Don't Make this Multi-Subwoofer Placement Mistake - Get Better Bass

We are big proponents of multiple subwoofer home theaters. The benefits include:
► more even bass distribution across the seating area
► better seat to seat consistency for more effective EQ
► more output and LF coupling factor for deep extended bass response

Unfortunately, we often see multi-sub systems that aren't well optimized due to poor placement of the subwoofers. In this video, we discuss the common placement mistake compromise to avoid in order to achieve the full advantage of multi-sub.

0:00 Intro
0:50 Find the similarities in the setups
1:23 Setups with Subwoofers flanking a center channel
1:46 Benefits of multi-sub setups
2:21 Multi-Subwoofer setup best practices
3:18 Setup reality check
3:59 Subwoofer-Center-Subwoofer setup
4:40 SVS SB16-Ultra
5:15 SB16-Ultra Performance
5:20 SB16 Measurements
5:46 Single Subwoofer measurements
6:52 Dual Subwoofer measurements
8:20 Measurement comparison
9:22 Multi-sub optimization summary
12:12 Audioholics Patreon

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[Eric_the_Hiking]

From suboptimal to sub optimal. I will see myself out.

[michaeldelaney]

This is the most "DAD" youtube page ever!! Love it!! Never miss a video!! Cant wait for more audio advice colabs!!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

[SantanKGhey]

i have a 2.2 system and had my setup Main-Sub-Amp-Sub-Main... i moved one of my subs from in board to the corner wall to the side... the improvement was significant, tighter, fuller and not as much gain needed... thank you

[josephfranzen]

Theo! Great to hear from you man! I love seeing you on live streams too buddy you’re very insightful. I can’t tell you how many home theaters I’ve setup and calibrated where once I properly place the multi subs the client goes “Holy crap” even years ago when I added a MiniDSP HD to my 4 sub setup it was a moment of clarity.

[cigarobsession]

Excellent points! Unfortunately the biggest hurdle I see is people not willing or able to invest the time and small cost to learn and use REW.

[joker]

It was a hard lesson to learn that what looked good did not measure well. I decided to keep my nice looking symmetrical sub-center-sub front but added two more subs in the rear room corners. Flat response at every seat now!

[BoredSilly]

Another Great Video Thanks. Opposite Corners Front and Rear gives me best response in my room by a long way. Ive pulled them away from the Corner a few feet when adjusting final set up.

[Maxime-hoiv]

I would have loved to see the frequency response when the 2 subs are placed in the corners.

[SealedOrPorted]

Optimizing sub placement is quite contrary to most people’s sense of symmetry whilst being paramount to auditory bliss. As proven in this video, it’s not the cost or quality of equipment so much as it is physics. Once subs are optimized into a virtual sub, it is imperative the other channels are phase aligned with it. Successfully accomplished, imaging and detail make one’s cinema room seem much larger because the sound is so big.

[Adream-lfmw]

Theo is by far the most likeable and best presenter on the channel and he knows how to summarize the relevant info in under 15 minutes. He doesn't put the audience to sleep lecturing for over an hour when you can get the same points across in short time.

[texxhexxmm]

I have two identical subs mid wall Placement.A pro told me that nowadays it pretty common two have Them 180° and 0° phase.
I use Dirac Bass Control and did a new measurment with different Phase settings.Whats your opinion?😊

[jrep]

Good video. I used the REW room simulator to find the general areas which would produce the best frequency response. Worked great and also reduced the bass decay time as well.

[Novilicious]

I use a Rel 3D system with 5 subs connected over high level. Simply stellar but 💯 percent agree with multi sub!

[wayneiceman]

Well done on this video guys. Interesting to hear your thoughts on 3 subs as well

[stephenfrancisvoros]

My YAMAHA RX-A3070 has 2 separate subwoofer outs, I use monaural x2 configuration, whilst running a sound generator for LFE, I set the first of my 4 subs up into my listening position, then did at 3 different levels of height, the subwoofer crawl, first on my knee's and hand's, then on my knee's and finally standing up, taking note of best bass positioning, placed one sub at a time in the appropriate position, each sub then running in conjunction with listening position sub, subwoofer crawl each time until last sub in listening position had a place to live, determined by the last subwoofer crawl, out of the 4 subs only one is on the floor, two at waist height and the last one at chest height, I have a near perfect bass curve, my 4k dedicated atmos set up, is in an open plan living area, that is a big area, with no regular shape to it all, but I've made it work so well, THANKS to sites like this AUDIOHOLICS and a few others on YOUTUBE. 👏👏👏

[michaelwright]

Separate areas of the room here, kind of kitty corner, two SVS SB3000 subs, works great for two channel.

[raspeaker]

Great video. It was refreshing to hear someone concede that there are a variety of practical concerns that most such videos do not address.

[aussie]

I have one sub, a REL. It was horrible when placed in a corner, placed it in a more open position and it became awesome.

[brandobond]

Overview videos like this are great for beginners (they helped me out when I was getting started a couple years ago) but I would also like to see some deeper dive videos. How about a video showing how to use MSO (Multi Sub Optimizer) to optimize seat to seat bass consistency? How about a video showing how to time align the subs to the other speakers (using REW maybe)?

[xhesicadx]

Awesome thank you!!
I just tried this and it worked wonders for my setup.
Very much appreciated.