D

    I've always found the best way to eliminate the problem of being able to detect where the bass is coming from is to leave the sub right at your feet, either directly infront of you or just slightly to the left or right.

    Move it away too far and you can start to hear/feel the direction of the bass.

    580's actually :)

    I can't put it under me as the bass levels are just stupidly enhanced and it causes 3 spikes (60, 70 and 100 as I said) so that isn't possible. It was great when it was there as the sound was in the right place, but WAAAAAY too boomy and disproportionate.

    That blue thing (aka a "Bin") may be too far away. Though which blue thing do you mean? The one directly to the left of the desk doesn't work, I can tell where the sound is coming from, as I already tried that.
    I meant 2 speakers opposite each other in the same cabinet enclosure

    Not quite sure what you mean, but the speakers in the picture, going from left to right are - Left Rear, Left Side, Left Front, Centre, Right, Right Side, Sub (on the floor) and the Right rear speaker is just off the picture to the right.

    NS
  • croc_croc_ New
    edited December 2003
    crocbox.jpg

    look familiar? 580's rock ;) see how ghetto my desk is? the keyboard is all up on the mousepad .=(

    desk.jpg

    too bad that keyboard broke.

    ok back on subject .... I had a 4.1 system awhile back (altec lansing 641, nice system and i got it for $100) and i placed my sub behind me against the opposite wall .... if you have enough cabling ... can you put it on the opposite side of the room?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I'm getting HD 580s for christmas; are they as good as everyone says?
  • croc_croc_ New
    edited December 2003
    Thrax had this to say
    I'm getting HD 580s for christmas; are they as good as everyone says?

    better. do you have an amp? you will wet yourself.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Beeeeeautiful.

    Thank you. :D
  • croc_croc_ New
    edited December 2003
    My friend uses his with a reciever from an entertainment system (onkyo) , all i can say is WOW. The sounds are so crisp and clean and the bass is deep but not overly loud or overpowering. You can hear every sound perfectly. Every instrument stands out like you are actually there. I don't think there is anything that can compare to a good set of headphones. The only ONE downside is no surround.

    P.S. if you use a high power home theatre amp like that, TURN THE VOLUME ON EVERYTHING TO ZERO BEFORE YOU TURN ANYTHING ON, THEN ADJUST IT. You will thank me.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Can you start another thread about the headphones please, as I need to get this sorted out because it's pissing me off imensely.

    I don't have enough cabling due to Creative using "Photo to Dual Wires" method, meaning I would either have to buy loads of extended wires, as the rears have enough of a hard time reaching as is.

    NS
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    what make/model subwoofer do you have?
  • croc_croc_ New
    edited December 2003
    I dont see anywhere you could put it without a problem then ..... unless you can make room behind your desk (between desk and wall)
  • gtghmgtghm New
    edited December 2003
    a pair of sky hooks should do it... :p
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Between the desk and wall wouldn't work as firstly it would still be in a confined space, and secondly, it would still be in a corner...

    The sub is the 210W RMS Creative Gigaworks S750 Sub -
    http://gear.ign.com/articles/444/444395p1.html
    http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?prod=542

    NS
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    it appears that you have one woofer at the bottom of the cabinet and one port in front. This is what I have been asking about. My subwoofer has 2 speakers one in the front of the cabinet and one in the rear of the cabinet. Mine is an Ohm N2. The Ohm N had a simular configuration to yours with a single woofer on bottom. The reason the design was changed and no longer offered was because it was too powerful and shook everything in sight. The 2 woofers are not nearly as powerful.

    So where do you place it?
    I think the more "walls" you place it against the least happy you'll be with that "directional" effect IMO. That is why I suggested starting in the middle of the room ...get the decibals comfortable for you (and heaven help those downstairs) then move it to a corner at most. The fewer walls you have directly surrounding the sub the happier you'll be IMHO The reason you feel the direction is because of the sound/air bouncing off of the objects directly nearby ...make sense?

    My guess is ...210w sub and you are no longer popular in the house AND someone is considering a basement quarters for you!!! j/k:nudge:
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Or a shelf. Monitors gen RFI\EMI, decent amounts, enough to get bent themselves or bend other electromagnetic fields. And subs have decent sized magnetic components, so if they are not in VERY heavy FRI\EMI casing on all sides except for the front the sound can get BENT by field interference as well as by placement.

    At a guess, since your setup has most of its speakers left of the computer, your ears are also hearing its sound to right, making things worse, but I would not be surprised if part of the spiking is RFI\EMI interactions between electronic things. SUBS can have a big field, and if not real well cased can be interfered with also by things like monitor EMI\RFI. So, I would get some cable extenders, put it behind you, bounce it off ceiling from behind as a trial, see if you can get the reflected sound to sound decent or if not then move computer to where bookcase is, and put a shelf on wall for sub (thick dense wood, protects from RMI\EFI interference by basicly not allowing it through if it is not soft and sappy or green wood), or make a grounded metal plate UNDER it to divert RFI\EMI interference from below to ground instead of up into sub.

    Only other issue I can SEE, is if ceiling is hard plaster which has been impressed\stamped\carved, or metal, is that ceiling sound reflections will make things awkward. Looks like you are trying to eliminate that with your setup, but moving computer against wall and using foam if needed on part of ceiling that reflects sound worst would look tacky but eliminate sound bounce. Even fabric covering on foam mounted to thin plywood would dampen some.

    John.
  • gtghmgtghm New
    edited December 2003
    Actually a corner can be ok, idealy you want the sub set so that you can't detect where its fireing from. On my home theater sub (M&K V125) the instructions said to look for a corner post or a main part of the structure to place it by...
    Of course staying a way from windows if possible...
    They suggested trying to turn the sub in different directions. Examples were fireing it right into the wall or turning it so that the sub fires into the floor...

    It looks like your on an upper level so I suppose that firing into the floor woouldn't please the peeps below you...

    I found that my pc sub sounded the best turing it so that it fire into the wall but in the HT I set my sub in a corner almost behind the listening position... that is where the corner post to my foundation is so I think that is why it sounds good there.
    It helps to have a suspended floor too that is made of wood...
    Concrete absorbs too much of the vibrations and you lose a lot of boom...

    Is it just that the sub is in the way or does it not sound right? You could try getting an analog sound meter and trying to set your sub settings to blend to the same db as the rest of your system...

    I did that on my HT, made a huge difference, I had always had trouble with getting my base just right, but after setting everything via a sound meter I can't tell where the base is comng from and it sounds great... I used a cheep $35 USD radio shack analog sound meter to do it.. was really simple to do too...

    gl,
    "g"
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I seem to have found a happy medium. It isn't boomy at all, and I can barely tell where it is coming from.........

    I have already replied to this thread once, where did it go....?

    Anyway, basically I tried putting it near the monitor, but I couldn't put it within 2 feet of it otherwise it went crazy, plus it sounded crap, but I have now put it... cant explain, i'll get a photo....

    NS
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