Installation
Positioning
Although the position of subwoofers in the listening room is generally less critical than full-range speakers, we still recommend that you select your Sub 6 position carefully. With careful positioning the subwoofer will integrate more seamlessly with the other speakers in the system, and interact optimally with the room acoustics.
The following notes should be taken as rough guidelines; bass response in general is very dependent on the acoustics of the listening environment. Finding the best position often involves a lot of trial-and-error experimentation. Always trust your ears, even if the position of the subwoofer seemingly goes against the guidelines.
Contradictory as it may seem, good integration of subwoofers has been achieved when one isn’t aware that a subwoofer is present at all in the system, yet performance involves fast, deep and solid bass without sounding stressed, even at loud levels.
Choose adequate music material
When experimenting to find the optimal location, use a couple of music tracks with repetitive bass across a large spectrum. The tracks should be sufficiently different from each other and each should cover a wide bass-range. Musical instruments, such as a double-bass, bass guitar, church organ, etc. cover a wide spectrum in the bass region and are therefore very suitable. Using non-music (such as action movies) material to position and adjust the subwoofer with, may lead to spectacular results with such material but almost always it will result in overblown and excessive bass when playing music with the same setting.
Impact of room-modes
Every listening environment will have specific “room-modes”, whereby in some specific locations in the room and at particular frequencies, the bass may be too much or too lean. This effect will be stronger in square and “shoe-box” shaped rooms. With a single subwoofer, the better position for the subwoofer relative to the listening position will be the one where bass is perceived to be neither too much nor too lean at any given frequency.
- Avoid placing the subwoofer at 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 of either the length or width of the room as at these locations the room-modes are likely to be strongest (the dashed lines in the figure)
Using multiple subwoofers
By using carefully positioned multiple subwoofers it is possible to even out the different room-modes and thus create a more coherent overall bass response in the room. It is worth experimenting with different locations around the room for the additional subwoofers, even using the rear of the room. As adding subwoofers will not increase the effect of room-modes, even adding a subwoofer without much care or thought to positioning is likely to help even out room-modes.
Positioning Possibilities
- L: Left speaker distance
- R: Right speaker distance
- S: Subwoofer distance
- A: Listening area
Moving the subwoofer closer to walls and corners in particular will generally increase the amount of bass. Although the extra amount of bass can be compensated for by reducing the volume level of the subwoofer relative to the rest of the system, this can result in uneven bass response at the listening position. You can try starting with placement in a corner and experiment by gradually moving it out of the corner or further away from the wall. Try to locate the position which yields the best compromise between position, volume and even bass response. Note that every time that you reposition the subwoofer (even if it’s over a short distance) you may need to adjust its settings.
Corner placement
This placement yields maximum boost of bass level but potentially uneven distribution of bass in the room (room-modes), particularly if the room is square or shoe-box shaped.
From the listening position, check if the bass is even across the entire bass spectrum. If not, move the subwoofer out of the corner. Try moving it along either wall.
Next to wall, away from corner
This position still provides considerable boost but less than the corner placement as above. Room-modes can also still be considerable but less so than with corner placement.
From the listening position, check if the bass is even across the entire bass spectrum. If not, move the subwoofer away or towards your listening position until the most even response has been obtained.
Avoid placing the subwoofer exactly half-way or at a quarter of the wall’s length.
Free standing, away from wall and corner
This position will give least boost compared to wall or corner placement, but in general offers the best flexibility at achieving most even bass distribution at the listening position.
Avoid placing the subwoofer exactly half-way or at a quarter’s length of either sidewall.
Particularly in smaller square or “shoe-box” shaped rooms the free standing position is recommended.
Sub 6 DSP Features
The Sub 6 incorporates signal processing that can compensate for the time delay and volume level differences between the subwoofer and main speakers resulting from their relative positions with respect to the listening position. Once you have positioned your subwoofer, measure the distances as illustrated in the diagram. The measured distances should then be specified at the appropriate locations in the subwoofer configuration menu. The configuration menu is described in the following of this manual.
Sub 6 Feet
The Sub 6 is supplied with rubber feet and option for spikes. Spike feet are intended to be used on carpeted solid floors. The spikes pierce the carpet to support the subwoofer on the floor below protecting the carpet from damage and providing a stable foundation.
If floor spikes are to be used, screw a spike and lock-nut into each tapped hole leaving a length of spike extending beyond the lock-nut so that when the subwoofer is upright the lock-nuts will “float” just above the carpet.
Tighten three of the lock-nuts with the included spanner leaving one locknut finger-tight to aid adjustment once the subwoofer is placed in its final position. Once the final position has been established adjust the length of the loose spike so that the subwoofer is level and does not rock. Finally, tighten all loose lock-nuts.
Take care when installing floor spikes. They are sharp and can cause injury.
