Subwoofer Integration

Get your sub to work well with your room and other equipment

Building a good subwoofer is the first step in getting quality bass in your listening environment.
Just as important, is setting your room up correctly, locating the sub in the right position, and integrating it with your existing equipment.

A Sound Level Meter (SPL meter) will allow you to use the excellent (and free) REW software to measure the frequency response of your gear. The "Room-EQ Wizard study" page looks at how REW was used to find the best location for a new IB subwoofer

A popular sound meter is the analog model from Radio Shack (or Dick Smith in Australia), which requires some corrections to be applied to the low frequency readings. See the "Correction tables" page for details.

The "ART Cleanbox" page looks at how to connect consumer-level unbalanced sources to pro-level balanced inputs. There is also an illustrated guide to modifying the cleanbox for flat response to below 10hz.

When setting the volume level for your sub relative to the rest of your system, it's handy to remember that DVDs vary greatly in the level of their LFE track. The "Hot and Cold" page has a look at 50 common DVDs to see how their levels compare.

Another issue that can occur when setting up your gear is hum caused by earth loops. I've added a page about burying these little mongrels, and include quite a few links to other sites which also look at the issue

The "Home Theater Tips" page looks at how you can optimise your room. It has heaps of links to articles about bass traps and acoustic treatments. It even has a look at "Bias lighting" to get the best contrast out of your screen

• Sound Level Meter SPL meter use described, along with some info on THX certification
• Correction tables for Radio Shack Sound Meter
• The ART Cleanbox fix that low signal level and convert to balanced cabling
• Hot and Cold A list of which movies have their LFE tracks mixed too hot or too cold
• Minimising hum Get rid of hum caused by earth-loops
• Home Theater tips DIY Diffusers and Bias Lighting, acoustic treatment
• Room-EQ Wizard study Using REW to optimise subwoofer location