# Subwoofer orientation question



## nstaln (Feb 11, 2009)

I am making my own subwoofer enclosure for home theater use. It will be built into/part of my entertainment/equipment rack.

The enclosure/equipment stand will be centered on the main wall of the living room. The room is 25ftx25ft with 17ft vaulted ceiling.

The subwoofers are a pair of Audiomobile Mass12’s running sealed with 2cf each. Power will be provided by a Dayton SA1000. 500rms each.
The question is what would be the best orientation for the drivers? I can do down-firing, front-firing, or one firing towards each side.

Thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks.


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## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

Have you ever used subwoofers in this room before?
What's your expectation for volume and crossover point?
How much tuning capability do you have DSP or EQ wise?
What's your signal chain to the SA1000 look like?
What will be your seating distance from the Subs?
Are you running them in mono off the same LFE Channel or Stereo from Low passed mains?


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

@nstaln normally these home subs are all front firing or down firing. Just don't fire it to the back. Mine are both front firing (don't want to rattle the surface/walls more than necessary lol).


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## CCole (Sep 9, 2020)

How did you choose placement for the subs?
Did you place sub in listening position and crawl around the room?
Direction the sub fires will have a lot to do with environment. Sub placement has so many variables! If you want accurate advice you will have to answer Daloudin’s questions.


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## nstaln (Feb 11, 2009)

This is my current 7.1 surround speaker system:








EMP HTP-551T Speaker System


The home-theater market's love affair with big displays and skinny speakers hasn't peaked just yet—screen girths are still expanding and speakers are on the verge of anorexia. The folks at EMP (Engineered Music Products) were hip to that fact when they cooked up the seriously svelte HTP-551T...




www.soundandvision.com





Sub is a single ported 10inch powered by 150rms

My expectation for the new sub system will be an increase in overall output due to more cone area and power...I’m hoping for an improvement in overall SQ as well using underhung drivers in a sealed alignment.

The Dayton amp has limited DSP capabilities, LP crossover, single band parametric EQ, defeatable [email protected] 18hz 

Source unit is an older Denon AVR-1609 LFE mono output low-passed at 80hz @ 12db.

Seating distance about 10-12ft.

The location of the sub was determined by the fact that I am building the sub enclosure as part of my stereo equipment rack...due to other factors in the room the rack/enclosure needs to be centered in that wall.

I have access to REW so I will eventually be fine tuning.

Thanks!



daloudin said:


> Have you ever used subwoofers in this room before?
> What's your expectation for volume and crossover point?
> How much tuning capability do you have DSP or EQ wise?
> What's your signal chain to the SA1000 look like?
> ...


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## vinman (Feb 5, 2013)

Don't discount mounting subs in the next room firing through the wall , under the floor in basement firing up 
or in the attic above if there is an accessible attic

Acoustic Elegance IB-15 Infinite Baffle Subwoofer 4 x IB15


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## nstaln (Feb 11, 2009)

Subwoofer enclosure/equipment will be centered on this wall.


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## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

nstaln said:


> View attachment 296461
> 
> 
> Subwoofer enclosure/equipment will be centered on this wall.


Concrete Pad or Wooden Floor under carpet?


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## nstaln (Feb 11, 2009)

Concrete



daloudin said:


> Concrete Pad or Wooden Floor under carpet?


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## daloudin (Nov 2, 2020)

With a concrete pad there won't be significant difference between down firing and front firing if the front firing is sitting close to the floor. Both will benefit from the boundary effect of the concrete floor reflecting the output of the subs. Outward firing in a Dipole configuration is only necessary if you have much more power and much bigger drivers. With 2 x 12 you're going to want as much impact as possible - so front firing. And if you really want to maximize the output then I'd recommend going ported. Same size enclosure with 20Hz ports extends your F3 quite a bit. Either way, you're going to be able to push them way past their excursion limits. LMK if you have different T/S Specs available.









Yellow Trace is 2.0 cuft Sealed/ea
Blue Trace is 2.0 cuft Ported/ea at 20 Hz









Excursion at 500W/ea - red line is xmax









Port Velocity at 48 sqin


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