Excited to set up your very own home theatre? You’re probably now ready to connect your subwoofer to experience the ultimate high-quality sound. But wait! Not so fast. Subwoofers may be great audio devices, but there are other things you have to consider when connecting them to your TV. In fact, before connecting to the TV, you have to know where you should place it.
If you have no idea what was just said, then this post will help you figure out where it’s best to place your subwoofer and how you can connect it to your TV.
Related: Woofer Vs Subwoofer – A Detailed Comparison
Why Should You Consider the Placement of a Subwoofer?
You’re probably wondering now why placement is something you have to consider when connecting your subwoofer. The thing with subwoofers is that what you hear from the device is the overall effect of the soundwaves bouncing off the surfaces of the room. In short, how good your subwoofer sounds will highly depend on the interference of the bass waves with each other.
Picture this. You put your subwoofer in the corner, besides two walls. When the subwoofer produces bass waves, the waves will bounce all over the room. When the waves bounce from the two walls perpendicular to each other, then they can either create standing waves or bass nulls. Standing waves sound like an exploded bass sound while bass nulls sound like dead spots.
Where Is the Best Place to Put a Subwoofer?
So the corner is not the best way to place a subwoofer. Sure, it’s convenient to put it there, but it’s really not the best place most of the time.
When you’re picking an area, the rule of thumb is to place it a third from the wall of your room on the side of the TV. For example, the front wall is where you’ll place the TV. The subwoofer should be placed a third of the distance from that wall. No, it’s not in the middle, so you don’t have to worry about you tripping over it.
In most cases, the best area to have a subwoofer is in front. If it still sounds terrible, you can try placing your subwoofer in an area in the room and go around the place to check where the sound is at its best. Mark that place, and there you should place your sofa. It’s not going to be an easy way to find the best spot, but that’s the price you have to pay to maximize the sound quality.
How Do You Connect a Subwoofer to a TV?
Now that you’ve found the best place to set up your subwoofer, it’s time to connect it to your TV. There are three ways to connect it, and you can choose which one best suits you.
1. Using a Direct Connection
This is probably the most convenient method among the three. A direct connection does not need other devices or wires in order to connect the TV’s audio to the subwoofer.
First, you need to locate the audio output port on your TV. Plug the HDMI cable to the TV’s port and then locate the audio input port on your subwoofer. Once you’ve found that, connect the other end of the HDMI cable to the subwoofer. And there you have it! That was easy, wasn’t it?
2. Using a Converter
Another method to connect your subwoofer to the TV is through a converter. A converter is what you will use when the port type is different among the two devices. What a converter does is to literally convert the signal into a compatible one that would be read by the TV and the subwoofer.
The first thing that you have to do is to connect the digital coax output directly to the TV. Then, connect the other end to the digital coax input cable to the converter. Through the converter, plug the HDMI cable. Once this is all in place, you need to connect the other side of the HDMI cable to the subwoofer.
This looks a little more complex than the direct connection, and it has more cords involved. It’s confusing at first, but you’ll get the hang of it. If it doesn’t work, then just check the connections again to make sure that they are in the right ports.
3. Using an A/V Receiver
This last method is the most complex one. While you might not be inclined to try this anymore, it’s still a good idea to know this option just in case the last two options didn’t work for you.
For those who have A/V systems, you would need an A/V receiver to convert the signals into compatible versions for your devices. Before you can set this up with the subwoofer, you have to make a direct connection with the A/V receiver and the TV first. What you’ll need to do is to connect the A/V receiver’s input port to the TV’s audio output. If you have other speakers at home, this is also a good time to connect them to the A/V receiver.
Next is you need to look for the port for your subwoofer on the A/V receiver. Most A/V receivers have ports specifically made for subwoofers. Once you’ve found that out, connect the subwoofer and the A/V receiver using an HDMI cable. When you’re done, you can now turn on all the other devices.
Connecting a subwoofer is not a very complicated task, especially when the direct connection already works well with your TV and subwoofer. However, not all other video devices connect as easily, so you might have to be forced to try other methods.
Don’t forget that if the sound is still broken or muted, then it could be a problem with the placement. Look for the most ideal place where the sound quality is good, and the bass waves aren’t cancelling each other out. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually find the right spot for the subwoofer be it in the middle of the room or near the TV.
2 comments
Thanks for the write up, but cant find any SW with HDMI. Is there any brand that offer HDMI input/output to connect directly then? Thanks
Can I put my subwoofer to the side or does it have to be facing me
Comments are closed.