# Front mounted subwoofers



## f0zz (Dec 1, 2011)

Hi all,

My theatre is almost complete so my question may be moot? I am building all of the speakers myself. The speakers are all in wall type. All the speakers are 3-way. But the front left and right have two 10" subwoofers built into them, each (4 subs total) mounted sub/midrange/tweeter/mid bass/sub. These are the only subs for the theatre and are powered by a plate amp.

My question is. Is having my subs all on the front wall a bad thing? In general that is. I know it isn't ideal, but is it a real problem?

The room is treated reasonably well.

John


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## MikeBiker (Jan 3, 2010)

Theoretically, all sounds less than 80 Hz are not localizable by the human brain. It shouldn't matter where the subs are located. The placement of the subs, though, is important to reduce some of the effects of room geometric effects. It is good to be able to locate the subs to an area that reduces the room nulls and cuts the room boost. 

Unless your seating area is poorly located, you should be fine with the speakers that you have built.


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

> but is it a real problem?


I can be if your seating postion is in a null created by the subs. If you currently have a box sub or can borrow one, you can test this by placing the sub in the location selected and see how it sounds at the seating position.


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

So you say the subs are built into the front speakers, but are powered by a plate amp. Will they be fed the LFE signal or are they tied into the mains?

As for position, most people have them at the front with the rest of their speakers. Since they're built in, you don't have the luxury of moving them around to see where their sweet spot would be in your room. You also can't do any decent measurements without them being installed in their wall cavity. 

I personally found that having my one sub closer to the center of one side wall gave the best quality sound (both perceptible and measured). That's totally dependent on my room which is less than ideal at 10 x 20 x (7 to 7½ varying). I've treated my room with a couple corner chunks and panel traps at first reflection points.

You could do some simulations using the tools available on this forum to see if room modes exist. Actual measuring is the only real way of knowing since the simulators don't take into account furniture, carpet, treatments, surface irregularities, etc.

If you haven't put drywall up, you could always run some coaxial to other locations along your walls and put on a blank faceplate. If you get the itch in the future to move your subs, or get a free standing one, you could use those drops.


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## f0zz (Dec 1, 2011)

The subwoofers will be fed LFE only. 

The room has been drywalled and painted. I knew the location would not be ideal, but it seemed to be the best option at the time.

FYI, the entire rear wall has been treated with 16" of Ruxol. Top to bottom, side to side. I'm hoping this helps.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

I'm not sure what plate amps you'll be using, but if you have the ability to adjust the phase after they have been installed it will probably be helpful in tweaking. If I was limited in placement, I'd try to use an amp with a continuously variable phase, rather than a 0° / 180° type switch. Then you can at least dial it in a little.

Of course more advanced room correction software would be even more helpful, but that would be a start, and something that you can do very easily.


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## f0zz (Dec 1, 2011)

I've decided on the Dayton BPA 1000 (I think that's it?).
My reciever is the Onkyo 5009. It has audyssey auto correction, which I hope can help if there any problems.


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