Subwoofer placement?

I got the Logtiec Z4 speakers for half off, pretty happy with them considering what I paid...

My question is, i nteh instruction manual, it advises to put the subwoofer on the floor. However, I have seen several setups over the years that put the subwoofer on the desk intself, or at ear-level with the listener. My question is, what is the traditional way to go about setting the speakers up in regards to the subwoofer?

 

Well in this country it is traditional to RTFM. But I suggest you put it anywhere it fits. Bass is essentially non directional.

 

floor and corner loading tends to give the nicer bass response, though it does depend on which way the port/sub is firing.

 

Generally, a good subwolfer doesn't need anyplace special in relationship to your posistion. Your ear won't be able to tell where it's coming from at those frequencies.

 

More correctly, bass frequencies are omni-directional.

 

Of course, most multimedia subs cover a good bit of the midrange, too.

 

One of your considerations should be what is near the sub. If there are things that are on the desk near it, they will probably rattle, and that gets really annoying. I'm in a dorm room, and the way things workout, I have to have my Z3 sub on the desk, and have things (my Halo 3 helmet/cd case) on top of it, and usually they rattle quite a bit, which is really annoying. Just a thought.

 

If you are in a dorm room, you might have to consider the fact that there are are people under you and above you that are going to hear your thundering bass pretty damn clearly and its annoying. Putting it on the desk helps mute it out a bit for the people beneath you, but not that much. However given that your sub is not a downward shooting one like my Cambridge Soundworks Megaworks 250D sub you might just numb it down a little bit. There is no performance advantage putting the sub at ear level.

Things will rattle on your desk, but just try to keep it uncluttered and you'll be fine. If you are not in a dorm room, then the floor is the best solution. Keep in mind that when my sub is at full tilt most things on my desk rattle/jump anyway. I almost got fined last time I was in a dorm because the bass was "shaking the building" and I was on the ground floor