STF-1 in-wall installation

[Red Night]

I am the happy owner of the STF-1. Thanks to your team for that.

I am going to move my av equipment into a new room which will be a small (9 feet wide and 10 deep) dedicated theater, where everything will be built-in and very clean. Is it possible to build a recess for the sub (laying down with the port forward or standing upright as usual) and covering the recess with acoustically transparent fabric without ruining the sound quality?

I understand that one can not simply flush mount speakers without changing the crossovers to remove the baffle step compensation. But I know that subwoofers are a different animal altogether and I don't fully understand the limitations of their placement.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[Pete_Hsu]

Hi Red Night,

I suppose that would be fine, since there would be one acoustically transparent opening for the sound pressure wave to propagate. The most convenient way to orient the subwoofer is to have the amp (and port) facing forward.

Sincerely,

[Red Night]

Assuming there will be some space around the sub (just to get it in and out if needed) should that space be filled with some sort of acoustic insulation? or does that not matter?

[Pete_Hsu]

It may not be a bad idea to use something soft like foam pieces to put around the enclosed space (on the top and sides of the subwoofer) to help minimize resonances.

[mphfrom77]

Can you explain, would you have the dials and power cord facing out towards the room? To draw air in?
My post is a mainly a cut and paste from another forum, with a few HSU specific additions.
Man I hate trying to put a subwoofer in an enclosure, but its not for my home. An addition on the house is being built and a shelf / cabinet is the only spot offered to me to place a sub.
The enclosure is actually in a corner, on the floor (not shelf) about 6ft from the TV. The front of the cabinet was going to have a false stone face, across the whole shelf/cabinet. Holes could be drilled into that face, or replaced with some other material for the sub part (but other material is not preferred). The top of the sub enclosure could be left open or have some type of screen, or an opening/closing lid (which I'm sure would also be preferred). In the case of the STF-1 the sub would pop out the top i guess?

I had assumed I would have to leave some wiggle room (at least for power cord, volume knob), but here is the max space offered to me:height=14 1/8" (but I was told it could pop out), width=13 1/2", depth=16 1/2" (now looking at. Do you think the STF-1 would fit?

(on a side note, Is it okay to put an outlet down there next to the sub, specifically for the sub, or would it be better somewhere at the top where the STF-1 would pop out?)

The surround speakers, I had picked out are the Energy Take classic 5.0. I was really, really trying to stay around $150-$250 for the sub (but I've got to make this work so if the only way is a higher priced sub let me know).

Can you suggest a subwoofer and maybe offer why?

This next section is not necessary for HSU, but it is in the other post and I have tried to describe the room.
And could you describe the type of sound I could expect, for a room about 17' (sub corner/tv to back surround speakers' wall (which is about 13' wide and opens to other room)) X 25'-30' (sub in corner, tv in mddle), whole room opens up to dining room / hallway in middle running past surround wall; I can't find the floorplan right now so I estimated 17' X 25' which includes room opening up to next wall).
I am a complete novice, I am trying to design a very complicated system in a very short amount of time. I never thought it would become as complicated as it has, but I want to do it right.
I need to pick out a sub in the next few days!
I of course could converse over phone it you thought that might help.
Thanks in advance for any help!

[Pete_Hsu]

Hi mph,

When placing a subwoofer in a cabinet, I usually recommend placing the sub so that the amp controls are facing forward.

The STF-1 in it's normal orientation (with woofer firing downward) will fit in that space, but the top of the enclosure will stick out a few inches.

That is a large space to fill. We would normally recommend at least a 12" sub for that space! Even so, having an 8" sub will be better than nothing.

Sincerely,

[Red Night]

Pete, I read on another forum about the benefits of getting a sub on on a riser, preferably about a quarter of the height of the room. Does Hsu concur with this?

Additionally, along a similar train of thought, would there be any acoustical benefit if there was additional space between the bottom of the sub and the surface it is sitting on? In other words if the spike legs were longer.

[Pete_Hsu]

Hi Red,

To be honest, I've never tried hoisting the subwoofer that way. That said, I suspect that this may actually lead to some irregularity in the frequency response due to floor bounce effect, but I'd have to run some sweeps in our demo room to test that theory out!

Sincerely,

[Red Night]

your tests would be most interesting!

[mphfrom77]

:) Hey its just awesome to hear from the owner operators. I got my first gun last year. A Henry .22 long rifle. (They're the kind that look like the old cowboy guns...lever action. I would suggest what I got, "The Golden Boy". Man its fun to shoot, cans and golf balls. Anyways the owner operator of Henry Rifles talks to his customers through forums, and answers emails on Saturdays. I guess that was the first time I had seen something like that. Well, I think its real nice. Its much appreciated. This is one aspect of the internet that could take us back to a simpler place. Anyways, sorry I got too tiny of a space for my sub. Take care and see ya around.