Dual Sub positioning in a 16'w x 18'd room?

[Don]

While I know the bass isn't directional and can pretty much go anywhere, but what is the best layout for 2 subs? I can put one on either side of my screen or one on the left corner of the room and the other on the left wall, even with the projector depth, 13'6". I guess I can even put them side by side in the left corner. What makes best sense??

[AVSMike]

I would probably try both locations and measure. Placing a sub in the corner will give you increased output. Where is your seating located in your 16' x 18' theater?

[Ron Jones]

With a single sub you will typically get some peaks and nulls in the bass sound level at different points within the room, i.e., where the reflected sound either reinforces or cancels the direct sound.  With two subs that are well placed you should be able to get more uniform bass sound levels throughout the room, assuming the subs are positioned such that the locations of the peaks and nulls are at different positions for each sub individually.  The optimum locations for the two subs will vary some from room to room.

[laugsbach]

When I had just two subs, I went for a near field placement and used them as side tables for our sofa. In my 15' x 20' room, this was the best for impact...having one sub along the front wall and the other sub mid side wall gave me the smoothest FR. Measuring your FR is very important for dialing in the subs to the rest of your system...

[bmoney]

one up front one in the back usually is the best...but you wont know until you measure...otherwise your flying blind

[NBPk402]

We went with one in the front and one in the rear, but in our room, we ended up with a bass null in the front row. If I can find a 2nd pair of DTS-10s, and get the cash I will put one on each side wall too, if not I will move the speakers when I decide to redo the room.

[bmoney]

in my first theater I was lucky...both subs up front gave me a flat response

[ronman79]

In a previous setup, I had (4) 12" subs at around 1/4 wall placement. I'm curious as to what other say here, as well.  I'm doing first home theater, and will be using the same 4 subs....

[DonH58]

Well, old thread, new poster here... And a disclaimer: subwooferage is not my day job.

There is a Harman white paper that explains it pretty well, and of course many other books by folk like Toole, Geddes, and Everest that address placement issues. To provide the best in-room placement it is usually best to place the subs mid-wall or in opposite corners or some combination so they do not excite the same room modes in the same way. That provides flatter overall frequency response and helps compensate room modes leading to nulls.

Note there is a null in the center of the room so that is generally a poor place for the MLP (main listening position) acoustically even though it is all too often the best position aesthetically.

https://www.harman.com/sites/default/files/multsubs_0.pdf

HTH - Don