Downward firing or forward firing sub for home cinema?

[CageyH]

I am looking at getting a BK XXLS400 in the near future, and was wondering what the advantage/difference was of having a FF sub rather than a DF sub?
Can anybody shed some light on this? I am thinking it's purely cosmetic as low frequency sound is Omni-directional, and sub placement is probably more important.
DF may be better, as inquisitive little fingers will not be able to get to the driver so easily.

The floor it will sit on is a suspended wooden floor, if that makes any difference.
Previous sub was an MJ acoustics Pro 50, and that was downward firing, and that worked well.

[brian2957]

Kevin , doesn't Steve at Electric Beach provide a modification for the Frugals . I believe it's an upward firing driver which fits to the back of the speakers . May be worth looking into .

[CageyH]

The sub is for a different system.
One with a big screen.

[brian2957]

Ah . Sorry mate

[The Alchemist]

Hi Kevin,
I have had both types of sub in the past and for what it's worth I would go for a downward firing for movies every time. It will "load" the room better and be far more atmospheric. If I wanted a sub for music use if the main speakers don't go deep enough I would consider a forward firing. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Richard

[CageyH]

One last question -
Twin XLS200 subs or a single XXLS400 - purely for movies - or push the boat out and get a Monolith/Monolith+? (It's not that much more than the XXLS400).
The other option is twin P12-300 - but that is getting expensive.

Basically, are two smaller subs in a home cinema set up better than a single bigger sub?

[CageyH]

And how would I connect two subs to a single pre-out? Some sort of Y cable, or should I look at a DSP unit?

[CageyH]

A bit more information may help.
My home cinema room measures 4.5m X 7m.
It has a suspended wooden floor.

The rest of the speakers are the KEF Coda range (9 front, C centre & 7 rears).
It will be fed from a Sony STR-DA1200ES (which only has a single sub pre out).
Budget is £900 which brings in options such as the BK Monolith +, SVS PB2000, XTZ 12.1, Jamo D600 and a few others.

What is literally going to give me the best bang for buck?
The other speakers are next on the upgrade list.

[agk]

I always found a sub most effective firing away from me.

The downward firing works nicely if set up right. I once had a pair of twelves boxed and in use as a coffee table/sub, most entertaining.

[CageyH]

After much discussion with various manufacturers and different peeps on different forai, I have pulled the trigger on one of these bad boys:

http://www.xtz.se/product/sub-1x12

Apparently, downward firing into a suspended wooden floor is not optimal but if I don't like it, it can be sent back.