Out of curiosity, how have you made your choice of location for your subs?
I'm not sure who you're asking, but in my case, the placement was in part guided by long experience, especially with this very room, and in part by recommendations in knowledgeable white papers, including those written by Martin Logan.
To begin, I started with a single Martin Logan Balanced Force 210 located in the right corner of the room (the end with the screen and the L, R and center channel speakers). That's where the JBL sub I described earlier was located and the results were very satisfying. However, with the Montis and 210, even after extensive attempts using Martin Logan's own software and room correction provided within the prevailing A/V receiver, the deep bass was uneven. It was difficult to produce a strong bass response at more than one seating location without changing settings.
Later, I bought a second subwoofer, the Dynamo 1100X, which I originally anticipated would go into the left hand corner, but to my surprise, this placement actually made matters worse. This emphasized the long room resonance and did a relatively poor job of exciting the deep bass at frequencies where there was already weak response.
I then proceeded on the basis of two recommendations. The first was to be willing to locate the sub where it sounded best despite preconceived notions. This included even the possibility of placing the second sub in the middle of the room! And the second was recognition of a goal that, at least where LFE was concerned, a location directly behind or below the backsides of the primary movie listening spots was going to deliver best the low frequency energy to the movie viewers without a great deal of worry about how the room responded as a whole.
As I've said elsewhere, I don't use the subs for music listening. I don't need to. The Montis bass drivers work well (adequately and smoothly) with the units in the L & R speaker locations (on either side of a large 120" screen). I don't need added subs to obtain a really satisfying concert grand performance, or a full-tilt orchestra, or even the Bach Passacaglia and Fugue. Jazz ensembles, vocalists, dance music -- all of this comes across wonderfully without the need for subs.
Dealing with jet engine exhausts on an aircraft carrier or explosions or action films is another matter. When movies or TV surround viewing is enjoyed, the two subs kick in and do their thing. The levels weigh on the side of a little less than two much. IMHO it does the job without calling excessive attention.
As in many household situations, this room represents compromises. It's a great place in the center of family life, and my wife and I don't want to watch movies in a converted garage or the basement. The Montis pair, driven by the Benchmark AHB2, does a more than adequate and satisfying job for most of what I care about. The two added subs, one located conventionally, the other perhaps not, add the magic when a sub is the only way to get the job done.
If I had the room and the budget to build a home theater, the story of how best to deploy subwoofers would be very different. It's an interesting story to hear about and enjoy with others, but it's not my story in my chosen space.
One more thing, which is admittedly going outside the subject of this thread and even the nature of your question. It has to do with what, IMHO, Martin Logan ESLs are best at. IMHO, it is NOT Home Theater, though many may use them that way. I think I'll defer the rest of my comments on this to a separate thread which will afford me a better opportunity to discuss this.
. ) GoToStage.com
