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Adding casters to a subwoofer would it change the sound?

#3
DWBass said:
Put the casters on the sides. Subs should be coupled to the floor/ground so yes, it would lesson the purpose of the sub.
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Provided they don't rattle, yes. I bought two sets of pop 'n pull casters on E-bay, drilled holes in the bottom of my el-cheapo Yorkie subs, and we're good to go. We roll them into position, tilt 'em forward, and remove. I did manage to break one, though. In retrospect, it would have been easier to build a castered dolly from lumber scraps.

Riis
 
#7
Zooberwerx said:
Provided they don't rattle, yes. I bought two sets of pop 'n pull casters on E-bay, drilled holes in the bottom of my el-cheapo Yorkie subs, and we're good to go. We roll them into position, tilt 'em forward, and remove. I did manage to break one, though. In retrospect, it would have been easier to build a castered dolly from lumber scraps.

Riis
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I would buy a dolly. You can buy dollies from Home Depot that are cheaper than buying the casters.
 
#8
Zooberwerx said:
Provided they don't rattle, yes. I bought two sets of pop 'n pull casters on E-bay...
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+1 I bought a set (4) of "Fender replacement casters" on
amazon.com for an EV cab that I have. Being able to pop
off the wheels is important to eliminate the rattles.
 
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#10
In my experience, you wont notice the sound as much as the feel. If you want to rattle walls then keep them feet on the ground, rubber wheels absorb some of the rattle, however if you are setting subs on the stage, it may be better to leave em on the casters, less noise and the rattle and hum on the stage, maybe?

I did have a pair with after-market casters on the sides but the subs were so powerful you could hear the casters rattling, not terribly loud but still noticeable and annoying.

he reason i dont put casters on big cabinets is because it takes up more space when trying to pack everything, sometimes you wish you had just a few more inches.

Installing casters may devalue if you intend to resell also, -ur probably best off getting a dolly, you just need one then and can use it for anything,
 
#11
c2thej2theizzo said:
In my experience, you wont notice the sound as much as the feel. If you want to rattle walls then keep them feet on the ground, rubber wheels absorb some of the rattle, however if you are setting subs on the stage, it may be better to leave em on the casters, less noise and the rattle and hum on the stage, maybe?

I did have a pair with after-market casters on the sides but the subs were so powerful you could hear the casters rattling, not terribly loud but still noticeable and annoying.

he reason i dont put casters on big cabinets is because it takes up more space when trying to pack everything, sometimes you wish you had just a few more inches.

Installing casters may devalue if you intend to resell also, -ur probably best off getting a dolly, you just need one then and can use it for anything,
Click to expand...

I personally prefer the "coupling"/vibration of a sub on the ground, not on wheels. It does change the acoustical properties a bit, but in some people's cases its not appreciated. Understand. I have been using the Home Depot caster sets for several years and love the portability. And also since I don't have them attached, I can get the "coupling" that I prefer, not worry about rattling wheels, and still toss it underneath our console case, our guitarist's twin reverb, our cable cases, and my bass rig in rolling in and out of each gig. I had heavy duty wheels on our old Mackie SWA1801 subs, and they never rattled loud enough to hear. Maybe the secret is buying very good quality rubber wheels, as in the 4" variety.
 
#13
Keithwah said:
I personally prefer the "coupling"/vibration of a sub on the ground, not on wheels. It does change the acoustical properties a bit, but in some people's cases its not appreciated. Understand. I have been using the Home Depot caster sets for several years and love the portability. And also since I don't have them attached, I can get the "coupling" that I prefer, not worry about rattling wheels, and still toss it underneath our console case, our guitarist's twin reverb, our cable cases, and my bass rig in rolling in and out of each gig. I had heavy duty wheels on our old Mackie SWA1801 subs, and they never rattled loud enough to hear. Maybe the secret is buying very good quality rubber wheels, as in the 4" variety.
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Coupling has to do with the way the sound wave reflects off the floor, not physical contact. It is more pronounced when the sound source is close to the floor compared to the wavelength of the sound wave in question, but it's not caused by the cabinet vibrating the floor. For low frequencies a couple of inches separation from the floor is not going to make an audible difference.
 
#14
.
billfitzmaurice said:
Lifting the cab does two things. It makes it easier to hear the mids and highs, which travel in an arc that narrows the higher in frequency you go. It also acoustically de-couples the cab from the floor, with the frequency of the de-coupling dependent on how high off the floor it's lifted. In the case of 3" wheels that de-coupling would occur above roughly 1khz, but that's up where the radiation from the cab is directional and there is no coupling with the floor anyway. The highest frequency where floor coupling will occur is about 200 Hz; de-coupling at 200 Hz would require lifting the cab 1.4 feet off the floor. The most effective use of de-coupling is to limit boom, which occurs roughly from 100 to 150 Hz. That requires lifting the cab between 1.8 and 2.8 feet.
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