Pc right up against a sub-woofer

[lordhutt]

Would it be safe (for my hard drives) if I put my pc right up against my subwoofer?
I have the Logitech 5.1 speaker system with the 12" sub. The way I have things arranged, the ideal placement for my tower will be right up against my sub...any thoughts on any possible problems I can run into here?

[Nitemare]

If you have a CRT monitor, the magnet from the sub-woofer could distort your display and eventually damage the tube. Depending on the strength of the magnet in your sub-woofer, it could conceivably corrupt the data on your hard drive.

I'd recommend against it just to be sure.

[lordhutt]

The monitors are no problem...they are both LCD and wont be near it anyway...The hard drives are my concern...everything is backed up but still don't want the trouble if it would arise.

[redwudz]

I would err on the side of caution and not put a PC that close to a possibly strong magnetic field. You do realize that a sub woofer is non-directional and can be placed about anywhere in a room?

[lordhutt]

Yeah, I know I could put it anywhere...
Here is the situation. I just remodeled my basement this year. There is a section I built for my pc area. Just the right size for my desk and a printer stand. On the bottom of the printer stand is the sub...the pc is right under the desk but it would be much nicer if I could put it under the printer stand as well. I would have about an inch of space...anything I can put between them to block the magnetic field?...besides a nice big piece of lead!!

[redwudz]

You could put a thin steel plate there, lead only blocks X-rays and Superman. Actually, the magnetic field from a speaker is fairly well contained, or it would be inefficient. The permanent magnet would only have a stationary magnetic field, so I doubt it could cause any damage. Also hard drives are shielded from all but extremely strong magnetic forces. I would worry more about floppy discs being moved across the magnetic field.

If you must do it, go ahead.

[Gritz]

Also hard drives are shielded from all but extremely strong magnetic forces.

Yep ....the old hard drives that I have torn apart have small permanent magnets so strong that if you put them on your fridge to hold pictures you will either break a fingernail or tear the pic before you can remove the magnet. Strong indeed!!

[lordhutt]

Well, screw it...I'll be the guinea pig here.
Like I said, everything is backed up so if there is a problem it wont be a total loss. I'll get it moved and post my results later.

[TBoneit]

The problem as I see it is Vibrations from the Sub-Woofer.

Hard drives are spinning at 7200rpm with really tight tolerances.

Cranking up the Sub-Woofer could cause a head crash where the heads and the platters actually touch. At 7200RPM ouch.

I'd be worried about data loss and drives dieing.

Good Luck

[TooLFooL]

exactly.. the problem is vibration. vibrations will cause eventual wear to anything and everything. i would suggest at least a few feet between the two.

[redwudz]

I hadn't thought about that. But you could set the subwoofer on some foam rubber or isolate it so it doesn't couple the direct vibrations through the stand to the PC's case. The air vibrations will be about the same even three feet away but are less likely to cause any problems compared to the direct vibrations.

[lordhutt]

Well, it's a helluva a speaker system but I rarely have it blasting at a level where I think it would make much of a difference. Maybe I will sprinkle some salt on the stand and see how much it jumps around at normal levels and when I have it cranked up.....

[TBoneit]

I know that when I used to crank up the volume on stereo speakers with15" woofers back before I went surround sound, Things would vibrate off the top of the speakers and nearby shelves.

That much vibration has to be bad for hard drives.