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In some instances...

Posted by genungo on November 6, 2016 at 09:13:48

In Reply to: Down firing vs forward facing subwoofers - what are the benefits and differences posted by airtime on November 6, 2016 at 07:12:00:

... the down-firing subwoofer might make slightly more sense. In other instances, front-firing, bipole, dipole, or even up firing subs makes the most sense. YMMV, so evaluation and experimentation are key, as always.

The down-firing sub could sound slightly more omni-directional (harder to localize) to your ears - depending on the room, the location of the sub, and the crossover point. And because the driver in a down-firing sub receives extra reinforcement by being only inches away from a major room boundary, it could sound louder than a front-firing sub of the same size and power at any given volume setting. And subwoofer plate amplifiers, especially the cheaper ones, sometimes exhibit less distortion at lower volume settings. Then aqain (as has been mentioned below), a down-firing sub sitting on very thick plush carpeting might lose some of it's output by way of absorption effects...

Front-firing subs offer a lot more more flexibility in usage than down-firing ones do though. A must for in-wall installations or whenever you must place the sub near a room boundary but do not want the driver to directly face one of those room boundaries.

Also, if your main speakers are small enough to warrant a high subwoofer crossover points (80 hz or higher) you might want the option of pointing subwoofer drivers toward the listening position (after you've placed each of two individual subs as close to the main speakers as possible). The goal being the best possible driver integration between mains and subs when higher subwoofer crossover settings make your subs produce some amount of uni-directional bass.

Up-firing subs offer more options for placement in some instances. It all depends on the room and/or furnishings within the room. HSU Research used to be one of the champions of the up-firing subwoofer design, but HSU seems to have changed it's tune lately...

Bipole subs react with room boundaries somewhat differently than simple monopole subs do, and this is one reason why some people say that finding optimal placement in a room is more difficult to do with a bipole sub. But bipole subs are effective "vibration-cancelling" designs - a plus in some situations.

Dipole subs, as one might expect, blend very well with dipole main speakers because they are "cut from the same cloth", so to speak. And of course, dipole subs also come with some of the same disadvantages as dipole main speakers. The two primary disadvantages of dipoles are that they usually need more physical space or "room to breath" than other types of speakers so, and the reduced output of a dipole configuration requires the need for much larger radiating surfaces (driver size).

So, consider the personal needs of yourself and your living partner(s), and the limitations imposed by your room and your speakers when choosing subwoofers. And rememeber that it can never hurt to ask your speaker manufacturer for specific recommendations.

Edits: 11/06/16 11/06/16 11/06/16 11/06/16

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