Down firing subwoofers on wooden floors

silversubaru

Is this a problem at all? I am looking at the PSW125 sub now that the PSW12is no longer available and I see that the port on the 125 down fires which is different to the PSW12....

cnh

I can't tell you if there is any undesirable effect from finished wooden floors vs. carpeted areas but I can say that that bottom port reduces the air turbulence that was a bit of a problem with the PSW12 predecessor...which is a good thing. As you've probably seen it also has about 50W more power but the dynamic power between the two is not that different..260 for the PSW12, 300 for the newer PSW125...in general where a bass port is located is not the most important design feature...often making little difference in performance. It is also possible that the port noise that came out of the 12 at higher volumes was partly due to the fact that it actually reached lower in to the bass spectrum than the 125 (by a few hz) and that the design of the 125 tightened this up and made it less of a problem.

I would try it on the floor first and if you find that to be a problem just stick a carpet remnant under it?

cnh

quadzilla

It won't cause problems, but again, the may cause the two subs to sound significantly different. Unless someone has heard them both, it's impossible to say. I do know that down firing is usually recommended over front firing. Never have known why though.

thsmith

The question is not so much the floor surface type as it is the sub floor, slab of concrete or Pier and beam.

If you have a concrete slab it will be fine, if it is pier and beam then something like the subdude is what you need to reduce floor vibrations.

I had 3 down firing subs on concrete slab with wood floor on top and it sounded fine. I did add a subdude but the difference was minimal.

silversubaru

Thanks guys. My base is concrete with wooden flooring on top. I might be taking a step into the unknown by running two different but similar Polk subs but there is always a first hey!
Arent there some guys from Polk on this forum? Can anyone tell me the names of their representatives? I will also ask them for their advice too on this matter.

cnh

Hey Silver,

I'd just call the CS number above and ask if you're concerned. I didn't realize you were adding a second sub. Personally I don't think you'll hear any problem between the two. Some claim the 125 is not as loud as the 12? But that's a simple balancing adjustment.

thsmith has you covered on the floor/sub-floor issue. My sub is front firing...and a lot off Velodyne subs are front slot port so I really think down firing is not necessarily any kind of improvement, lots of SVS and even Hsu don't fire downward? So there it is down, front, back...Location shouldn't be that important if you're in the sub 35hz frequency range. Though high-power sealed subs might be the most controlled and musical?

cnh

silversubaru

Thanks. I must just remember the time zone differences:)

thsmith

Since you dealing with two subs I suggest learning Room EQ WIzard (REW free at hometheatershack) for placement and integration.