1Subwoofers: Optimum Number and Locations by

Intuition tells us that putting a large number of subwoofers at different locations in a room is likely to excite room modes in a more “balanced ” manner, as compared to a single subwoofer. This idea has potential where there is not a single listening location, but rather a listening area. In this case we look for consistency of acoustical response with in this area. One way to approach this problem is to excite all modes evenly. Another approach is to excite as few modes as possible. Using simulations and measurements we have made an investigation to determine if using a large number of subwoofers is advantageous, and in particular what configurations give the best results. Several interesting and surprising results were uncovered along the way.