I was wondering what's the best type of floor to have under a downfiring
subwoofer. I currently have wood, but have been thinking about going to
carpet, or maybe even tiles. Would either of these have any positive or
negative effects on the subs output? Is one type better than the other?

Also, if needed, can anyone recommend a slab of anything to put under the
sub for optimal performance?

Thanks.

"GlueGum" wrote in message
.. .
I was wondering what's the best type of floor to have under a downfiring
subwoofer. I currently have wood, but have been thinking about going to
carpet, or maybe even tiles. Would either of these have any positive or
negative effects on the subs output? Is one type better than the other?

Also, if needed, can anyone recommend a slab of anything to put under the
sub for optimal performance?

Thanks.


Carpet would not make a difference.
Heavy ceramic tiles would.
Concrete is best.

The only important factor is the stiffness of the flooring, which is usually
reflected in the mass density.
An absolutely rigid floor, such as concrete, would prevent coupling of the
energy to the frame of the house.

Robert Morein wrote:

"GlueGum" wrote in message
.. .

I was wondering what's the best type of floor to have under a downfiring
subwoofer. I currently have wood, but have been thinking about going to
carpet, or maybe even tiles. Would either of these have any positive or
negative effects on the subs output? Is one type better than the other?

Also, if needed, can anyone recommend a slab of anything to put under the
sub for optimal performance?

Thanks.



Carpet would not make a difference.
Heavy ceramic tiles would.
Concrete is best.

The only important factor is the stiffness of the flooring, which is usually
reflected in the mass density.
An absolutely rigid floor, such as concrete, would prevent coupling of the
energy to the frame of the house.

I agree. A wood floor on a raised foundation? Front-firing sub. Down-firing
in this situation will literally cause things to rattle and resonate.

"Joseph Oberlander" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Robert Morein wrote:

"GlueGum" wrote in message
.. .

I was wondering what's the best type of floor to have under a downfiring
subwoofer. I currently have wood, but have been thinking about going to
carpet, or maybe even tiles. Would either of these have any positive or
negative effects on the subs output? Is one type better than the other?

Also, if needed, can anyone recommend a slab of anything to put under
the
sub for optimal performance?

Thanks.



Carpet would not make a difference.
Heavy ceramic tiles would.
Concrete is best.

The only important factor is the stiffness of the flooring, which is
usually
reflected in the mass density.
An absolutely rigid floor, such as concrete, would prevent coupling of
the
energy to the frame of the house.

I agree. A wood floor on a raised foundation? Front-firing sub.
Down-firing
in this situation will literally cause things to rattle and resonate.

And the frequencies bouncing around the walls won't?

Michael McKelvy wrote:

in this situation will literally cause things to rattle and resonate.


And the frequencies bouncing around the walls won't?

True, but 3-10 ft from the walls reduces the SPL a lot versus
3-4 inches from the floor.

Joseph Oberlander wrote:



Michael McKelvy wrote:

in this situation will literally cause things to rattle and resonate.


And the frequencies bouncing around the walls won't?

True, but 3-10 ft from the walls reduces the SPL a lot versus
3-4 inches from the floor.

I've measured and evaluated more subwoofers than anyone else I know; several
hundred counting indivual/multiple subwoofer tests and subwoofers as part of
full systems including all "orientations of firing." In my experience
downfiring products by and large tend to work better than others.

As far as energizing room rattles and other artifacts direct-firing into a wall
are by far the most effective at inducing rattles/buzzes and other odd
artifacts. Drivers, passive radiators and ports facing downward tend to better
suppress direct artifacts (port noise, upper frequency artifacts generated
inside rhe cabinet, suspension noises and the like) and less likely to induce
on-wall artifacts (picture frame rattles ,et al.)

It is true that speakers 10-feet away from a wall also tend to inhibit the
"wall" artifacts but those with drivers/ports facing the listener tend to
maximize them and non-boundary locus will fail to excite natural standing wave
patterns also help reducing wall chatter but mostly because they just put less
bass into the space.

IMO getting SPL in the frequency range where it's the most difficult is a small
price to pay for putting dampers on the back of you pix-frames.

On a related issue; IMO exciting the floor is often an advantage to floor
facing radiating elements. I've had several top-flight listening rooms over the
past 2 decades and, in general, those that didn't have a concrete floor were
less interesting at low frequencies than plywood flooring (both should be
carpeted though.)

I said, in general, because you get more "feel." My current subwoofer system
uses high-displacement infinite baffle drivers in an adjacent room that will
deliver more than 120-dB from 10 to 62 Hz @ a 2-meter listening room position
with a plywood carpeted floor.

When listened to at 4-meters in the adjacent room with a concrete floor it will
modulate the speaking voice of Stanley Lip****z @ 4-meters (in a room with
essentially nothing but bass) and while that's impressive enough it's nothing
compared to bing in the same room with the direct output of the subwoofer. IMO
a good part of the listening room experience is the tactile-feel of a a wood
floor.

"GlueGum" wrote in message
.. .
I was wondering what's the best type of floor to have under a downfiring
subwoofer. I currently have wood, but have been thinking about going to
carpet, or maybe even tiles. Would either of these have any positive or
negative effects on the subs output? Is one type better than the other?

Also, if needed, can anyone recommend a slab of anything to put under the
sub for optimal performance?

Thanks.


My question to you would be, why a downfiring sub?
Why not just the best sub?

I would look at Adire Audio www.adireaudio.com

The best bang for the buck IMO.