Must a subwoofer be on the ground?

K

Kenji

New Member
Hi

I wanna buy the Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Sound System. The subwoofer of this system is HUGE. There's not enough space to place it on the ground because of my stupid desk and cables. Is it possible to put this monster on the desk or on any furniture? I think its not nice if you have a subwoofer on the height of your ears, is it?
And how about the desk, won't it "walk" away with those vibrations?

Yours
Kenji
 
Ok well, the thing about bass, it doesn't matter where you put it in the room you will be able to here it the same. But yes, 5.1 subs should be on the ground as if you play enough bass it will vibrate off.
 
Do what you want. Also, what were you going to put it on, you mentioned furniture but furniture covers a lot of objects.
 
Putting it on furniture/desk is not a good idea because as you said, it will "walk" across the desk, it did with mine and its a tiny sub compared to the one your getting.

awildgoose said:
Ok well, the thing about bass, it doesn't matter where you put it in the room you will be able to here it the same. But yes, 5.1 subs should be on the ground as if you play enough bass it will vibrate off.
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Sorry but I beg to differ. I used to have my sub on my desk and was told to put it on the ground, its under my desk now and is sort of enclosed between the top of my draws, my closet and the wall (like a cube with two sides open). It sounds way better.
 
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Candy said:
Putting it on furniture/desk is not a good idea because as you said, it will "walk" across the desk, it did with mine and its a tiny sub compared to the one your getting.



Sorry but I beg to differ. I used to have my sub on my desk and was told to put it on the ground, its under my desk now and is sort of enclosed between the top of my draws, my closet and the wall (like a cube with two sides open). It sounds way better.
Click to expand...

Alright then. Well I have most of my sound system knowledge from the countless systems me and my brother have installed in cars (we do a really good job too, not like the "professionals" at Brisbane car sound, gr they make me mad) and it doesn't matter where you put it in a car I guess. I just took that and put it into this context. Also the sub, I didn't take a good look at the pictures, but does it have the air hole in the side or not?
And are you going for SQL (sound quality) and Volume?
 
Candy said:
There's still plenty of space around it so its not a problem. I wouldnt do it with a bit sub though.
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Bit sub? Ok I'm just going to assume you mean big, so I ask why not?
If it's a room problem then sure, but bigger is always better, except for the 8in subs that Alpine (I think Alpine) bought out. They are pro.
 
awildgoose said:
Alright then. Well I have most of my sound system knowledge from the countless systems me and my brother have installed in cars (we do a really good job too, not like the "professionals" at Brisbane car sound, gr they make me mad) and it doesn't matter where you put it in a car I guess. I just took that and put it into this context. Also the sub, I didn't take a good look at the pictures, but does it have the air hole in the side or not?
And are you going for SQL (sound quality) and Volume?
Click to expand...

I dont doubt you know what your talking about. Bass does travel through things easily so it wouldnt make that much difference in a car. I just noticed when I moved mine it had a deeper bass whereas when it was on my desk it was more of a thumping bass (if that makes sense). It might be worth mentioning my floor is carpeted so that might make a difference?
 
awildgoose said:
Bit sub? Ok I'm just going to assume you mean big, so I ask why not?
If it's a room problem then sure, but bigger is always better, except for the 8in subs that Alpine (I think Alpine) bought out. They are pro.
Click to expand...

Yeah I meant big.
Because its right under my draws on the desk and it would just rattle everything inside the draws making an awful sound. Also a bigger one wouldnt fit there.
 
subwoofers should always be placed on the ground for optimum performance. placing it on something will almost always cause the object it's on to absorb some of that sound, which can cause a whole host issues and effect performance.

if it's a good subwoofer (the kind that can fill a room), find a spot in your room where it does fit. the frequencies a subwoofer produces can not be detected in an audible space, meaning no matter where it's placed you won't really be able to tell where it's coming from. near a wall will give you good bass response and placement in a corner will give you even more response.
 
Candy said:
...I just noticed when I moved mine it had a deeper bass whereas when it was on my desk it was more of a thumping bass (if that makes sense)...
Click to expand...

This is due to standing waves. As you position the speaker differently in a listening space, the reflected waveforms add and subtract from each other in different spatial locations as well as by different amounts. Low frequency standing waves can be the most troublesome in this regard.

Speaker position can make a huge difference in most circumstances.
 
mightymilk said:
subwoofers should always be placed on the ground for optimum performance. placing it on something will almost always cause the object it's on to absorb some of that sound, which can cause a whole host issues and effect performance.

if it's a good subwoofer (the kind that can fill a room), find a spot in your room where it does fit. the frequencies a subwoofer produces can not be detected in an audible space, meaning no matter where it's placed you won't really be able to tell where it's coming from. near a wall will give you good bass response and placement in a corner will give you even more response.
Click to expand...
Carpet absorbs more sound then any household surface would ;) You should still place the sub on the floor because it will rattle like non other if you have it on a solid surface.

awildgoose said:
Alright then. Well I have most of my sound system knowledge from the countless systems me and my brother have installed in cars (we do a really good job too, not like the "professionals" at Brisbane car sound, gr they make me mad) and it doesn't matter where you put it in a car I guess. I just took that and put it into this context. Also the sub, I didn't take a good look at the pictures, but does it have the air hole in the side or not?
And are you going for SQL (sound quality) and Volume?
Click to expand...
Wrong, lol. Sub placement does matter in a car. Take a sub and put it in the back seat. Now stick it in the very back and tell me the difference.

O and btw, SQL != sound quality. SQ is sound quality, SPL is volume, and SQL is sound quality and volume.
awildgoose said:
Bit sub? Ok I'm just going to assume you mean big, so I ask why not?
If it's a room problem then sure, but bigger is always better, except for the 8in subs that Alpine (I think Alpine) bought out. They are pro.
Click to expand...
Wrong again, bigger is not always better. No offense, but you shouldn't be giving advice about audio.
 
Motoxrdude said:
Carpet absorbs more sound then any household surface would ;) ...
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I have some ceiling tiles and wall panels that have a higher sound absorption coefficient than most carpets and carpet padding. Also, carpet won't stop a subwoofer's low frequencies. They will bounce off just fine...
 
Zatharus said:
I have some ceiling tiles and wall panels that have a higher sound absorption coefficient than most carpets and carpet padding. Also, carpet won't stop a subwoofer's low frequencies. They will bounce off just fine...
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Lol. Not quite. You are saying drywall absorbs more sound then carpet? hmmm :rolleyes:
 
Motoxrdude said:
Lol. Not quite. You are saying drywall absorbs more sound then carpet? hmmm :rolleyes:
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Drywall? I did not say drywall. No, these are fiberglass wall panels and ceiling tiles. :)

Proper drywall can be an excellent sound isolation material though - much more so than carpet. So can cinder blocks. An air gap is your best bet, but I digress.
 
Zatharus said:
Drywall? I did not say drywall. No, these are fiberglass wall panels and ceiling tiles. :)

Proper drywall can be an excellent sound isolation material though - much more so than carpet. So can cinder blocks. An air gap is your best bet, but I digress.
Click to expand...

O awesome. Yeah i just assumed drywall because it's in 99% of all houses.

Drywall doesn't insulate sound very well. And an air gap won't do anything at all, lol. There is a huge air gap between me and my speakers, and I can hear them loud and clear :P Regardless though, carpet won't reflect sound like glass or hardwood does.

But to get back on subject, putting the subwoofer on carpet is your best bet. Any hard surface will make for a not-so-nice sound (ie it will vibrate like none other).
 
Motoxrdude said:
...Drywall doesn't insulate sound very well. And an air gap won't do anything at all, lol. There is a huge air gap between me and my speakers, and I can hear them loud and clear :P Regardless though, carpet won't reflect sound like glass or hardwood does.
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:)Heh heh - I take it you haven't done any sound isolation before? A gap of air between two stiff surfaces will tremendously reduce sound transmission. Sound waves travel much more efficiently in dense media (i.e. walls, floors, water, etc...). When you have that air gap, very little sound energy is transmitted. If you want to isolate further, add another gap.

The most isolated sound rooms are literally suspended within another room.


But to get back on subject, putting the subwoofer on carpet is your best bet. Any hard surface will make for a not-so-nice sound (ie it will vibrate like none other).
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True, unless you have nice soft pads for the feet/bottom of the sub to reduce the rattling noise of it bouncing up and down.
 
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