[jaylevine]

I've been trying to find a good configuration of for my Maggie 1.7 and REL sub woofer but haven't made it work quite yet.

My room is 15w x 35l x 12h (width is irregular so 15 is more of an average). Surfaces are hardwood floor and concreate ceilings. My Maggie 1.7s are currently facing width wise about 6.5 feet about from each other, off the back wall about 40 inches with one of the speakers about 40 inches away for the corner.

Tried the sub woofer in a corner--a bit too much muddle. Brought it out behind the listening seat now not much effect at all (maybe a good thing).

Couple of questions:

1. First, given the length of the room, should I be aiming to have the maggies facing length wise and farther apart?
2. Is there a "default" position for a sub-woofer to start with?

Oh yeah, had been running my Maggies tweeter in but reversed that today just to see what it was like. Have to say I think it sounds more open and better when not listening exactly at the sitting position sweet spot.

Thoughts on how to tune such a room?

Thanks

[James Tanner]

Hi jay

Generally with only one sub try the half way points on each wall. So first the front wall center then the side walls center and lastly the back wall center.

James

[jaylevine]

Thanks James. Is there general wisdom about how far off the wall a sub should be positioned?

[James Tanner]

Every room is different but generally the middle of the wall right where the wall meets the floor will excite less room resonances than in a corner where you have 3 surfaces meeting rather than 2. 

That's why adding extra subs in different locations will help smooth the overall room response.

The other option is to put the woofer where you are going to be seated and crawl around the the perimeter of the room and listen to where the bass is the deepest and the flattest (it's called the sub-crawl) - try not to let anyone see you doing this though

james

[rw@cn]

Which model? If it is a small one somewhere near the right speaker has also been suggested. Otherwise, putting it in your listening position is a very good suggestion. It helps to have someone with patience and interest assisting you. 

[jaylevine]

REL Strata III

[walkern]

There is an old trick of locating the sub at the listening position, and then (while playing music with low bass content) roaming about the room and listening for areas where the bass quality and quantity sound best.  Once you find an ideal spot (or two), try locating the sub there.  Theoretically it should then sound good at the listening position.

[JohnR]

Sorry to intrude... but to the OP, I can't help feeling that a relatively small investment in acoustic/measurement gear would yield large insights and potential savings here.

[jaylevine]

Acoustic measurement gear sounds like fun where and what does one get some without spending big $$$?

[James Tanner]

Acoustic measurement gear sounds like fun where and what does one get some without spending big $$$?

Hi Jay,

Just a simple sound pressure meter and a CD that plays frequencies from 20Hz to 100 Hz works fine.

james

[poseidonsvoice]

This may help as well (Basically Room EQ wizard, calibrated cross spectrum Behringer Microphone, XLR cables, RCA cables, Boom mic stand, and a mic preamp like the M-Audio Mic pre). Although more complicated, you learn loads more and will probably get a more optimized response. We do need a tutorial written for newbies in this process so they are not stunned. The investment is very small, about $<350 for me.

Anand.

[bpape]

Room EQ Wizard (REW) is a free tool that provides a wealth of information. To use it, you need a computer that has a bi-directional sound card and a mic (even a Radio Shack meter will work as there is a correction plug in for that).  Once set up, it's a 1 button operation to run a sweep rather than many individual measurements which is very time consuming. 

REW will provide you with frequency response, decay time, waterfall, impulse response and even an RTA feature to assist in quickly finding the best place for the sub.

Bryan

[JohnR]

Hi - I don't mean to contradict James, but since this is not technically the Bryston forum could I suggest that a calibrated measurement microphone (not expensive), mic preamp and/or USB preamp/interface, and free software like Room EQ Wizard as a minimum.

[Edit: some posts since I wrote - things move fast here!]

[rw@cn]

If you have a smart phone try the Sound Hound app. The parts that are free may be enough to get you started.

[jaylevine]

Sound hound? I thought that was a shazaam like program.

[rw@cn]

Oops. I meant AudioTools

[KKM]

Also try the Auralex Subdude, I was surprise the difference with and without. Here's a a basic review:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/acoustics/auralex-subdude-hd-video

[poseidonsvoice]

Here is an EXCELLENT article on how to measure written by Ethan Winer and Nyal Mellor.

Anand.

[jaylevine]

Room EQ Wizard (REW) is a free tool that provides a wealth of information. To use it, you need a computer that has a bi-directional sound card and a mic (even a Radio Shack meter will work as there is a correction plug in for that).  Once set up, it's a 1 button operation to run a sweep rather than many individual measurements which is very time consuming. 

REW will provide you with frequency response, decay time, waterfall, impulse response and even an RTA feature to assist in quickly finding the best place for the sub.

Bryan

Ok, I don't have enough to do so I bought a fancy external USB sound card, will be down loading the software onto my wife's work notebook (I'm a Mac guy and REW only runs on Windows ). Will a radio shack spl meter do the trick, or do I need something more fancy like a whatdoucallit 140.....