Subwoofer phase and distance

JOHN FICKEL

JOHN FICKEL

Senior Audioholic
Hello and good morning everyone. I have a question about setting up two subs, to be integrated with my mains the best they can be. The front sub is a Klipsch R-115sw, the back sub is a Klipach RSW-15. My question is about delay. Gene has said in the past changing Delay is basically phase altering as well. With that being said he had a formula, for example, if your front LCR and Sub cluster is 5 meters away, and the back sub is 1m away. You subtract 1m from 5m. And your rear sub would need a 4m delay. My Z9 has put my front sub at 14ft. Which is accurate, and back sub at 10ft which is accurate. However now I'm wondering if I should change my back sub delay to 3.3 ft ? My front sub would be 4m away, my back 3m away, so 4 -3 is 1m. Delay of 3.3ft. Instead of leaving at 10ft where the z9 has delayed it. Any thoughts anyone ? I can't seem to integrate my subs to seamlessly blend with my system. And I have definitely figured out it's not as easy as just using a tape measure lol. Thank you
 
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JOHN FICKEL

JOHN FICKEL

Senior Audioholic
Gene, I'm I understanding this correctly ?? Please respond Also, what is really happening to a Sub when you further the distance from the listening position ?
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Gene's advice is good for getting the subs in phase for direct sound, but there is the matter of room acoustics. There could be all kinds of cancellations and nulls going on in there, which could affect what the optimal phase setting. You really need to do is measure the frequency response at the listening position and calibrate your system according to that.
 
JOHN FICKEL

JOHN FICKEL

Senior Audioholic
Ok thank you for taking the time and responding I'm just going crazy wondering can I make it better
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I wouldn't worry about the phase vs distance. I would just focus on getting a flat frequency response.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
My Z9 has put my front sub at 14ft. Which is accurate, and back sub at 10ft which is accurate.
However now I'm wondering if I should change my back sub delay to 3.3 ft ? My front sub would be 4m away, my back 3m away, so 4 -3 is 1m. Delay of 3.3ft.
Your receiver does this for you. For example if you only have 2 speakers and they are both 6 ft away (and the receiver measures it correctly - which it seems to be doing), front sub at 14ft would have no added delay, while the rear sub would be delayed to compensate for the extra 4 ft, and the front speakers would be delayed to compensate for the extra 8 ft (relative to the speakers).
The reason it measures the distance of the speakers is to match the same phase/delay, so all will reach you at the same time.
 
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H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
My Z9 has put my front sub at...
There are 2 parameters set by Audyssey or YPAO that I never change... Distance and Phase. Play w/ volume, crossovers, small/large, anything else... except Distance and Phase. Why? Because I don't have the understanding or equipment to accurately measure all the effects of room geometry, or alter them in a positive way.

My $1k X4000 and your $2k Z9 have measurement and adjustment capability to analyze a system/room geometry and adjust phases optimally. It's not a subjective measurement. Leave phase/distance alone, and play w/ the settings that are subjective.
 
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