Hi everyone,
Long time reader, first time poster. I was hoping you could help me with a question I have had trouble finding the answer to myself. Is it possible to use a sealed subwoofer behind a wall, firing into a room through a cutout? Would there be any significant acoustic drawbacks?
My current primary listening area is my family room, which is the lower level of a split-level home. Two of the four walls are just studs and drywall that border my utility room and crawlspace/storage. My wife's subtle murmurs about the "big black box" in the corner of the room have recently grown in frequency and amplitude, and it's got me thinking about potential solutions that won't result in me losing my low end for good.
I've played with the idea of buying a dedicated in-wall sub or IB setup, but honestly the lack of measurements for those products and the need for an external amplifier intimidate me. I'm still relatively inexperienced with this hobby and I figure the less variables the better. Plus, when compared to the plethora of budget sealed subwoofers on the market, it doesn't seem like a great bang for my buck. This brought me to the idea of placing one of those small sealed subwoofers (SVS, Monoprice, etc) between the studs in the utility room, and firing it through a cutout into the living space. I would have to DIY a way to seal the front baffle of the sub to the wall, stiffen the drywall to mitigate vibration (I assume?), and cover the cutout with speaker cloth. My AVR is already behind the wall in the utility room, so wiring wouldn't be a problem. Would this be a worth while alternative to traditional in-wall products? I suppose I could even use a front ported sub as long as it was small enough to fit between the studs.
I attached some rough drawings of the floorplan. In the second picture I outlined potential wall locations in red. Also note, I understand the limitations of permanent subwoofer placement with a project like this, but I don't anticipate us ever re-arranging the room and I would take measurements to find the flattest frequency response location(s) before proceeding.
Any advice on how that would affect the sound? Am I overlooking an obvious problem? Am I crazy? Thanks and let me know.
Long time reader, first time poster. I was hoping you could help me with a question I have had trouble finding the answer to myself. Is it possible to use a sealed subwoofer behind a wall, firing into a room through a cutout? Would there be any significant acoustic drawbacks?
My current primary listening area is my family room, which is the lower level of a split-level home. Two of the four walls are just studs and drywall that border my utility room and crawlspace/storage. My wife's subtle murmurs about the "big black box" in the corner of the room have recently grown in frequency and amplitude, and it's got me thinking about potential solutions that won't result in me losing my low end for good.
I've played with the idea of buying a dedicated in-wall sub or IB setup, but honestly the lack of measurements for those products and the need for an external amplifier intimidate me. I'm still relatively inexperienced with this hobby and I figure the less variables the better. Plus, when compared to the plethora of budget sealed subwoofers on the market, it doesn't seem like a great bang for my buck. This brought me to the idea of placing one of those small sealed subwoofers (SVS, Monoprice, etc) between the studs in the utility room, and firing it through a cutout into the living space. I would have to DIY a way to seal the front baffle of the sub to the wall, stiffen the drywall to mitigate vibration (I assume?), and cover the cutout with speaker cloth. My AVR is already behind the wall in the utility room, so wiring wouldn't be a problem. Would this be a worth while alternative to traditional in-wall products? I suppose I could even use a front ported sub as long as it was small enough to fit between the studs.
I attached some rough drawings of the floorplan. In the second picture I outlined potential wall locations in red. Also note, I understand the limitations of permanent subwoofer placement with a project like this, but I don't anticipate us ever re-arranging the room and I would take measurements to find the flattest frequency response location(s) before proceeding.
Any advice on how that would affect the sound? Am I overlooking an obvious problem? Am I crazy? Thanks and let me know.