[Demarche]

I'm curious as to what the collective knowledge of AC can tell me about speakers w/ side firing woofers.
I have seen a number of these now. I haven't heard any speakers with this arrangement yet. My initial reaction to them is that they must be more difficult to place in a room by their very nature. If the woofer is pointed 90 degrees from the listener then you must be relying on the bass reflecting off the walls of the room to get to the listener. This seems counter intuitive  , and appears to make the room a bigger part of the equation than it might be if you have a front firing woofer. Am I way off the mark here? I know that the room and speaker placement are all part of the equation. These just appear to me to be complicating that equation. Am I reading to much into this?

[Duke]

In my opinion, it depends on how high up the side-firing woofer operates, and how steep the crossover is.

Below about 150 Hz, the bass is pretty much omnidirectional from a woofer 12" or smaller.  So the bass is going to be boucing off the walls pretty much the same regardless of where the woofer is on the box.

Also, in the deep bass region (where wavelengths are usually longer than the room's dimensions), the ears do not even register a tone if presented with less than one full wavelength.  So by the time the ears have heard the signal long enough for it to register, the room response has already swamped the first-arrival sound.

So what you hear will be strongly influenced by the room no matter where the woofer is placed on the cabinet.  I don't really have strong feelings for or against side-firing woofers; as long as they don't go up too high they're probably fine. 

That being said, there may be factors that I haven't taken into account, so hopefully those who have more experience with side-firing woofers than I do will comment.

Duke

[jmc207]

Disregarding the question of full-range speakers with side-firing woofers, I'd like to see comments about a side-firing subwoofer with a passive radiator on the opposite side. Would this be less placement sensitive than front-firing subwoofers?

[JRace]

Disregarding the question of full-range speakers with side-firing woofers, I'd like to see comments about a side-firing subwoofer with a passive radiator on the opposite side. Would this be less placement sensitive than front-firing subwoofers?

No.

There is no subwoofer design that is not placement sensitive. With that being said regardless of what side the driver is on or the port or the passive rad your room will dictate the best direction and position.

One reason side firing woofers are used in speakers is to allow for a narrow front baffle.

[lonewolfny42]

One reason side firing woofers are used in speakers is to allow for a narrow front baffle.

True...a few examples....


Audio Physic speakers....


Devore Fidelity speakers....


Studio Electric speakers....


Penaudio speakers...

[opnly bafld]

I agree with Duke. My room is open to the right side by the speakers and there are heavy drapes to the left side, I don't know if this is good or bad for this type of speaker. I had speakers with side firing woofers (400hz?) and to me the imaging was bad with the drivers facing in, with the woofers out it was much better but something still seemed amiss, kind of like a sub and small speakers needing some minor adjustments to get them to blend but no way to do it. I have also used a side firing subwoofer (80hz) as a stand for monitors and the combination always sounded good to me.

Lin

[jmc207]

I have also used a side firing subwoofer (80hz) as a stand for monitors and the combination always sounded to me.

Lin

How did they sound to you? Seems like something didn't make it from the mind to the keyboard. Thanks, John

[opnly bafld]

I have also used a side firing subwoofer (80hz) as a stand for monitors and the combination always sounded good to me.

Lin

How did they sound to you? Seems like something didn't make it from the mind to the keyboard. Thanks, John

Sorry, I usually proof read a few times. The missing word is good.

Lin

[jmc207]

Thanks Lin. I've been curious about this for a while since I have a set of GR-Research SW-12B sub and PR-12A passive radiator that I've thought about putting in a box similar to Jim Salk's SongSub: http://www.salksound.com/SongSub.shtml

This would be a single sub situated between my two satellites. Like the idea because of the looks, and hoping that this arrangement might spread the bass around a little better to the L & R. Sometimes I seem to be able to localize a front firing sub.

[Danny Richie]

From a technical aspect, Duke pretty much nailed it.

JRace nailed it too...

One reason side firing woofers are used in speakers is to allow for a narrow front baffle.

This is not just top make the speaker look smaller and have a better esthetic quality. It keeps the front baffle width down around the smaller drivers to minimize surface reflections and diffraction issues that will have an adverse effect on imaging.

I have designed several speakers using a side firing woofer, including one that used our 12" woofer and PR.

I don't intend to have more of the PR's made and have a limited number of them left so really couldn't continue to support a kit using them so I discontinued the kit.

You can see info on it in my archive though: http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=118

[Demarche]

Cool! This is great stuff. So, it sounds like from what folks are posting is that these style speakers may not be anymore difficult to place than your typical front firing style. But of course there is no hard and fast rule here, as the cross-over and the room still play a big part. There may be some improvement on the imaging because of the narrower front baffle.

I don't have a standard room shape, so I was curious as to how these types of speakers might be more or less difficult to place in this room.

[Demarche]

This might be easier to see