Elevate Subwoofer?

[Fahzz]

I have a round table in my living/listening room that has a shelf at the bottom about four inches above the floor. I'm thinking about moving my sub and put it on the shelf to save some space. I can remove the "feet" from the sub to make the change in elevation less dramatic. The space in the table is not an enclosure and is wide open from all sides. Any negatives in placing the speaker that high off the floor?

 

[BeeKay]

Corrected using "Housecurve". Works quite well for me.

 

[kyuu]

As long as you don't get any rattling or resonance issues from the table, there's no issue having your sub on a shelf. There's no need to remove the feet to reduce height; in fact, if they are rubber feet, I would leave them on to reduce the likelihood of a rattle between the sub and table.

 

[Keith_W]

As @kyuu points out, the main issue is mechanical stability rather than acoustic. I don't know about you, but my subwoofer likes to go "walking". If I play loud music with a lot of bass, some kind of poltergeist moves my sub from where I carefully positioned it. I suppose all you can do is try it and see!

 

[Chrispy]

Might address modes a bit differently, but that might more depend on the height of your riser.

 

[Ropeburn]

As @kyuu points out, the main issue is mechanical stability rather than acoustic. I don't know about you, but my subwoofer likes to go "walking". If I play loud music with a lot of bass, some kind of poltergeist moves my sub from where I carefully positioned it. I suppose all you can do is try it and see!

Now that is really weird. How? Is the cabinet not inert enough? Never experienced that here - sub always stayed put like a dumb rock, even when everything else moved very much, including neighbours up the stairs.

 

[Chrispy]

Now that is really weird. How? Is the cabinet not inert enough? Never experienced that here - sub always stayed put like a dumb rock, even when everything else moved very much, including neighbours up the stairs.

When I built my first subs, tried them without feet and they scooted pretty consistently. How heavy was your sub, was it dual opposed?

 

[Keith_W]

Now that is really weird. How?

I told you. Poltergeists.

 

[tineared]

I have a round table in my living/listening room that has a shelf at the bottom about four inches above the floor. I'm thinking about moving my sub and put it on the shelf to save some space. I can remove the "feet" from the sub to make the change in elevation less dramatic. The space in the table is not an enclosure and is wide open from all sides. Any negatives in placing the speaker that high off the floor?

As mentioned earlier, as long as the table is stable enough to weather the weight and vibrations, it should work fine.
You certainly won't hurt anything by trying it

 

[kyuu]

I don't know about you, but my subwoofer likes to go "walking". If I play loud music with a lot of bass, some kind of poltergeist moves my sub from where I carefully positioned it.

This still a problem or have you solved it? Do your subs have feet? I might try some putty to keep it from walking, assuming hard floors.

 

[tineared]

This still a problem or have you solved it? Do your subs have feet? I might try some putty to keep it from walking, assuming hard floors.

Or perhaps an exorcism?

 

[kyuu]

Or perhaps an exorcism?

Poltergeists are pretty stubborn by my understanding. As long as the sub isn't falling through the floor into another dimension I'd probably just leave em alone.

 

[tineared]

Poltergeists are pretty stubborn by my understanding. As long as the sub isn't falling through the floor into another dimension I'd probably just leave em alone.

If they're not chipping in on the bills, then they gotta go
What if they start to raid the fridge and drink all his beer?

 

[Ropeburn]

When I built my first subs, tried them without feet and they scooted pretty consistently. How heavy was your sub, was it dual opposed?

37kg, regular 12" ported. Never moved at all. No feet, just little felt pads or a piece of carpet under it, hard floor.

I wonder how flimsy sub cabinets have to be to actually move!

 

[Chrispy]

37kg, regular 12" ported. Never moved at all. No feet, just little felt pads or a piece of carpet under it, hard floor.

I wonder how flimsy sub cabinets have to be to actually move!

Mine was substantial but with multilayer ply rather than mdf, and sealed (18" drivers). They definitely scooted but stopped when I put proper cabinet feet under them. Not always about "flimsy" which mine were definitely not.

PS Thinking about weight, think box/driver combined was near 40 kgs....

 

[Keith_W]

I wonder how flimsy sub cabinets have to be to actually move!

Given that I designed the subs myself I am not too surprised that they have some problems. I did get a speaker designer to look at my design, and he didn't see anything wrong with it. It's a dual opposed sub with two 12" drivers, supposed to be force cancelling, built with MDF and with internal bracing. The subs do have feet, but there are felt pads and not rubber. I don't want to mark my wooden floor.

 

[Chrispy]

37kg, regular 12" ported. Never moved at all. No feet, just little felt pads or a piece of carpet under it, hard floor.

I wonder how flimsy sub cabinets have to be to actually move!

What surface were yours on? Mine were on smooth carpet.

 

[kyuu]

If they're not chipping in on the bills, then they gotta go
What if they start to raid the fridge and drink all his beer?

Well, you either deal with that or this:

The subs do have feet, but there are felt pads and not rubber. I don't want to mark my wooden floor.

Felt pads, not surprised then. Pretty sure the coefficient of friction on felt is similar to ice.

 

[tineared]

Given that I designed the subs myself I am not too surprised that they have some problems. I did get a speaker designer to look at my design, and he didn't see anything wrong with it. It's a dual opposed sub with two 12" drivers, supposed to be force cancelling, built with MDF and with internal bracing. The subs do have feet, but there are felt pads and not rubber. I don't want to mark my wooden floor.

Perhaps try something like this:

 

[Keith_W]

Perhaps try something like this:

Silicone is rather slippery isn't it? I suppose there is no harm in trying, and it's quite cheap. I'll look for something suitable.

I just ignore the problem because the subwoofer only "walks" when someone comes over and plays loud music. With my normal listening it's not a problem. I guess the poltergeists don't mind my music and only register their displeasure at my guests