# Sub placement room calculator



## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

It would seem to me with the advances in technology that it would be relatively easy to design a virtual calculator to determine the best placement for a sub.

We would put in our room measurements, then the automated/vitual room (with a sub in the diagram) would appear & as we drag the sub (click & drag with your mouse) aroung the room, we could see the predicted room responce graphed below the picture.

Have not heard of a program like this, but it would seem like a very nice tool that should be fairly easy to develope for a computer savy person.


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

That would be awesome! And would beat crawling around your room like a lost dog trying to find the best sound. I'm sure someone may read this and make millions off of your idea one day! Lol


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

Agreed, that would be nifty. Maybe have the sub turn from red to green as you go from bad to good positioning 

But then, where would the challenge be...


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

That is a good idea! Ya it would take all the fun out but for those with less experience and know how it would be a great advantage


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

pddufrene said:


> That is a good idea! Ya it would take all the fun out but for those with less experience and know how it would be a great advantage


There was such a program from RPG but, while it was not designed for subs, it was certainly applicable. Another one is CARA.

You can look 'em up. ;-)


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## cubiclecrusher (May 21, 2013)

Too many variables.

Furniture, windows, doors, floor coverings, room openings; reflective/absorbtion properties of the stuff in your room will change the optimal positioning.

You can use REW or similar software to analyse your specific room, but no on-line generator will do any better than the spreadsheets that already exist.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

cubiclecrusher said:


> Too many variables.
> 
> Furniture, windows, doors, floor coverings, room openings; reflective/absorbtion properties of the stuff in your room will change the optimal positioning.


Actually, all that can be factored into CARA.



> You can use REW or similar software to analyse your specific room, but no on-line generator will do any better than the spreadsheets that already exist.


Yes. Measurement is better than an educated guess.


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

I can't imagine any calculator being able to take into account all of the variables that have a major effect on bass respone in a particular room. Unfortunately, ear to the ground is the only reliable method for evaluating placement options.lddude:


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

I agree that there are many variables to take into account. I'm just saying that basic placement (front, back, side, distance off wall) options could be identifed & further fine tuning could occur from there. My sub weighs 150 pounds! :whew:

I could see (if this kind of program was incorperated into an AVR) some kind of test tones being played which could be anaylized to help identify the sonic signature of the room. From there the program could continue...working off the on screen display. Maybe the next addition for Audessey.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

koyaan said:


> I can't imagine any calculator being able to take into account all of the variables that have a major effect on bass respone in a particular room. Unfortunately, ear to the ground is the only reliable method for evaluating placement options.lddude:


Actually, CARA is quite impressive but, to take advantage of all the variables, one has to supply it with all the construction and design features of the environment and speakers. This is (or can be) accomplished with providing the info in a detailed CAD model of the room and contents and of each of the speakers. Even then, the calculations on a speedy computer take a long time. The few times I invested the effort in it, the results were informative and quite predictive of the measurements. OTOH, the measurement procedure is faster. :T


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

Not sure if you're played with it, but REW has a room sim feature that does what you're looking for, to an extent. It is based on calculated room modes, but obviously does not take into account environmental variables as discussed above. I have found it to resemble measured response in my HT, however the simulation tends to exaggerate the anomalies.


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## Rumble Filldirt (Sep 19, 2012)

I don't know if this thread is dead yet, but one easy trick that makes it so you don't have to drag a heavy sub all around the room is, place the sub where you sit.
Then crawl around the room till you find a spot that sounds the best.
Then move your sub to that spot that sounded good and go sit in your chair, and enjoy.
.
This method sounds somewhat ridiculous, but many people who are allot smarter than me swear by it.
.
Of course, using REW with a good mic does help with setup and there are many levels of complexity that you could use, starting with the method I just mentioned to using REW or a better laptop based setup system to using SMAART if you have the money for such a Pro system.

Bumble


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## 3dbinCanada (Sep 13, 2012)

I prefer the room crawl. Quicker faster and more accurate then the calculator.


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## FargateOne (Mar 3, 2015)

or this link:

http://www.hunecke.de/en/calculators/loudspeakers.html


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