Is My Subwoofer A Safe Distance From My Case?

[Brian]

I recently bought a new computer desk and moved my entire rig onto it. The case is under the desk on the left, sitting on a small platform built into the desk and the subwoofer is also underneath the desk, on the floor, and as far from the case as possible.

I measured the distance between the case and the subwoofer and they are about 22" from each other. So almost 2 feet.



Is this a safe distance or should I place the subwoofer on the floor on the outside of the desk, to the right, (which would make the distance from the case about 3 feet) to minimize any magnetic interference/damage to my computer?

The speakers are my old (but still awesome) Monsoon Planar Media 14's and the subwoofer, like most, is not magnetically shielded.

[Wingit]

That would have to be one heck of a magnet to bother your HDD IMO Brian. I think a more likely issue would be caused by placing it right next to your monitor, which you obviously are not. I can't cite chapter and verse on this, so I can't claim authority, but I doubt whether this will be an issue. Maybe one of our more AV-centric members will be able to crunch the parameters. GL

[k0NG0]

I'd be more concerned about the woofer woofing my nuts.

[ctal]

My intuition would be that the 22 inch distance combined with the electromagnetic shielding provided by the computer case should be safe.

As an experiment, you might want to try moving your crt monitor to the floor, initially not near the subwoofer, and then determining how close it has to be to the subwoofer before you start to see distortion in the display. I would suspect that the monitor would be more sensitive to the magnetic field then anything inside of the metal computer case would be.

Regards,
-- Al

[Brian]

Originally Posted by ctal

My intuition would be that the 22 inch distance combined with the electromagnetic shielding provided by the computer case should be safe.

That's what I was thinking as well but I have read extremely conflicting information in online searches. Some people say even a few inches distance between the case and subwoofer is safe and others claim the distance should be at least three feet.

Originally Posted by ctal

As an experiment, you might want to try moving your crt monitor to the floor, initially not near the subwoofer, and then determining how close it has to be to the subwoofer before you start to see distortion in the display. I would suspect that the monitor would be more sensitive to the magnetic field then anything inside of the metal computer case would be.

That's actually not my monitor (or my computer). I have a Dell UltraSharp 2407FPW (LCD). The pic I posted is just a display picture of the desk from the retailer's website.

[ctal]

Yeah, there's lots of conflicting opinion out there, but here's a statement from an article in PC World a few years ago about pc-related myths:

The only magnets powerful enough to scrub data from a drive platter are laboratory degaussers or those used by government agencies to wipe bits off media. "In the real world, people are not losing data from magnets," says Bill Rudock, a tech-support engineer with hard-drive maker Seagate. "In every disk," notes Rudock, "there's one heck of a magnet that swings the head."

And the drive's own metal structure that encloses the platters, heads, etc. I would think would provide pretty effective shielding.

All bets are off, though, if you are using floppies. I wouldn't put those anywhere near a strong magnet.

Regards,

-- Al

[SupDawg]

I have a very strong magnet stuck to the side of my Dell Optiplex case at work. I use it to hang stuff on ala like pictures on my fridge.

Its been there for a year or so and everything is working well. Considering how pathetic computer audio is I would not worry about it at all.

[polonyc2]

weird desk...normally the keyboard/mouse tray is on the left hand side and the case tray is on the right...are you left handed?...is that desk made for lefties?

that's a big subwoofer in that pic...looks like a mini-case...my subwoofer is on the floor with the case elevated on a bench on the same side...no problems...I like my case to be at a high elevation as it makes it easier to use the DVD/CD drive, floppy drive, turn the computer on etc

[Baud]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

weird desk...normally the keyboard/mouse tray is on the left hand side and the case tray is on the right...are you left handed?...is that desk made for lefties?

Hi Polony,

My son, who is righthanded, has got a computer desk with the same charasteristics as our friend Brian. Those desks are the most generally sold here in Belgium.
Anyway, I am lefthanded, and I find them very unpracticable for using a mouse.
I prefer a normal desk - like the mine - with a size really compatible with the comfortable use of a desktop (computer case).

[Baud]

Like every loudspeaker's woofer, computer subwoofers ( what a non-sense naming compared to normal hifi woofers LOL) may influence lots of magnetic objets if they are too near of them, like harde disks or CRT displays (flat displays are not concerned).
What "too near of them" means depend on the shielding of the woofer / objects, the size of them and the distance between them.
As far as I am concerned, I dont believe computer subwoofers might be a danger; even without shielding, their size is most of the time ridiculous, their magnet too, and the resulting magneting field also.
More, computer loudspeakers manufacturers are no fool, and they won't sell loudspeakers that can harm the computer or it's peripherals.

I've got a 30 years experience with lots of top of the range huge hifi loudspeakers, near to a crt tv, a magnetoscope, vhs cassettes, or professional sound tapes and never had a single problem caused by them.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

weird desk...normally the keyboard/mouse tray is on the left hand side and the case tray is on the right...are you left handed?...is that desk made for lefties?

No, I'm a rightie! I hadn't thought of it's design in those terms when I purchased it. I just liked the look and the price. I should add that it is not uncommon at all (at least up here in Canada) to have the case tray on the left like that. But you are right in saying that most times it is on the right.

Originally Posted by polonyc2

that's a big subwoofer in that pic...looks like a mini-case...my subwoofer is on the floor with the case elevated on a bench on the same side...no problems...I like my case to be at a high elevation as it makes it easier to use the DVD/CD drive, floppy drive, turn the computer on etc

If you look closely, you should be able see (by the uneven edges) that I just drew the subwoofer into the pic and, no, it isn't quite as big as what I drew.

So your subwoofer is not that far from your case either and you've had no problems?

That's good to hear.