Rudy81 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I am about to add some super chunk bass traps to my room corners. The issue is that I have two RSW-15's very close to the front corners of my room, where they provide the best performance. I know the active driver points to the "back" of the sub, in my case the powered driver points at the front wall of my room. The question is this. Does the driver need a solid surface to reflect the sound into the room? I don't want to place a bass absorber in that location if the sub needs the corner to operate properly. I hope this makes sense. I am attaching a picture of the layout. Please note that the right and left RSWs are much closer to the corners than pictured here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) from what i remember the manual says it should be 4" to 6" min. from the front wall and 1" to 2" from the side wall i'm reading up on it right now have you tried turning the to outside ones so that they are 4-6" from the side wall. Edited July 16, 2014 by Budman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 the manual says it should be 4" from the wall I have the manual and it suggests a range of distances. However, that is not my question. I am trying to determine what effect there might be if one places the sub such that the driver points to a corner that has bass absorption. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) my bad, i flunked reading in grade school Edited July 16, 2014 by Budman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 No worries.... I'm just trying to understand the 'theory' behind placing the driver in the back of the enclosure. That setup makes me wonder if the sub requires a solid wall behind it to operate properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Anyone???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 (edited) Hi Rudy, the radiation pattern of the subwoofers are omnidirectional. Pointing the driver firing into and corner or wall compared to forward firing should make no difference in theory. I have pointed the sub driver forward and also directly firing into the wall and there was no major difference in spl. Firing the driver into a wall will load the driver so that it is slightly more efficient. If you have a spl meter, try it both ways and see what happens at the MLP. Edited July 17, 2014 by derrickdj1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 I can take performance readings with REW as I treat the room. Just trying to save myself some time in how I treat the room corners. Sounds like treating the corner nearest the subs should not have a detrimental effect. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Having the bass traps in the bass corners is more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Having the bass traps in the bass corners is more important. I will report back on my experience and measurement results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I wouldn't fire a sub into a surface that absorbs bass frequencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I wish I knew enough to help but sadly I don't, sorry Rudy. Intuitively it doesn't seem like you would want to absorb the energy right next to where it comes out of. But bass traps in corners are to help with room nodes and standing waves aren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 But bass traps in corners are to help with room nodes and standing waves aren't they? Yes, they help by absorbing bass waves so they don't bounce back into the room and interact with other bass waves. I'm just speculating that it wouldn't be a good idea, sometimes common sense is counterintuitive to what actually happens. You might try it with and without and see what really is going on in the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 It will be interesting to see his results. I alway thought pointing drivers toward the MLP would result in more spl at the MLP compared to pointing the drivers into the wall. I found no difference. The subs were not any more boomy shooting them into the corner wall. Some people use traps all over the room. Maybe I have the biggest bass trap, a drop ceiling, lol.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 It seems testing will be the only way to figure this out. The way this sub is designed, it makes one think that a rear wall is part of the equation when using the RSW-15, but that is not likely since not everyone places it next to a wall. With the driver firing out the back of the enclosure, it just seems like that would be the method of operation. However, if I had one of my old SVS subs, I wouldn't even be asking the question since they fired down into the floor or forward. By next week I should have some answers to this question after I cut the insulation. It won't take but a few minutes to compare results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) You need two subs mid wall to equal one sub in the corner. Subs like boundries. Driver orientation makes no difference except for down firing subs. Down firing subs are best at not being able to localized with higher xo because the design filters out some of the harmonics due to the driver facing the ground. Also, People like seeing the drivers, there are a lot of front firing subs..They also like round ports but, design wise down firing and slot port are slightly better. Edited July 18, 2014 by derrickdj1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) You need two subs mid wall to equal one sub in the corner. I think the part quoted above is true. I believe that if the RSW-15s were to be placed out in the middle of the room, away from all walls (where no one would put them!), you would need 4 to equal one in the corner. Didn't Klipsch put the active driver in the back so that the wall (a few inches away) would load it? Have you talked to Klipsch? Are your bass traps tuned to a certain band of frequencies? REW should reveal all (I hope). Edited July 20, 2014 by Garyrc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 The active driver is in front I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 The active driver is in front I think. The active driver is in the rear with inputs and power cord. My RSW-10d is the same way. The RT subs on the other hand do have the active woofer front firing with the passives firing 45 degrees to the sides/rear. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 The active driver is in front I think. The active driver in the RSW-15 is in the rear. I have taken my three RSW-15s apart and it is for sure in the rear facing section of the sub....hence my question on the design. If I'm lucky, I might get to testing this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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