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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Placing your subwoofer correctly tin maximize its bass output.
- Every country has its limitations, but elemental workarounds marque a difference.
- For surviving rooms and communal areas, you'll person to get creative.
A subwoofer is simply a surefire way to upgrade your home theater, whether you're pursuing the enlargement recommendations from Sonos oregon Sony, oregon gathering a much precocious setup with receivers, in-ceiling speakers, and more. Whether you're upgrading the instrumentality successful your surviving country oregon a dedicated theatre room, a subwoofer is simply a fantastic addition, but wherever you spot the instrumentality successful the country matters.
Audio geeks whitethorn find fewer opinions to hold on, but 1 commonality is that a subwoofer should spell successful the beforehand quadrant of a room. In this position, your room's walls enactment arsenic barriers that usher the woofer's low-pitched sounds successful the close direction. However, optimal placement tin beryllium a analyzable task due to the fact that of your room's dimensions and listening area, and it's paramount to support an unfastened mind. Let's speech much astir specifics.
1. Avoid corners
The rule of thirds successful audio states that placing speakers one-third of your listening room's magnitude from the beforehand partition minimizes low-frequency distortion, enhances depth, and delivers a cleaner, much enjoyable audio experience. So, if possible, debar placing your subwoofer straight successful a room's country wherever the walls meet, particularly if you lone person 1 subwoofer for your full system.
By placing your subwoofer successful a corner, the walls enactment arsenic an amplifier, making your bass dependable muddy and boomy and overpowering the output from your different speakers. Though astir location theatre rooms whitethorn not beryllium perfectly square, the regularisation of thirds, erstwhile possible, reminds you to propulsion your speakers farther into the country alternatively than acceptable them up straight against the corners.
2. The infamous subwoofer crawl
Every country is different, and if you're upgrading your surviving room's location theater, your country whitethorn beryllium unfastened oregon asymmetrical. The bully quality is that little frequencies aren't disturbed by furnishings arsenic overmuch arsenic mediate to higher frequencies are, but your room's walls (or deficiency thereof) play a bigger role.
If your country isn't a cleanable quadrate oregon doesn't person 4 walls enclosing it, location theatre enthusiasts volition promote you to execute a subwoofer crawl. Place your subwoofer wherever you usually beryllium to listen, and elevate it arsenic adjacent to receptor level arsenic imaginable (a seat oregon stool tin work). Then, crawl oregon locomotion astir the country and enactment wherever the bass sounds clearest and astir precise. The spots wherever your ears are astir pleased are wherever you should enactment your subwoofer.
3. Use calibration software
If your subwoofer uses an app, it apt has built-in country calibration software. Some radical place this software, but it tin importantly heighten your subwoofer's performance. These country calibration features usage interior microphones to make sound, measurement your room's frequence response, and close the subwoofer's output.
Though this bundle tin beryllium precise useful, it tin lone bash truthful much. First, guarantee your subwoofer is successful the optimal presumption successful your room, past usage country calibration to fine-tune its performance.
What if my optimal presumption isn't … optimal?
Say there's a script wherever your subwoofer's optimal audio output presumption isn't perfect for your country oregon household. This dilemma could see the subwoofer becoming a tripping hazard, being excessively acold from a powerfulness source, oregon simply being an eyesore. These scenarios are particularly apt if your listening country is your household country alternatively than a dedicated location theater. Here's what you tin do.
If your sub is excessively acold from a powerfulness source, effort to tally an hold cord. You mightiness person to get originative astir hiding longer cords, but adhesive clips to tally the cord on baseboards and furnishings are a decent spot to start. You tin besides ligament your subwoofer done a decorative ligament basket, spot the handbasket adjacent the outlet, and screen the wires with other blankets oregon propulsion pillows to adhd a furniture of utility.
Also: I trial TV refresh rates - here's erstwhile 60Hz is capable (and erstwhile it's not)
If your sub is tiny enough, see an extremity array that tin screen the sub and service arsenic a spot to acceptable down drinks, keys, and different household items. Some companies connection subwoofers that tin basal upright oregon prevarication level to accommodate your space; see a flat-laying sub to spot nether a taller console table. Also, don't beryllium acrophobic to experimentation with placing your subwoofer down a sofa oregon chair.
The bottommost enactment is that sometimes you person to get originative and marque definite sacrifices to accommodate the cards you're dealt, and that's OK. Most rooms, particularly household rooms, weren't designed for bulky subwoofers. Still, you tin find immoderate subwoofers with modern, low-key, and nondescript plan elements if concealing them isn't an option.
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