How you should place your subwoofer depends largely on the options you have in your room. Often, your listening position is limited to a certain area, so that does not leave much freedom for where you can place the subwoofer. Here are our suggestions for how you can get precise, hard-hitting bass in any room.

• Flexible placement: If you have the freedom to place the subwoofer anywhere, then we recommend placing the subwoofer where you normally listen. Now you need to walk and crawl around the room and listen for where the bass is the tightest. In other words – where do you get bass that feels like little punches in the stomach? Mark the position with tape when you find a spot that sounds good, and keep trying other places to find the best placement.
  

• Next to the speaker: One of the very best placements for your subwoofer is next to your speakers. If you have a single subwoofer, you can try listening to whether it sounds better when you place it on the inside or the outside of your speakers. If, on the other hand, you have two subwoofers, then you should place them on the outer sides of your speakers. That is because this is where the interaction between your subwoofer and speakers is at its strongest, and it turns into pure magic.

• Corner placement: Placing the subwoofer in a corner can give you more bass, but it is rarely the ideal solution. If you have to place it in a corner, you can reduce the interaction between the subwoofer and the wall by placing it at least 15 to 20 centimeters away from the corner.

Once you have found the optimal placement for your subwoofer, it is important to calibrate it to achieve the best bass reproduction. Follow these steps:

• Set the crossover: If your A/V receiver has an automatic crossover setting, let it handle this task. If your AV receiver has this, set the subwoofer crossover to 100% and let the AV receiver handle everything. If not, set the crossover frequency to start just below the lowest frequency response of your speakers. Then turn up the crossover frequency and listen for when the subwoofer and the speakers begin to overlap. Use a track like “Dire Straits – Six Blade Knife” to set up the subwoofer, as the bass and drum pattern sound constant. When you notice that the subwoofer and the speakers overlap, turn the crossover frequency down slightly again. Then you are guaranteed that the subwoofer is set completely correctly. 

• Set the phase: Play a bass-heavy piece of music or a movie scene and adjust the phase on the subwoofer until you achieve the fullest sound. If there are still problems with the bass response, it may be necessary to adjust the placement of the subwoofer and repeat the process.

• Set the volume: One of the biggest mistakes people make is setting the volume too high on their subwoofer. It should not be audible that it is a subwoofer playing. Set the subwoofer's volume control to 50% and adjust it depending on whether there is too much or too little bass. Continue this process until the subwoofer's bass reproduction is integrated 100% with the other channels.

The acoustics of this room are very important for the sound quality you can achieve. That is why it can be an advantage to adapt your room so that it does not affect your sound negatively. You can do this by placing various objects in the corners of your room, as this helps improve the acoustics. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your room’s acoustics. Therefore, we recommend that you consider the following based on what is possible. Most people have their system in the living room, where bass traps or other sound-absorbing panels may be less desirable. Therefore, it can be beneficial to place an armchair or large plant in the corners, which will also improve your acoustics.

• Place an object in the corners of your room to reduce the problem of standing waves. This can be bass traps, other sound-absorbing devices, furniture, or large plants.

• If the room has wooden floors or concrete walls, you can lay down a rug to dampen reflections and improve bass response.

• Consider using floor spikes and protective discs under the subwoofer to minimize resonance and improve overall performance. The isolation feet IsoAcoustics GAIA are absolutely brilliant, and they have practically won every award there is to win.

We’re not just writing this to try to sell more. By placing one subwoofer in one corner of the room and a matching subwoofer in the other corner, you achieve a much more even bass response throughout the room. Put another way, bass integration becomes easier when you use two subwoofers instead of just one.

There are two options for cable connections – traditional RCA cables and high-level cables (Audiovector and REL). A high-level cable measures the speaker signal, so it is in complete phase and timing alignment with what the speaker determines. This is because the signal does not have to pass through yet another preamplifier output on the amplifier. Subwoofers from REL and Audiovector always come with a high-level cable, but unfortunately they are not shielded. You can therefore make a major sound-quality upgrade by buying a shielded cable. All cables act as antennas, picking up large amounts of noise that contaminate the sensitive signal. A well-shielded cable will keep the signal free from this harmful noise.

If you feel like trying your hand at a subwoofer, you can explore our selection right here. If you have any doubts whatsoever regarding the purchase of a subwoofer, cable, or its setup, do not hesitate to contact one of our specialists at 98 16 14 10 or info@lydspecialisten.dk.

You are also always welcome to stop by the store, where you can listen to the subwoofer and get advice and guidance on how you should set it up and calibrate it for your specific system and surroundings.