DJ Marcel_1
This is a Brief Tutorial on Sub woofer placement. This will mainly effect Mobile DJ's
Sub woofer Cabinet designs.
There are many Subwoofer Cabinet Designs.
The most common is the BASS REFLEX Cabinet
This is a ported box with one or more drivers (woofers) The reason for the popularity of this cabinet is simple: It's Cheap to make
Horn Loaded Cabinet
A horn loaded cabinet like this is mainly a mid/high cabinet but there are sub woofers built with this design. (co-axial horn Subwoofer) They have the advantage of Longer throw and usually better frequency response. Because of the woodwork involved they are more expensive than other speakers of similar size.
Folded Horn Subwoofer
These are the Monsters of Subwoofers. They offer incredible sound quality and throw. Often using much smaller speaker sizes than with sealed/vented cabinets. Most often used in concert sized P.A. (now called line arrays)
Placement.
It doesn't matter which type of speaker cabinet you use for your subwoofer. Bass sound waves are OMNI directional which means they go in all directions evenly. So placement is the same for all cabinet types. Most Mobile DJ's will bring a single subwoofer with them to a gig. Usually an 18 inch bass reflex cabinet. Most Mobile DJ's will place the subwoofer in the centre of they're setup directly below the mixing table. This is the WORST place to place the subwoofer.
Boundary Loading:
Using a blank wall or Corner to increase bass response. "Having subs next to a wall gets you 6dB of additional sensitivity, and putting them in a corner an extra 12dB. In most cases you’ll have best results aiming the subs towards the wall or corner with the mouth about a foot away from the boundary" (source:billfritzmaurice)
In Other words if you think your 18" pounds hard now. Wall load it or better yet corner load it. Place the speaker side of the cabinet FACEING the wall or corner and allow about 12 inches of space. You'll be amazed at the difference in volume levels. It'll sound BETTER at LOWER volumes; and shake grandpa's false teeth out when you have the volume up a little.
What if there's no wall or Corner available?
If you are outside or forced to set up in the centre of a space, try this:"Outdoors is the toughest challenge, as there are no boundaries for reinforcement and no room pressurization (cabin gain). In this case create a virtual extension of the horn by facing it downward, the upper edge supported to place the mouth at about a 30 degree angle."(source:billfritzmaurice)
Use the Angle solution if you are using a folded horn only. If you are using a bass reflex cabinet FLOOR LOAD the cabinet. Take your cabinet, and place the woofer DOWN against the floor and raise it up about 6 inches. This will give you the same benefits as boundary loading your subwoofer.
If using more than one Subwoofer cabinet place them as far apart as possible in the room. Or Place them in a stack together in the same spot. Then place the mid/high cabinets as high as possible.
NEVER mix horn-loaded Cabinets with Direct radiating cabinets (sealed or Bass reflex) they are very hard to eq because of the difference in air pressure they produce.
Hopefully this helps my fellow DJ's with making their equipment sound as good as possible. With proper Subwoofer placement you can make a good sounding sound system sound amazing.
Subwoofers offer incredible benefits to P.A systems. With a single 15 inch Subwoofer, you can reduce your mid/highs down to 12 or even 10 inch speakers; and run them hotter without worry of blowing them (within reason)
Sub woofer Cabinet designs.
There are many Subwoofer Cabinet Designs.
The most common is the BASS REFLEX Cabinet
This is a ported box with one or more drivers (woofers) The reason for the popularity of this cabinet is simple: It's Cheap to make
Horn Loaded Cabinet
A horn loaded cabinet like this is mainly a mid/high cabinet but there are sub woofers built with this design. (co-axial horn Subwoofer) They have the advantage of Longer throw and usually better frequency response. Because of the woodwork involved they are more expensive than other speakers of similar size.
Folded Horn Subwoofer
These are the Monsters of Subwoofers. They offer incredible sound quality and throw. Often using much smaller speaker sizes than with sealed/vented cabinets. Most often used in concert sized P.A. (now called line arrays)
Placement.
It doesn't matter which type of speaker cabinet you use for your subwoofer. Bass sound waves are OMNI directional which means they go in all directions evenly. So placement is the same for all cabinet types. Most Mobile DJ's will bring a single subwoofer with them to a gig. Usually an 18 inch bass reflex cabinet. Most Mobile DJ's will place the subwoofer in the centre of they're setup directly below the mixing table. This is the WORST place to place the subwoofer.
Boundary Loading:
Using a blank wall or Corner to increase bass response. "Having subs next to a wall gets you 6dB of additional sensitivity, and putting them in a corner an extra 12dB. In most cases you’ll have best results aiming the subs towards the wall or corner with the mouth about a foot away from the boundary" (source:billfritzmaurice)
In Other words if you think your 18" pounds hard now. Wall load it or better yet corner load it. Place the speaker side of the cabinet FACEING the wall or corner and allow about 12 inches of space. You'll be amazed at the difference in volume levels. It'll sound BETTER at LOWER volumes; and shake grandpa's false teeth out when you have the volume up a little.
What if there's no wall or Corner available?
If you are outside or forced to set up in the centre of a space, try this:"Outdoors is the toughest challenge, as there are no boundaries for reinforcement and no room pressurization (cabin gain). In this case create a virtual extension of the horn by facing it downward, the upper edge supported to place the mouth at about a 30 degree angle."(source:billfritzmaurice)
Use the Angle solution if you are using a folded horn only. If you are using a bass reflex cabinet FLOOR LOAD the cabinet. Take your cabinet, and place the woofer DOWN against the floor and raise it up about 6 inches. This will give you the same benefits as boundary loading your subwoofer.
If using more than one Subwoofer cabinet place them as far apart as possible in the room. Or Place them in a stack together in the same spot. Then place the mid/high cabinets as high as possible.
NEVER mix horn-loaded Cabinets with Direct radiating cabinets (sealed or Bass reflex) they are very hard to eq because of the difference in air pressure they produce.
Hopefully this helps my fellow DJ's with making their equipment sound as good as possible. With proper Subwoofer placement you can make a good sounding sound system sound amazing.
Subwoofers offer incredible benefits to P.A systems. With a single 15 inch Subwoofer, you can reduce your mid/highs down to 12 or even 10 inch speakers; and run them hotter without worry of blowing them (within reason)
Posté Mon 29 Nov 10 @ 10:55 pm
A Man and His Music
DJ Marcel, good looking out. Hopefully some of the DJs here, will use this knowledge. It is not just for the novice. As you know, some of the long time DJs will also benefit from this.
Posté Mon 29 Nov 10 @ 11:52 pm
DJ Marcel_1
This information was like a revelation to me when I started seriously learning about different cabinet types.
Kind of the "THE BAND!!!" moment from the Blues Brothers. I gave the subwoofer placement some thought and gave it a try.
"AHHHHHHH" went the angles and THUMP went the basss
Kind of the "THE BAND!!!" moment from the Blues Brothers. I gave the subwoofer placement some thought and gave it a try.
"AHHHHHHH" went the angles and THUMP went the basss
Posté Tue 30 Nov 10 @ 8:01 am
theStylishDJ
thanks for that info. that will be used on the next gig.
Posté Tue 30 Nov 10 @ 8:24 am
djrobkalmar
BASS! How Low Can You Go?
Don't forget to also use separate amps also for your tops & bottoms! I like to be able to tailor the sound to the room.
Then I can make my subs go BOOM PAPPY!
Don't forget to also use separate amps also for your tops & bottoms! I like to be able to tailor the sound to the room.
Then I can make my subs go BOOM PAPPY!
Posté Tue 30 Nov 10 @ 8:47 am
DJ Marcel_1
Using 2 amps isn't completely necessary anymore. A lot of amps have built in crossovers and limiters; with a flick of a switch you can run an Amp in BI-AMP mode and have one power the subs and the other power the mid/highs.
Posté Tue 30 Nov 10 @ 5:06 pm
gerard_77
Nice one! Been looking for this!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Posté Wed 01 Dec 10 @ 10:10 am
djrobkalmar
Yes you can do that also Marcel. My new amp has that option, but I like to run my subs bridged off it & my tops from my other amp in larger venues.
Posté Wed 01 Dec 10 @ 12:59 pm
DJ Marcel_1
So this blog has been up for a couple of weeks now.....
Anyone try changing the location of their sub woofer and have they noticed any difference in sound quality?
Anyone try changing the location of their sub woofer and have they noticed any difference in sound quality?
Posté Sun 05 Dec 10 @ 11:34 pm
Tear Em 'Up
Did it this weekend. One of the bars has a long shuffleboard game that does not get used on weekends, while my guy is there. So. I placed the sub to echo off the wall on one end, the sound carried the length of the shuffleboard game and filled the place, it acted like a huge cone for the sound. Good stuff here Marcel.
Posté Mon 06 Dec 10 @ 6:48 am
Charlie Wilson
DJ Marcel_1 wrote :
Using 2 amps isn't completely necessary anymore. A lot of amps have built in crossovers and limiters; with a flick of a switch you can run an Amp in BI-AMP mode and have one power the subs and the other power the mid/highs.
Yeah but it's a right carry on in regards to cabling but then so is using two amps i suppose.
Posté Mon 06 Dec 10 @ 6:51 am
DJ Marcel_1
TearEmUp wrote :
Did it this weekend. One of the bars has a long shuffleboard game that does not get used on weekends, while my guy is there. So. I placed the sub to echo off the wall on one end, the sound carried the length of the shuffleboard game and filled the place, it acted like a huge cone for the sound. Good stuff here Marcel.
Nice! good to hear terry!
Anyone else give it a try and what were your results?
Posté Mon 06 Dec 10 @ 8:12 am
RENZDJ13
Folded Horn Sub-woofer in my hometown
Posté Tue 04 Jun 13 @ 9:23 pm
Hi I am new member and hope that I can get the measurement of the folded horn subwoofer enclosure designed for (2) x 10 inch. dia. subwoofer driver.
I would like to build this monster subwoofer box.
Thanks and kind regards..
I would like to build this monster subwoofer box.
Thanks and kind regards..
Posté Sun 14 Sep 14 @ 11:24 am
locoDog
@samuraineil
Hi you want to redirect that question to here http://www.speakerplans.com/
but first read, lots, so you don't sound like the noobiest of newbs.
Hi you want to redirect that question to here http://www.speakerplans.com/
but first read, lots, so you don't sound like the noobiest of newbs.
Posté Sun 14 Sep 14 @ 6:34 pm