Velodyne Digital DrivePLUS User Manual

SET UP

SUBWOOFER PLACEMENT

RECOMMENDATIONS GUIDE

This guide provides recommendations on where to place

your subwoofer(s) in your listening room.

Velodyne

INTRODUCTION

1

Introduction

PLACEMENT CAUTIONS

2

Subwoofer Placement Cautions

GUIDELINES

3

General Subwoofer Placement Guidelines
Single Subwoofer Placement Guidelines
Twin Subwoofer Placement Guidelines
Quad Subwoofer Placement Guidelines

PLACE

4

Place a Single Subwoofer
Place Twin Subwoofers
Place Quad Subwoofers

APPENDIX A

10

Case Study

INTRODUCTION

Subwoofer Placement Recommendations Guide

INTRODUCTION

This guide gives recommendations on where to place your subwoofer(s) in your listening room to:

- Get clean, high-impact bass

- Protect your subwoofer(s) from damage

-Avoid hazard(s)

The recommendations are based on an idealized rectangular room. However, as many rooms are not rectangular, have openings into other
rooms or hallways, or have unique architectural features such as cathedral ceilings, these should be used as a starting point. It’s best to
experiment with both your subwoofer and listening position seating to get the best results.

Everyone’s room layout is different. If you have a specially designed listening room, you probably already have a designated spot for your
subwoofers(s). If not, your room layout may limit where you can safely and cosmetically place your subwoofer. Don’t worry, do the best you
can at picking a safe location based on the constraints of your room.

One method of determining a single subwoofer placement that has been very successful is the “reversed positions” or as it’s sometimes
called, the “crawl test.” Using this method, you move your preferred seating out of the way, connect the subwoofer to the system and place
the subwoofer in the preferred seating position. While playing a source with deep, powerful bass, move around the room, preferably literally
crawl, until you find the best position where the bass is powerful, deep and tight (not boomy). You have now discovered a very good choice for
placing your subwoofer. Now, move the subwoofer to the discerned position and return your seating to its original place. For detailed
information on a test case of this method, see Appendix A: Case Study: Determining Optimal Subwoofer Placement using the “Crawl Test”
Technique in Velodyne’s Listening Room.

You may find that moving your subwoofer(s) by as little as six to eight inches can improve how your subwoofers sound to you. Remember, the
safe location that your subwoofer(s) sound best to you is the best location for you. The recommendations in this guide serve as a starting
point for subwoofer placement. But remember to always heed the Subwoofer Placement Cautions.

[ 1 ]

PLACEMENT CAUTIONS

Subwoofer Placement Recommendations Guide

Subwoofer Placement Cautions

PLACE THE SUBWOOFER CABINET ON ASTABLE, FLATAND LEVEL SURFACE. An uneven or unstable surface can cause the
subwoofer to tip over and cause injury and/or be damaged.

This type of surface can also result in buzzing and rocking sounds that could
make the subwoofer sound broken. Protruding objects from the surface or an uneven surface could cause damage to the speaker cone in
down-firing subwoofers.

DO NOT CREATE ATRIP HAZARD WITH THE POWER CORDS. Route power, audio and microphone cables so that persons walking in the
room don’t trip on them. Route the power cord so that it will not be walked on, pinched or compressed in any way that could result in
damaging the insulation or wire.

DO NOT BLOCK THE TUNED PORT. Aport may be located on the back, front, or bottom of the cabinet. A cabinet with a downward-firing port
or passive radiator uses the complete available periphery for radiation, so block this opening as minimally as possible.

PLACE THE SUBWOOFER ON THE FLOOR. If the subwoofer is placed on a stand, bracket, tripod, table or similar device, it could fall or be
knocked over causing injury and/or damage to the subwoofer and other items.

KEEP THE SUBWOOFER IN ITS UPRIGHTPOSITION. Using, shipping or otherwise storing the subwoofer in any other position for an
extended period of time may result in damage to the unit that is not covered by the product warranty.

KEEP THE SUBWOOFER FAR ENOUGH AWAYFROM ATV TO PREVENT COLOR DISTORTION. Some TVs are particularly sensitive to
stray magnetic fields, such as those caused by the magnet in the subwoofer. If your television produces distorted colors after installing your
subwoofer, simply increase the distance between the subwoofer and your TV or video monitor.

[ 2 ]

GUIDELINES

Subwoofer Placement Recommendations Guide

General Subwoofer Placement Guidelines

Refer to the recommended placement diagrams below for general seating and subwoofer placement guidelines.

The seating positions shown in the diagrams below are general guidelines for most room types. W

alls, floors and ceilings reinforce bass
response. Sitting near a wall almost always results in the perception of more bass than elsewhere in the room. If your seating position is near
a wall or a corner, the bass may sound overly heavy and boomy, so try moving your listening position more towards the center of the room.
If your seating is at the exact center of the room, it’s possible that the bass will seem weak. If you experience this condition, try moving your
seating position away from the center.

FACE THE GRILLE towards the room’s main seating location in the case of a front-firing subwoofer.
MAKE SURE:

• You can access the controls on the rear of the subwoofer.

• The included 6’power cord for the subwoofer can safely reach a power outlet.

Square rooms are the most challenging acoustically for low frequencies.
Move your seating location to a more optimal location, if your room layout allows for it.

Single Subwoofer Placement Guidelines

The tips below apply to placing a single subwoofer in your room. Generally,bass frequencies, if reproduced without excessive distortion, are
non-directional, that is, you cannot normally tell where the bass is coming from. However,if the subwoofer’

s crossover is set very high, the
subwoofer is played at very high levels so that it distorts, or the subwoofer causes a rattle or other sympathetic vibration to occur,it might give
away its location. Other tips:

PLACE in a CORNER (loudest but not the most accurate) or within a few feet of a wall (smoothest but not the loudest).
AVOID locations far away from a wall, close to the room center, by a door, near a partial-height wall, or behind seating arrangements.

Twin Subwoofer Placement Guidelines

In addition to the above general guidelines for single subwoofer placement, when using TWIN subwoofers follow the guidelines below:

- CENTER OPPOSITE W

ALL PLACEMENTgives smoothest output and even response throughout the room.

- OPPOSITE CORNER PLACEMENT gives more output and least intrusion into floorplan, but not as smooth or as even
throughout the room.

- 1/4 or 1/3 ADJACENTWALL PLACEMENT can give a blend of output and smoothness which could be advantageous in problem rooms.

- DON’T put one subwoofer next to listening seats and one far away, as signals could cancel each other out and limit the output.
In extreme cases, this precedence effect can cause the nearer subwoofer to be localized, i.e. you can tell where the bass is
coming from.

- Preferably place each subwoofer by the satellite speaker of the same channel.

Quad Subwoofer Placement Guidelines

In addition to the above general guidelines for subwoofer placement, when using FOUR subwoofers follow the guidelines below.
FOUR (or more) subwoofers give the best sound in a room.

- CORNER PLACEMENT

gives more output and least intrusion into floorplan.

- CENTER WALLPLACEMENT controls room nodes but more intrusion into floorplan.

Don’t put some subwoofers next to listening seats and others far away, as signals could cancel each other out and limit the output. In extreme
cases, this precedence effect can cause the nearer subwoofer to be localized.

[ 3 ]

PLACE

Subwoofer Placement Recommendations Guide

Place a Single Subwoofer

This section provides general recommendations on where to place a single subwoofer in your listening room. You can try placing a single
subwoofer in the:

1. Front corner

2. In the center in front of your audio system; or

3. Aquarter or third away from the front of the room on either the right or left side of the room.

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Figure 1: Recommended Single Subwoofer Placements

[ 4 ]

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