All about that bass: how to set up subwoofers
June 20th, 2015
Whether you’re listening to a new album or the soundtrack of your favourite movie or TV show, it’ll always sound better on an amazing audio system.
But if you want to not only hear the sound from your speakers, but feel its rumble in your bones, then you’ll need an audio system featuring one or more subwoofers to really bring home the bass.
Do I REALLY need a subwoofer?
Even if you’re not totally addicted to bass (wow WA-ow), a subwoofer can be a valuable part of your audio setup.
Sony SWFBR100 Wireless Sub-Woofer BRAVIA Speakers
A good quality subwoofer will bear the burden of broadcasting all of your system’s low-frequency sounds, freeing up your other speakers to concentrate on the treble ranges, thus improving your overall sound quality, no matter what you’re watching or listening to.
How many subwoofers do I need?
If you didn’t know already, you can integrate more than one subwoofer into your home theatre sound system. Some surround sound systems use two subwoofers, while others go all out with four or more.
Samsung HT-H6550WM 5.1 Channel 3D Blu-ray Home theatre System with Wireless Rear Speakers
You can tell how many subwoofers are included in a surround sound system by paying attention to the second number in its description. for example, a 5.1 surround sound system (seen above) includes five regular speakers and one subwoofer, while a 9.2 system has nine speakers and two subwoofers.
While more subwoofers means more bass, that doesn’t always mean better sound. If you just want a super-loud and powerful bass sound, a single subwoofer of high quality can deliver what you need. If you’re after a more layered and nuanced sound, this can be achieved by integrating multiple smaller subwoofers into your audio system.
You could opt for multiple big subwoofers to get the best of both worlds, but this could be overdoing it, especially if your home theatre area is only small. Sound systems with multiple subwoofers do their best work in a big room with a lot of ground to cover.
Where should I position my subwoofer(s)?
Technically, the low frequencies of a subwoofer are nondirectional, radiating outward from the subwoofer in all directions. Theoretically, this means that a subwoofer could be placed anywhere in your room and still produce the same quality sound.
However, the sweet science of acoustics shows that the layout of your room’s absorbent and reflective surfaces and the positioning of your sound system’s speakers can greatly affect your final sound quality.
source: wikipedia
While you could put all of your speakers together and create a truly screaming wall of sound, you’ll probably create a more pleasant auditory experience by spreading your speakers out, including subwoofers. Hence the name “surround sound”.
While many surround sound speakers do their best work when placed on stands, subwoofers are renowned for their mighty low-frequency vibrations, and are thus best placed on the ground, so their sound can reverberate throughout the room.
Single subwoofer
You can set up a single subwoofer alongside one of your primary speakers to let their powers combine into a single full sound, or right next to your listening position so you can feel like you’re riding on top of the bass rumble.
source: Cryostasis on Flickr
Placing your subwoofer in a corner of your room will likely (depending on your room layout) reflect sound vibrations to create a very loud and powerful bass sound. If that’s your goal, then it’s all good, but if you want to avoid having a distinctive and loud bass sound that’s seperate from the rest of your audio, you’ll want to reconsider the subwoofer’s positioning.
A more involved option would be to place the subwoofer on the floor where your seat would normally go, turn on some music or a movie, crawl about the floor until you find the position from which it sounds the best, and place the subwoofer in that location. It sounds crazy, and you may look and feel ridiculous, but audiophiles swear up and down that this trickworks.
Multiple subwoofers
Multiple subwoofers make it easier to spread strong bass throughout the entire room. Positioning them well is a touch more tricky, but the key seems to be following the same principles as placing your surround sound speakers – spacing and symmetry.
Placing your subwoofers too closely together may cause their heavy vibrations to cancel one another out and affect their sound quality, but getting them just the right distance apart will combine their energies and create some powerful audio.
source: axiomaudio
With two subwoofers, your options include placing two at the front of your room; two at the rear; one front and centre and the other at the rear; or positioned in diagonally-opposite corners.
If you’ve splashed out on four subwoofers, one in each corner of your room should be enough, or alternatively you can go for one in the centre of each wall for a somewhat less ‘boomy’ sound.
Calibrations
Like acoustics, the art of calibrating a stereo’s sound get quite involved, but there are some relatively simple tricks to getting a better sound without too much effort.
Once you have your subwoofer(s) in position, sit where you plan to typically sit, and test your system with some familiar music or a much-loved movie. It’s much easier to judge whether the bass sounds better on your old favourite album or film than with a title that you’re less familiar with, even if it features more bass.
“Hmm, yes darling, that is certainly a sickarse bassline…”
When working out how much bass to crank through your sound system, remember that the goal isn’t necessarily to make it the loudest audio channel. If the bass sounds separate to the rest of the audio, dial it back until it supplements the other channels. Your subwoofer should support your other speakers, not overwhelm them.
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