Side Firing Woofers

Autor

Beitrag

soulforged
Stammgast

#1 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 12:50

Was going through some threads in another forum. There were some very interesting and sharply divided views regarding speakers with side firing woofers.

There were some who believed that side firing woofers gave more flexibility to placing the speakers according to the room acoustics and that they lent to better (or worse) imaging and a wider sound stage.

There were others who argued that low freqencies were non-directional and it did not matter which side the woofers fired.

There was yet others who said that side firing woofers were generally disasterous as they were very difficult to place and a smooth integration of the drivers is trickier in their case.

I'm curious to hear what the gurus in apna forum think of this topic.

Personally, I have side firing speakers and I do experience some muddiness and loss at very low frequencies which could be due to the fact that one of them is firing right into a wooden closet (so are the low freqs really non-directional??? subs generally seem to be so). IMHO, side firing speakers need careful placing and may work better in large rooms.

abhi.pani
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 13:15

Cant say about placement factor but IMO side-firing woofers dont give that low end punch as the front and rear firing ones deliver...thats what I have experienced till date.

SNV
Stammgast

#3 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 14:52

Im not fond of side firing woofers, but there is one speaker where the integration between the drivers was seemless.
The Mission 782. Infact it was my favourite around that price at one time.
I am now keen to hear the new 792 series of Mission.

Regards
SNV

Arj
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 15:49

have you tried side firing woofers firing outwards towards the sides (ie away from each other ?)

In the end it depends on the design of the speaker so very difficult to generalise..eg the Audio Physic Virgo which was supsedly an amazing speaker in tis time was side firing.

try this speaker

http://www.gradient.fi/products/revolution/sivu3.html

The gradient revolutions are amazing speakers due to their neutrality and their room integeration under diverse placements.. I have had listened to it a couple of times and was pretty impressed (it was a short listen in the house of a guy who modded my cdp)

being Finnish speakers they do not advertise much though..

deaf
Stammgast

#5 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 15:55

As long as the x-over is below 150Hz with a steep slope for the woofer, usually there is no issue with regards to them.In many situations they actually prove beneficial as they are a clever way of circumnavigating the quaterwave cancellation that exists on front firing woofers.Side firing LF also allows narrower baffles which is a boon for imaging freaks.Do bear in mind side firing LF is much more difficult to design and implement, hence there are more sorry stories than successful ones.
Deaf.

sivat
Stammgast

#6 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 15:58

Arj schrieb:

Depends ....

1)...on how the integration is done. Only a very specific frequency spectrum can be really labelled as non-directional. If not integrated properly....it will sound muddy...bad stage, etc., et.,

2)...on how the drivers will interact with you room. If the woofers face the wall and the wall is a only a couple of feet away...the impact is going to nasty due to near wall reflection (..which will come in opposite phase...and result in cancellation of the original wave itself !!)

3) ... on whether you really need it

. In many speakers that i've seen with this cofiguration....they are more a gizmo than science. So do watch out ...

Regards
Siva.

soulforged
Stammgast

#7 erstellt: 08. Feb 2007, 17:52

Arj schrieb:

have you tried side firing woofers firing outwards towards the sides (ie away from each other ?)

They are firing outwards...I tried the inwards firing placement but found it too boomy and jarring...

[Beitrag von soulforged am 08. Feb 2007, 17:53 bearbeitet]

ani
Stammgast

#8 erstellt: 08. Feb 2007, 20:05

I have had good results with my side firing ACT4. Deaf's point regarding LF cross over freq being less than 140hz may be is making a positive effect. The 12" side firing woofer is not at all boomy and I havent noticed any phasing problems. My room is about 500sqft and the speakers are well away from the wall and spaced 8feet apart, firing straight, listening position is a good 12feet.

So I am against any generalisation, side firing is bad, tubes are warmer, Mosfet is cold etc

Debu
Ist häufiger hier

#9 erstellt: 08. Feb 2007, 20:37

There were others who argued that low freqencies were non-directional and it did not matter which side the woofers fired.

Low freq gets directional from 80Hz onwards (some say even 50Hz onwards). So if you are talking about a side firing woofer with cutoff of say 1KHz, it is definitely directional.

However, the side firing woofers could give some surround effect due to multiple reflections from side walls etc, not really my favorite.

- Debu

Arj
Inventar

#10 erstellt: 09. Feb 2007, 05:49

Debu schrieb:

So if you are talking about a side firing woofer with cutoff of say 1KHz, it is definitely directional.

- Debu

are ther any speakers with woofers with a cutoff at 1khz ? would like to see their specs..could you post a link ?

I think Deafs points on the cutoff is very very valind from what i have seen , for me person ally i am able to identify a direction only froma round 200hz and above.. so below that it really does not matter which direction the woofer is firing

In fact Castle has a floorstander where the woofer actually fires UP and some of the Avalon models have them firing down

Debu
Ist häufiger hier

#11 erstellt: 09. Feb 2007, 21:07

are ther any speakers with woofers with a cutoff at 1khz ? would like to see their specs..could you post a link ?

Have seen car subwoofers with cutoff at 1KHz or more, however in a HT scenario, side firing woofer/ subwoofer seems to have max cutoff of 200-250Hz, thanks for pointing out.

- Debu