Find the position in your room where your subwoofer delivers the flattest, most even bass response.
Free room analysis — no account needed
The traditional way to find the best subwoofer position is the "subwoofer crawl": place the sub at your listening position, play a bass-heavy track, then crawl around the room listening for the smoothest sound. Where it sounds best is where the sub should go. Atuund automates this process computationally — instead of your ears, it uses finite element analysis to evaluate thousands of positions against your room's acoustic model.
Corners load a subwoofer with maximum room gain, which makes it louder but not necessarily smoother. Corner placement excites every axial mode at full strength, often creating massive peaks at certain frequencies and deep nulls at others. The optimal position depends on your specific room dimensions and where the listener sits. Sometimes a corner works great; sometimes a position along a wall midpoint is dramatically better.
Subwoofer placement doesn't happen in isolation — it interacts with your main speakers. Both contribute to the bass region between 40–120 Hz, and their outputs sum at the listening position. Atuund optimizes subwoofer, speaker, and listener positions together as a system, ensuring smooth handoff between the sub and mains.
There's no universal answer — the best position depends on your room dimensions, shape, and listening position. Common advice like "put it in the corner" maximizes output but often creates uneven bass. Atuund computes the optimal position for your specific room by analyzing how the sub interacts with room modes at the listening position.
You can, but it's rarely optimal. Placing a sub directly behind or under the listener creates a strong proximity effect that exaggerates certain frequencies. The best position balances distance from room boundaries to minimize mode excitation at the listening position. Atuund will show you exactly where to place it.
Not necessarily. Below about 80 Hz, bass is non-directional — your ears can't tell where it's coming from. The sub can go wherever it couples best with the room. What matters is the frequency response at the listening position, not visual alignment with the main speakers.
Atuund uses finite element method (FEM) modal analysis to model room acoustics. Built for hi-fi enthusiasts, home theater builders, and anyone who wants better sound from their speakers.