High Budget 7.1 Polk HT... Need advise...

Snagglepuss1318

Alright, got insulation done this weekend and met w/the drywallers. They are coming on Thursday! I need help on Sub placement still. I have to run power to where I want it but dont know where to put it yet. On the floorplan the thicker grey wall is concrete and the other is an interior wall. The interior wall I will have access to through the utility closet for me to run power at a later date. Unless i should put it by the concrete wall side. Im doing double drywall, 5/8" on bottom 1/2" on top, dont know if that will play a role in sub placement or not... Any suggestions??

Frank Z

Proper sub placement is something that will have to wait untill the room is done. It's not as simple as deciding where it will look the best or be the least visible, although that is important to some people. There are times when the ideal location for the best sound quality just won't cut it because of the intended layout of the room.

The easiest and way to determine placement is to put the sub in your primary listening location and then walk around the room and listen. Once you get to a place that sounds the best, that's where the sub should go.

Corner placement, if not done correctly, can make the sub sound boomy and really detract from the overall sound quality. Generally the sub should go in a the corner of the longest unbroken wall (no doors, windows) and be angled toward the center of the room.

Download and read the Polk Audio Home Theater handbook. It contains alot of good info.

The following link is for my sub but the placement info is universal. See page 11.
Sunfire Sub Manual

Tour2ma

Frank's spot on (not all that surprising really, although he's had a bad day here and there... ). With no drywall at present, should you test now, your post drywall results will likely vary.

Given the uncertainties I'd suggest that you go ahead and do two or three (or four) separate runs. Up front do 2 drops, each 1/4 of the way in from their respective corners. I can't see going all the way to the rear of your long room, but maybe one around the mid point of one or both sides would be prudent as well.

At worst you'll have two or three unused wall plates/ coax runs, but will have placement flexibility and ability to add a sub (or two) down the road.

Another resource I'd tap are the SVS boys (you are going SVS, right?). I'm sure they can get you in the vacinity.

I had only one, small candidate area for my sub. It worked OK enough that use of my Pre-Pro's notch filters could smooth the most objectionable humps and bumps out of its FR curve...