Interior / Exterior / Audio Talk about interior and exterior mods including audio.

face subs forward or back?

Old May 4, 2003 | 06:41 AM
  #1  
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face subs forward or back?

just curious as to if i can face my dual 10s forward from the extreme rear of the car

my bro gave me a box thats much smaller then the one i have now and it would only really look 'right' if it was placed up against the rear of the trunk area (the subs would be faced at a 45 degree angle forward)
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Old May 4, 2003 | 10:45 AM
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It would be better if you faced the backwards or straight up.
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Old May 4, 2003 | 02:16 PM
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Originally posted by bamastdnt
It would be better if you faced the backwards or straight up.
Yep, i agree. For some odd reason, it seems to sound so much better when you face them backwards or up. Why not test it out for yourself? It cant take more then a couple mins
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Old May 6, 2003 | 02:13 PM
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The direction a sub fires has absolutely nothing to do with its sound quality to the ear because of the sub's low frequency. The placement of the sub within the interior however will make big differences, try all the options you can and pick the best one.
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Old May 6, 2003 | 03:43 PM
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The guy who did my stereo and box has it moved all the way to the back, it sounds really good.

When I had a 45 degree box he told me to face it to the rear, I can't remmeber the reason.

He used to judge shows and stuff and he worked at Sound Advice for a while. He knows more than I do so I followed his suggestions.
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Old May 6, 2003 | 03:47 PM
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um

i think someone told me it had to do with the amount of air... like kind of compresses it or something, if you fire them at the wall, it's got less room to send the waves, therefore more um... compression...

p.s. i'm just talking about what i heard, i really have no idea, yet, my subs seem to hit harder facing backwards than any other direction.
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Old May 6, 2003 | 08:48 PM
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For louder bass it is best to point the sub to the rear. This allows the soundwave to be reflected off the rear and then foward. The reflection lets the soundwave travel more towards its maximum. Usually you will get better frequence responce from about 60hz on down with a rear firing driver.
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Old May 7, 2003 | 08:47 AM
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Originally posted by mb7
For louder bass it is best to point the sub to the rear. This allows the soundwave to be reflected off the rear and then foward. The reflection lets the soundwave travel more towards its maximum. Usually you will get better frequence responce from about 60hz on down with a rear firing driver.
The direction a sub fires has absolutely nothing to do with its sound quality to the ear because of the sub's low frequency. The placement of the sub within the interior however will make big differences, try all the options you can and pick the best one.
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Old May 7, 2003 | 01:59 PM
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Time for an acoustical engineer to step in....

DamonB is mostly right, as very low frequencies are non-directional. The low frequencies will bounce off of the rear glass (what doesn't go through the glass) whether the sub is pointed up, down, forward, or whatever.

There are 2 reasons it can be better to face the sub away from you:

1) harmonic distortion and other distortion (system noise) is higher frequency in nature and IS directional. Pointing the sub away from you reduces the negative effects of these distortions.

2) unwanted high frequencies coming from the sub (cross-overs are not brick wall filters...) will hurt imaging of the sound system in the car. Turning the sub away from the listener will reduce this effect as described above.

This likely accounts for subjective impressions of punchier, lower bass.
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Old May 7, 2003 | 02:26 PM
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Man - and i thought I was gonna have to give that speech... From a fellow experienced audio installer rynberg hit it right on the head! -JinX
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