[Selbi]

I've got some annoying issues with my subwoofer. There are some very specific low frequencies that don't respond well to my walls, causing a muddy droning sound to go through the entire room. Here's an audio example:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/430361376951894037/829440287705006192/droning.mp3

I'm more interested in a general approach how to fix such muddy frequencies in any scenario. Is there something like a tool that goes through the frequencies range slowly so you can identify the specific frequencies that cause this? And then how would you actually EQ that stuff out?

 

[bigshot]

Wow. That is pretty bad. That sounds like something is wrong with the sub itself.

 

[Selbi]

Wow. That is pretty bad. That sounds like something is wrong with the sub itself.

It isn't. When I put the sub in the middle of my room it sounds crystal clear. It can't stay there for obvious reasons though, but at the room's corner it produces these muddy sounds. Which is why I had hoped to EQ the frequencies out, I just don't even know where to start.

 

[bigshot]

Then your solution isn't EQ. It's room treatment and moving your sub to a better position in the room. Subs don't do well pushed into corners. Ideally you want it a couple of feet away from the wall behind. Otherwise it couples with the walls and turns the whole room into a horn. I've never heard a clearer example of that than your mp3 there.

If you go to youtube and search room acoustics subwoofer you'll find lots of tips and info on this.

 

[Selbi]

Not much I can do in terms of movement... My room isn't big at all. I could maybe get half a feet of air to the wall if I shift stuff a little, but that's as far as I can go.

Just watched a few YouTube videos. Elevation seems to be a good starting point, I'll try to experiment with towels a bit. Maybe an absorption platform is also a good idea. I just wish I had the real estate to actually work with positioning...

 

[bigshot]

EQ won’t fix something like that. Think about rearranging furniture perhaps.

 

[zizzyhead]

Can you adjust the phase of the sub?

 

[Selbi]

Can you adjust the phase of the sub?

These are the settings on the backpanel. I'm not sure if anything there is for phase. I did try to toggle the polarity now, with no audible difference though.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

What kind of subwoofer do you have?

Frontfiring, downfiring, ported?

As @bigshot said , room treatment is the best way to solve your issue without buying a new/ other subwoofer, i think.

 

[zizzyhead]

Yes polarity would be the same as phase. Sometimes that will make it less boomy. BTW I always run a sub on my main system but I never peg the volume all the way up. I play a bass heavy track and slowly bring up the sub volume (from 0) until the bass just starts to fill out the sound. You want the sub to augment the frequencies that the mains cannot play down to. But you don't want the sub to overwhelm the sound. I'm not sure if the picture is actually how your sub is set up but if so I'd play with the sub volume. I'm not sure what type of floors you have but I have wood floors and if I don't treat them it gets muddy so I basically cut a piece of carpet to go directly under the sub. It works wonders. If your crossover frequency is set to 80 hz, Id change it to XLF as you may be getting some interaction between your mains and sub.

 

[zizzyhead]

Oh one more thing, if you main speakers are ported to the rear and close to the wall you may be having some issues from the back wall. You can cut a small piece of soft foam and block off those ports.

 

[bigshot]

I don’t think even room treatment can deal with a sub crammed in a corner. Maybe suspending the sub from the ceiling in a more favorable position might help.

Speaker placement is probably the most important factor. If you start off on the wrong foot there, there’s no fixing it.

 

[Selbi]

What kind of subwoofer do you have?

Frontfiring, downfiring, ported?

JBL LSR310S, which is downfiring.

Yes polarity would be the same as phase. Sometimes that will make it less boomy. BTW I always run a sub on my main system but I never peg the volume all the way up. I play a bass heavy track and slowly bring up the sub volume (from 0) until the bass just starts to fill out the sound. You want the sub to augment the frequencies that the mains cannot play down to. But you don't want the sub to overwhelm the sound. I'm not sure if the picture is actually how your sub is set up but if so I'd play with the sub volume. I'm not sure what type of floors you have but I have wood floors and if I don't treat them it gets muddy so I basically cut a piece of carpet to go directly under the sub. It works wonders. If your crossover frequency is set to 80 hz, Id change it to XLF as you may be getting some interaction between your mains and sub.

That's how I initially set up the sub and it does sound good for the most part. There are a few songs where it really sticks out badly like Dance Macabre though.

As for the settings, the knob is currently at around 1 o'clock with XLF already enabled. Polarity is currently set to 180, but as explained already I don't really hear a difference between that and 0. My floor is wooden.

I don't have any carpet nearby, but I did try something quick and dirty with a blanket and two cushions...

No need to be polite about it, any audiophile would probably kill me over this picture.

However, I THINK it did something? Can't really do a full test as it's past midnight here and I don't want to wake my neighbors. I'll give it a proper test tomorrow.

Oh one more thing, if you main speakers are ported to the rear and close to the wall you may be having some issues from the back wall. You can cut a small piece of soft foam and block off those ports.

Nah, those are mounted on two stands, far away from the wall in a proper triangular shape to my ears.

 

[zizzyhead]

oops, delete

 

[zizzyhead]

I hope the dampening helps. Here's all I did with mine and it worked wonders. If you look you'll see the edges of the carpet under the box. It's down firing as well. I do have sealed box though. I plugged the port since it's so close to the wall and the sound is clear and clean. I also did similar to mains and built a little framed piece of carpet to deaden the wall reflections.