Down firing or front firing???????

[roaddog359]

What is the pros and cons of each?? Which one is better and why? Would you use each one for a different type of set up or effect?

[tommyboy]

In my personal experience, down firing are better for hard floors, and front firing would be better for carpeted floors. But, if you get a down firing one, you could put a piece of wood, or anything hard under it to "simulate" a hard wood floor. I did that with my RW10 and it made a noticable difference........

[trashyrich1157]

I am assuming you dont have any downstairs neighbors.

I got a front firing because of that reason, even though I have hardwood floors.

My loss.

[Coytee]

I've got a pair of speakers (not subs) that use a 12" downward firing woofer. If I recall some of their literature correctly (1978), they make suggestions that this method gave better coupling to the floor, yada yada.

I will say this, the speakers (ElectroVoice Interface D) DID shake the foundation of the house and even to this day, although they're sitting idle, if I put them back in on their own or used them with my LaScalas as I did back then, I would have no feeling of a need for a subwoofer (-3db @ 28hz)

I don't know how much the downward firing woofer had to do with it though.

[tommyboy]

No, I don't.............

[trashyrich1157]

you are lucky.

[Rich_Guy]

In my personal experience, down firing are better for hard floors, and front firing would be better for carpeted floors. But, if you get a down firing one, you could put a piece of wood, or anything hard under it to "simulate" a hard wood floor. I did that with my RW10 and it made a noticable difference........

The RW-10 is not a down firing sub, do you mean you did this with your Sub12?

Personally I have found I normally prefer front firing subs for music.

[tommyboy]

The RW10's port is pointed towards the ground. So I put a piece of wood, cut to fit, under it when I had carpet...............

[Rich_Guy]

OK, the RW-10's port does angle down, I consider down firing as the the speaker facing down.

[Mr. RF62]

With bass being omnidirectional, down vs. front firing don't matter to me. I have a downfiring, with passives on both sides and I love it with movies or music. That being said...having the phase set on the sub matters as well. If its not setup properly, it dosen't sound that good.

[Jay481985]

It really does not matter.

[TheEAR]

Down firing drivers have sag working against them,as the moving mass is constantly pulled down by a magical fore called GRAVITY.

Front firing subs,the driver faces less issues from sag. Before sag poses problems a good many years more will pass(opposed to the bottom/top firing).

SQ wise a dead heat, output also a dead heat.

[Islander]

With bass being omnidirectional

Lower notes are less directional than higher notes, but it's not omnidirectional, except maybe at very, very, low frequencies that are rarely heard in music. That's why it's best to have the sub or subs between or at least near the speakers, for music anyway.

For movies, it may not be as important, but for music, it should sound like the bass player is on stage with the rest of the musicians, not standing behind the sofa, for example, where some people place subs.

[Mr. RF62]

Hmmm, so happens I have my sub behind my sofa...soundstage is great, I get enough of the "midbass" from my mains to know that the musicians are not standing behind my sofa, and even if they were, then I must be on stage.

[tommyboy]

Due to my gf wanting to "redecorate" our living room, I had to move my sub 12 behind the couch this weekend. I told myself it would only be temporary, til the tree came down, but then.......... it sounded great back there! I thought you'd be able to tell it was back there, but you really can't. Maybe because my RW10 helps even things out? But It just may be staying there now....................

[Fotog]

I have a KSW-150 http://www.klipsch.com/products/discontinued/details/ksw-150.aspx that is a down firing with a side port. I believe that Klispch makes better subs now as do some other mfgs. When placed in a corner with the side port into a wall, remarkable resonance can be felt through out the listening room at very low settings. When located away from a corner with the side port several feet (8-10) from a wall surface, the impact is much less (at near maximum settings) and more akin to background filler. I preferred it for 2 channel (corner position) over HT (center wall position). However I suspect in my case, much has to do with the sub itself and in its new location and HT application, I likely need a larger unit.

[sfogg]

They both can work very well.

On a down firing woofer the floor sort of acts as an acoustic low pass filter. That can help reduce harmonic distortion and localization. Also as the woofer is closer to the floor it will couple with it better. You can also get a little more of a shaker effect on a springy floor since the driver mass is moving up/down on the floor instead of horizontally. That can be a good or bad thing depending upon the situation. Sag can be an issue if the driver isn't built for downfiring operation.

Shawn

[laneza01]

On my SVS-PB12 plus, which is downfiring, it has a big piece of something under the woofer, would this replace the piece of wood, or would i benefit from placing something under it too? I have carpet.

[Mr. RF62]

No, you don't have to put something under it. You can certainly experiment by doing so, but with my down-firing sub, I have carpet and nothing under it and it shakes everything with authority. Using the floor as a type of spring helps the feel of the couch moving accross the floor, IMHO.

[Colin]

In my experience with a Klipsch KSW15, LF10 and now my larger sub, better mid bass (40Hz) punch is accomplished with a front firing driver, while lower bass often requires coupling the driver to the floor. The first approach is better for the action sounds of movies, while the second approach works best when extending the frequency range lower for musical accuracy.