The Sub Crawl with a sub too huge to throw on the couch.

[Laika]

The sub crawl has worked well for me over the past 20 till I upped my game with may latest subs. I have a paradigm defiance x15 due to Genes review. It's the size of a outdoor AC unit. My understanding of the sub crawl placement is to throw the sub on the couch at the MLP facing toward the back of the room so the driver is firing into the sear back. That will never work with this sub. If I remove the couch from the room and try to get the sub a few feet off the ground in the MLP I fear that the couch (the only heavy padded item in the room other than 2'x2'x4" sidewall first reflection absorbers) will change the nature of the sound of the room and blow the results due to the couch absorbing some frequencies. Thoughts from you experts?

 

[Verdinut]

Where did you get the idea of crawling under the sub?

 

[ryanosaur]

Move the couch... put the sub on the floor. The low frequency wave-fronts won't be affected by those differences. You will possibly still need to fine tune your final Sub placements, hopefully no more than a matter of inches.

 

[Pogre]

The driver facing the back of the couch? I thought it was the other way 'round. Actually, I don't know if that's right either. It might not even matter. For that matter, the best spot for my sub stayed the same from sub to sub now that I think about it. Your new sub should work in the same spot as the old one... I think. If it's too cumbersome I'd just try it there first. Otoh I know what it's like getting a new toy like this too. You want everything as perfect as possible, lol.

Nice sub tho! Have fun wrassling it around!

 

[ryanosaur]

I agree that the sub should work in the same location.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd just move the couch out of the way enough to place the sub at the MLP myself and not worry a whole lot about the difference in position the couch will make....what I did.

 

[3db]

The sub crawl will NOT work if trying to integrate two subs into a system/room. It doesn't even work well for one sub.

 

[Pogre]

The sub crawl will NOT work if trying to integrate two subs into a system/room. It doesn't even work well for one sub.

"In my experience."...?

Sub crawl worked great for me finding a good location, but I can see it being "ymmv" depending on the room.

 

[ryanosaur]

The sub crawl will NOT work if trying to integrate two subs into a system/room. It doesn't even work well for one sub.

Integrating the sub(s) into the whole system is something completely different than finding a location for the sub to perform at its acoustic best. I would argue that you should do both with proper integration being an absolute must.
In my experience, I located two spots where subs performed well, I placed the subs in those locations, then proceeded to fine tune; integrate. I did move one of my Subs slightly after setting them in their original places.
Results were quite satisfactory.

 

[3db]

Integrating the sub(s) into the whole system is something completely different than finding a location for the sub to perform at its acoustic best. I would argue that you should do both with proper integration being an absolute must.
In my experience, I located two spots where subs performed well, I placed the subs in those locations, then proceeded to fine tune; integrate. I did move one of my Subs slightly after setting them in their original places.
Results were quite satisfactory.

Finding a proper sub location is part of the process of integrating subs into the whole system as no component is effected more on its performance as placement. The sub crawl works but doesn't work well and sub placement is better achieved through measurements rather than just listening by ear. As an example:

Below is my sub crawl result for my main system in the basement. The sub was located at the left of the left main speaker. Its response was becoming uneven across the listener position at 55 Hz onwards.


Results using measurements. Sub is located to the left of the fireplace and I found it to be much punchier.


I've gained 10 more Hz of flat response across all the listener positions and got a more even roll off for easier integration with the mains. I didn't have a miniDSP at the time as it was just a single sub. Without measurements, I wouldn't even attempt to try and place 2 subs. Placing a sub using measurements are far better and far more accurate than a sub crawl.

 

[Pogre]

Placing a sub using measurements are far better and far more accurate than a sub crawl.

This I agree with, but not everyone has measurement capabilities and the crawl can get you closer than guessing.