Which direction is optimal for firing a sub in home theatre application? I see alot of down firing subs on the market. Would it be fine to fire the sub out the side, and point it towards the room or into the wall?

Thanks.

Regards,
Steven

 

i would have said either to the floor or off to the side, thats usually where i see the ports facing. to me i feel the floor gives more feeling to the sound but if you have a choice you should try both and see which one you like

 

I have an old Klipsh sub, front firing with a passive radiator on the rear. It only sounds good if its the right distance from the wall and you are in the optimal position. Its upstairs in the bedroom system.
I had a down firing sub I got with my whole new Wharfedale surround system. Didn't like it. It would vibrate the floor, but sounded dispersed, kind of muddy. Sold it 10 days ago.
So, I'm going to try front firing, front ported. I use the same system for music and home theater. I'm looking for 'pound your chest' bass, not shake the walls or floor. Should finish painting the boxes tonight and put the subs in them tomorrow. If this doesn't work out, i'm sure they'd be great for a big car or SUV.
When I go to concerts, the speakers all face the audience.

 

You see a lot of commercial HT subs firing down because they get to take advantage of boundary loading and they can control the distance to the load. If the woofer is on the back or the side then it will be more sensitive to how close to a wall it is. Front is alright as long as your woofer is well behaved mechanically - many subs make some pretty funky sounds when you listen to them head on. You do lose boundary loading benefits with a front firing woofer but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.