PSW 650 placement question

MidwestPolkie

I am considering buying a used 650, but the arrangement of my HT room would pretty much require that it be placed under the monitor in the front of the room, inside a false wall. Since the 2 drivers are side-firing, would I expect to lose any sound quality/deepness by placing it in the false wall recessed back (basically in an entertainment cabinet) as long as the surrounding cabinet is at least 6 inches from the drivers??
Thanks very much for your help on this!!

Dennis Gardner

First, if your monitor is a CRT (tube) TV, under it may cause magnetic picture interference.

Inside an entertainment cabinet is about the worst placement for any sub, but even more so for side firing models. Too much energy (vibration) to control and the cabinet becomes essentially another speaker box that changes the amount of bass coming out. You will get more peaks and valleys in your bass freqeunecies since the sub was made to operate in clean air space. Certain peaks may become very boomy, and other notes may disappear entirely. Any other room placement may be better. You may want to look into some of the super micro-subs if size is the placement issue.

MidwestPolkie

Dennis Gardner wrote:

First, if your monitor is a CRT (tube) TV, under it may cause magnetic picture interference.

Inside an entertainment cabinet is about the worst placement for any sub, but even more so for side firing models. Too much energy (vibration) to control and the cabinet becomes essentially another speaker box that changes the amount of bass coming out. You will get more peaks and valleys in your bass freqeunecies since the sub was made to operate in clean air space. Certain peaks may become very boomy, and other notes may disappear entirely. Any other room placement may be better. You may want to look into some of the super micro-subs if size is the placement issue.

Two points that may help clarify:
1. TV is not a CRT, so not expecting any problems there, but duly noted that the sub is not magnetically shielded.
2. The cabinet is not built yet, so I have some flexibility there on how to place it, and I do plan to have the front open, but with side-firing again would this even help? (ie, the sub will not be completely enclosed).
I do have a PSW 450 in an entertainment cabinet in my living room, but it is front-firing so the driver has no obstructions.
I have this question about the 650 because in the manual it states that placing it in a cabinet is an option, and in most instances it should not make a real appreciable difference where you place a sub because of the sound frequencies it produces. The only thing the manual mention as far as placement of the drivers is to keep it at least 6 inches away from the drivers.
Of you guys with 650's or other side-firing subs, where have you placed them and what results have you seen with changing the placement??
Again thanks for your help.

aaharvel

hook up and place your sub in the main seating position, play a familiar bass-heavy CD, then crawl around the room until you're in the spot where the sub sounds best to you. That spot is where you should put the sub.

MidwestPolkie

aaharvel wrote:

hook up and place your sub in the main seating position, play a familiar bass-heavy CD, then crawl around the room until you're in the spot where the sub sounds best to you. That spot is where you should put the sub.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I have heard that before, but that is not feasible in this particular room based on the furniture arrangement.
It basically has to be in the open cabinet in the front of the room or possibly on one sidewall and that is it.
And I am considering whether or not to buy this particular sub, and if the side-firing design is going to cause too many headaches for placement then I may go with a front-firing model instead--this is the basic premise for my posted question.