AUDIOPHILE SUNDAY TIP # 15: Woofer Height: The Overlooked Factor in Speaker Setup

Fiftyfifty

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Woofer Height Matters

We often hear that tweeters should be at ear height, but that’s only part of the story. The woofer-to-floor distance also plays a crucial role in how your system balances bass and midrange.
  • Floor coupling & boundary gain: A woofer that's too close to the floor can load against the boundary, reinforcing upper bass but also muddying the midrange.
  • Interference patterns: The distance between woofer and floor creates reflections that can cause cancellations or reinforcements in the low-to-mid frequencies. Even a shift of a few centimeters changes these interference patterns.
  • Perceived tonal balance: Too much boundary reinforcement makes bass boomy and masks detail. With the right height, the bass stays taut, and midrange articulation improves dramatically.
Practical Tip

When evaluating speakers, listen for:
  • Does the bass swamp the midrange?
  • Do vocals sound congested or “chesty”?
While speaker design won’t let you adjust tweeter and woofer heights independently, you can still experiment with raising, lowering, or tilting the speaker a bit to find your sweet spot.

Tip idea courtesy: @arj

Watch a short video version of this tip here:
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