Velodyne Digital Drive Series - Manual (Page 28)

www.velodyne.com 22 - Digital Drive Series User’s Manual
About Room Placement
Room placement is the first step in equalizing your sub(s) to your room. Subwoofers operate at extremely low
frequencies, which are primarily omni-directional (that is, you can’t usually tell where they are coming from).
Placing the sub in the room is a trial and-error process. The goal is to find the best location(s) that result in
the minimum number and severity of valleys in the frequency response curve. This is because peaks in the
response curve are easy to address with an EQ, but valleys typically are not easily fixed because they represent
a cancellation of soundwaves that more power to that frequency will usually not fix.
As a general rule, placing the sub(s) in the corner(s) of a room will add to the overall amount of bass the
subwoofer produces, but that bass may not necessarily be as low in distortion compared to a position away
from the corner. The worst location for a subwoofer is typically far away from any walls, and close to the center
of your room. Avoid these locations when possible. when using a pair of Velodyne subwoofers in stereo, it is
preferable to place each subwoofer by the satellite of the same channel. If moving your satellites is an option,
they too can contribute to peaks and valleys and should be likewise placed through experimentation.
10. Now you can begin moving your subwoofer around the room to find the best placement position. You
need to find the best tradeoff between appearance and room response. Be sure the room is in the
configuration that it will be in when you typically listen e.g. doors opened or closed, curtains open or
closed, etc. As you move the subwoofer, refer to the “SySTem ReSPOnSe” graph to minimize peaks
and especially valleys in the response curve. As an example, you might find a location that smoothes
the graph as follows:
NOTE: The subwoofer should be turned off when physically moving the unit.