subwoofer inside fireplace - im curious

[jomari]

im curious, since i dont have the most ideal position for one of my subwoofers.

what would happen if you put it inside the chimney/fireplace?

of course, we arent using the fireplace (im in california)

im just curious.

will it pull out all the dust etc into the house? will it excite the frequency more?

its stupid, but id like to know its ill born effects.

this guy did it...

 

[jomari]

hehehe,

saw these postings on reddit...

https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/comments/5fnahb

we are talking about just plopping an existing subwoofer inside of it, not creating an IB subwoofer, and/or modding it aside from an auralex riser.

 

[Huey]

Jomari, you win the internet for this question. I have no answer, but look forward to the responses from the all knowings. I think you just may inspire @Randy to keep his tv though.

 

[jomari]

hahaha!

Yes, its stupid, but not at all the dumb. its just a matter of trying to save space.

at least its not like picking your nose and wondering if you should eat it or not.

made you think for two seconds!

 

[TKoP]

is it sealed or ported? if the latter, you're supposed to have some room behind... and i do think it would pull in some dust unless the chimney/fireplace was really clean.

 

[jomari]

is it sealed or ported? if the latter, you're supposed to have some room behind... and i do think it would pull in some dust unless the chimney/fireplace was really clean.

its ported. its a pb-1000, so if i ended up putting it inside in the living room, my son might end up poking it with a stick. thus, the dumb question about putting it in the dusty fireplace. would it pump IN dust if it was filthy?

 

[TKoP]

well they do push air out through the port... so they naturally pull air back in through that same port. Also, I forget how much space you need behind the port for it to be effective, but unless there's more space than I can see, I think it's not enough. And I don't know if this strategy is any better to child proof the driver-- if it's pointed out int he fire place, he'll have the same ability to poke it as if it was outside in the main room. If it's pointed towards the side, you could do the same outside of the fireplace as well.

 

[jomari]

but the subwoofer is ported towards the front,


essentially, it would be a pain in the ass to try to calibrate it, then reach the BACK area, to adjust the gain.

And I don't know if this strategy is any better to child proof the driver-- if it's pointed out int he fire place, he'll have the same ability to poke it as if it was outside in the main room. If it's pointed towards the side, you could do the same outside of the fireplace as well.

the subwoofer would be tucked way inside the fireplace, and have the entertainment center blocking the entire fireplace just like this guy...

anyways, just thought about it, but right now, working on the satellites while i have a contractor.

man, this reminded me of IB subs and someone on here telling me more about it and what kind of experience you would have from it.

 

[bob01]

jomari, I got your concerns! I think it could work, if you will adjust some place around it. Couple of months ago, when I wanted to build in couple of great subwoofers in my car, a friend of mine recommended me to take a look on the blog, where I could find all the reviews about them, and how they work in extreme conditions. Reviews of other people - is the best thing to choose the right thing.

 

[malsackj]

With it ported in the front you should be good. The open space around it can be closed up to provide a baffle. If the space is vacuumed out and clean you should not have a problem with the dust. The added heat will build up behind the baffle so I would buy an indoor and outdoor thermometer to watch the temps in the room and behind the baffle. If you see temps getting above 90 you will need to add some air flow to help cool the amp. The good thing with the setup and calibration is that it is not adjusted much so for a two person job of adjusting you can work that with a friend.

 

[malsackj]

If your in the fireplace the flue can possibly allow moisture and rain in. So as long as your not seeing wet you should be good. With the front port you have the space in the room. however on rear port you need the space behind to all the sound to build and come around and into the room. The fireplace can be tuned port as the sound would be going up the chimney. The front port prevents this issue.

 

[jomari]

thanks again folks, my subwoofer is front ported, so it definitely can work.

unfortunately, it hasnt rained in a while, so we donrt know if moisture will be a problem.

 

[malsackj]

If in doubt you and if the space allows you can build a small roof car port to place over the speaker cabinet with a piece of construction plastic on top to keep the water off the speaker cabinet. 2x2 as legs. plywood top with plastic on the top as shingles.