Side-firing woofers - towards outside or inside?

**Jon F** · **02-27-09, 06:26 PM**

Hi everyone, I'm a n00b both here and to acoustics in general. I'm currently working on a small dedicated theater in a spare bedroom in our house (pictures to follow in the dedicated theater thread at a later date) and I had a general question about side-firing woofers. The room I'm using is pretty small, (12'10" long, 11'6" wide, 8' tall) with a 80" wide screen. Obviously there isn't a lot of leeway in the placement of the front speakers. I'm using Acoustic Research 312HOs which have a 12" side-firing woofer and a rear port. I haven't gotten to the point of doing any measurements in the room but I plan to put a 12"x12"x17" floor-ceiling triangle trap in each front corner, some acoustic panels on the side walls and perhaps the ceiling for dealing with reflections, etc.

In general, should the woofers point towards each other, or towards the wall? If they do point out, should I put an acoustic panel right next to the woofer? Should I just try switching them both ways and re-measure? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

**tonyvdb** · **02-27-09, 07:01 PM**

I've seen most people point them in towards each other and I do believe that that is the correct way.

**bpape** · **02-27-09, 07:24 PM**

Welcome to The Shack Jon

Firing them toward each other can cause some cancellations. On the other hand, in a narrow room, having them very close to the walls will magnify SBIR issues. Pointing them out with some sufficient trapping directly to their sides might be smoother.

As you surmised, you'll likely want to listen both ways and see what works best based on your specific situation.

Bryan

**Jon F** · **02-27-09, 07:31 PM**

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I'll be dragging those 75lb lumps back and forth across the carpet over the weekend for some testing.

**bpape** · **02-27-09, 07:34 PM**

Hey - that's half the fun - playing with things to see what works best. It's no fun to just plop them down and listen without tweaking a bit

Bryan

**Jon F** · **02-27-09, 07:42 PM**

That's true! Not sure my back will agree on Monday, though.

**tonyvdb** · **02-27-09, 07:45 PM**

Try lugging a 150lb sub around the room, I fully understand your pain but its all worth it in the end

**Jon F** · **02-27-09, 07:57 PM**

Ha! At this point the wallet is where I'm feeling the most pain!

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