should subwoofer be placed in table or below the table and why?

[saif96]

so i just ordered the Razer Nommo Pro speakers and im not sure where the subwoofer should be placed? should i place it under the table? or at the table? and why?

[keskparane]

I think it should be on the floor. You're not worried about direction with bass. If it gets thumping it's less likely to disrupt items on your desk. Also depending on how you like your bass to sound you might want to roll up an old tshirt or similar and jam it in the breather port.

[vanished]

If you just want the most bass, under the table should give you a significant boost, but feel free to try it both ways.  If you already own the equipment, trying things is free, don't be afraid to do it.

 

That said, there's a proper way to place a sub, at least for home theatre applications.  You might want to just follow that in the end.

-moved to audio-

Edited September 14, 2018 by Ryan_Vickers

[wojtepanik]

if you want to feel the bass, check harman kardon sound sticks, really nice speaker with powerfull bass

[akio123008]

usually the best thing to do regarding subwoofer placement, is moving it around and testing it in different positions in order to find out when you like the sound most. Audio is a very subjective thing, meaning that this is all about whether you like the sound or not, so play around with the sub until you find the spot where you think it sounds the best.

[akio123008]

2 hours ago, keskparane said:

I think it should be on the floor. You're not worried about direction with bass. If it gets thumping it's less likely to disrupt items on your desk. Also depending on how you like your bass to sound you might want to roll up an old tshirt or similar and jam it in the breather port.

Also, I would only jam a tshirt into a port when it's a really poorly designed sub. If that speaker is properly designed, the port can significantly improve the sensitivity of the speaker without ruining the sound quality. 

[keskparane]

45 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

Also, I would only jam a tshirt into a port when it's a really poorly designed sub. If that speaker is properly designed, the port can significantly improve the sensitivity of the speaker without ruining the sound quality. 

So by that logic no one would produce a high end sealed sub right? They would all be ported because a properly designed ported sub would always be better than a seal sub. I don't think that's right is it?

[vanished]

25 minutes ago, keskparane said:

So by that logic no one would produce a high end sealed sub right? They would all be ported because a properly designed ported sub would always be better than a seal sub. I don't think that's right is it?

That's not quite an equivalent statement... there's a difference between taking a sub that was designed to be ported and plugging it with a t-shirt, and a sub that was designed to be sealed.

[TechyBen]

Sonos do a sub that should not vibrate the furniture too.

 

[keskparane]

49 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

That's not quite an equivalent statement... there's a difference between taking a sub that was designed to be ported and plugging it with a t-shirt, and a sub that was designed to be sealed.

And what would that difference be? Perhaps how they sound?

[Mooshi]

Subs go on the floor...putting them on a table next to your computer setup is like putting mayo on a peanut butter sandwich.

[spwath]

3 hours ago, keskparane said:

And what would that difference be? Perhaps how they sound?

Yeah...

 

I am confused at what you are getting at. A sub designed (well) to be ported sounds good ported. A sub designed to be sealed sounds good sealed. But, if you make a ported sub sealed, it can sound pretty bad.

[keskparane]

50 minutes ago, spwath said:

Yeah...

 

I am confused at what you are getting at. A sub designed (well) to be ported sounds good ported. A sub designed to be sealed sounds good sealed. But, if you make a ported sub sealed, it can sound pretty bad.

A ported sub delivers a particular type of bass. A sealed sub another. What sounds best for the type of music you listen to is subjective. I simply said "... depending on how you like your bass to sound....." Hey, I don't even know if his sub is ported.

 

Ported boxes require much more design considerations than sealed subs. I don't believe than sealing a ported sub is as prone to producing a bad sound as you guys are making out. 

[spwath]

12 minutes ago, keskparane said:

I don't believe than sealing a ported sub is as prone to producing a bad sound as you guys are making out. 

It most definitely is. I have used speaker calculators. If you try and seal a ported sub, you will loose 80% of the bass. Making it useless as a sub.

[keskparane]

37 minutes ago, spwath said:

It most definitely is. I have used speaker calculators. If you try and seal a ported sub, you will loose 80% of the bass. Making it useless as a sub.

And like I said "So by that logic no one would produce a high end sealed sub right?" Because you say it would be "useless as a sub."

[spwath]

4 minutes ago, keskparane said:

And like I said "So by that logic no one would produce a high end sealed sub right?" Because you say it would be "useless as a sub."

No. If you get a driver that is intended to be sealed, in a larger cabinet, then it is good.

But a driver intended to be ported, with a small cabinet, will not work sealed.

[keskparane]

23 minutes ago, spwath said:

No. If you get a driver that is intended to be sealed, in a larger cabinet, then it is good.

But a driver intended to be ported, with a small cabinet, will not work sealed.

Strange then that I like mine better with the port blocked. Kinda proves my point. And I rarely ever turn the volume past 50%. I hate to think what it would sound like 80% louder, I doubt I would be able to hear the satellites with my body and room being assaulted that badly.

 

So naturally then I need your expert help.

 

Please help my fix my broken subwoofer. @spwath says it will not work sealed, but mine does. Clearly something is wrong but I have no idea what it is because it sounds great to me. Had he not told me it wasn't working I wouldn't even had realized. Apparently it is 80% quieter than it should be (although this will cause a problem because the bass /treble balance will be way off and the volume dial will be too sensitive.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, keskparane said:

Strange then that I like mine better with the port blocked. Kinda proves my point. And I rarely ever turn the volume past 50%. I hate to think what it would sound like 80% louder, I doubt I would be able to hear the satellites with my body and room being assaulted that badly.

 

So naturally then I need your expert help.

 

Please help my fix my broken subwoofer. @spwath says it will not work sealed, but mine does. Clearly something is wrong but I have no idea what it is because it sounds great to me. Had he not told me it wasn't working I wouldn't even had realized. Apparently it is 80% quieter than it should be (although this will cause a problem because the bass /treble balance will be way off and the volume dial will be too sensitive.

Sounds more like an EQ problem than one with the sub.

 

Also, keep in mind every person has unique tastes and preferences. What sounds good to you may sound horrible to someone else and vice versa.

[spwath]

7 hours ago, keskparane said:

Strange then that I like mine better with the port blocked. Kinda proves my point. And I rarely ever turn the volume past 50%. I hate to think what it would sound like 80% louder, I doubt I would be able to hear the satellites with my body and room being assaulted that badly.

 

So naturally then I need your expert help.

 

Please help my fix my broken subwoofer. @spwath says it will not work sealed, but mine does. Clearly something is wrong but I have no idea what it is because it sounds great to me. Had he not told me it wasn't working I wouldn't even had realized. Apparently it is 80% quieter than it should be (although this will cause a problem because the bass /treble balance will be way off and the volume dial will be too sensitive.

Here.

Actual evidence.

Here is the same driver (used a 15" JBL GT150 for an example), same size box, only difference is the port. You can see how the ported extends much lower. Sure sealed wont decrease the levels of the upper bass, but the lower bass just goes away.

 

Ported:

Sealed VS ported (sealed blue, ported green)

[keskparane]

1 hour ago, spwath said:

Here.

Actual evidence.

Here is the same driver (used a 15" JBL GT150 for an example), same size box, only difference is the port. You can see how the ported extends much lower. Sure sealed wont decrease the levels of the upper bass, but the lower bass just goes away.

 

Ported:

Sealed VS ported (sealed blue, ported green)

How is that evidence that I prefer the sound of my ported bass without the port blocked? I see no mention of my preferences anywhere in that graph.

[keskparane]

7 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Sounds more like an EQ problem than one with the sub.

 

Also, keep in mind every person has unique tastes and preferences. What sounds good to you may sound horrible to someone else and vice versa.

You missed the sarcasm. The whole point of this is he is trying to argue that I would like the sound better if I unblocked my port. Perhaps he thinks I just mindlessly followed graphs that said it would be best x way and didn't do several comparisons to find my preference.

[spwath]

1 hour ago, keskparane said:

How is that evidence that I prefer the sound of my ported bass without the port blocked? I see no mention of my preferences anywhere in that graph.

Your right, graphs only show objectivity, not subjectivity. But based on that graph, sealed is objectivily worse. Sure, sealed does things better, like sounding tighter and more controlled, but it needs to be a driver designed to be sealed, in a sufficient size enclosure. Otherwise you get no bass, from your subwoofer.

[spwath]

1 hour ago, keskparane said:

You missed the sarcasm. The whole point of this is he is trying to argue that I would like the sound better if I unblocked my port. Perhaps he thinks I just mindlessly followed graphs that said it would be best x way and didn't do several comparisons to find my preference.

I never said that you would like the sound better if you unblocked your port, but that in general, blocking the port will make the sound worse.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, keskparane said:

You missed the sarcasm. The whole point of this is he is trying to argue that I would like the sound better if I unblocked my port. Perhaps he thinks I just mindlessly followed graphs that said it would be best x way and didn't do several comparisons to find my preference.

And you missed my point.

[keskparane]

15 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

And you missed my point.

I did. Why would the eq be a problem if I like the sound? Or was that sarcasm too?