Three of the Best Subwoofers to Buy in 2023
Everyone appreciates good sound, be it music or when watching a movie. In fact, you want to feel as if you are in action, not straining to understand what is happening.
Even young children will dance to a sweet tune when they hear it. But good music alone is not enough; it must be high quality.
Music lovers agree that for music to be of the class you desire, the system that transmits it must also be of high standards.
Enter subwoofers. Over the years, different kinds of systems have been made for different quality of music or audio transmissions.
Therefore, the desire to produce the best sound has led to the manufacture of subwoofers. Subwoofers are speakers that are built into a black box to help enhance the sound quality of a system.
They either come with in-built speakers or are connected to outside speakers.
Every manufacturer strives to produce a subwoofer that guarantees the best sound quality and is pocket-friendly. Below, we look at the three best subwoofers you can buy in 2019.
This article will enlighten you on the types of woofers and help you get the best subwoofer for the best sound experience if tuned right.
1. The Yamaha SW300
The Yamaha SW300 may not be the largest or most powerful subwoofer in the market, but it indeed the most popular subwoofer with consumers. It’s a 10-inch woofer that is powered by a 250-watt amplifier.
The speaker and the amp are paired in this box; therefore, they can produce very low frequencies. As low as 20 Hz and as high as 160 Hz on the higher side. Among other subwoofers, the Yamaha SW300 has the most comprehensive frequency response.
It’s an easy machine to set up and adjust whenever you want to, so it is the only woofer with a volume knob in its front panel.
This knob makes it easy to increase or reduce the volume to get a standard sound from the content you are playing on your system.
It’s fitted with a firing port on the side that uses Yamaha's distinct twisted flare design, ensuring air's free movement within the box. The side-firing port works efficiently no matter where the woofer is in the house. The black box that harbors the subwoofer consists of MDF, and the finishing is high gloss.
This beautiful finish makes it looks good when clean. The opposite is true when touched or left to dust
PROS
• Accurate bass response
• Front panel power switch and volume control
• Has all the critical connection options
• Works efficiently in any part of the house
• The high gloss finishing material makes it look beautiful
• Its low frequency makes it a better performer than most powerful 12-inch subwoofers.
CONS
• Expensive
• High-gloss finish requires some maintenance to keep it looking clean
• 10 inches is somehow smaller for someone who needs a much bigger subwoofer
2. The BIC America F-12 Subwoofer
The BIC America F-12 is the only subwoofer that has low frequencies that seem louder than they are. It has excellent frequency separation for the speaker and, therefore, does not suffer volume loss.
In fact, it ends up producing high-quality sound. It delivers 150 watts of continuous power from its most wanted Bash amplifier and 475 watts of peak power.
These features make its speaker very efficient at converting energy into sound. To alter the volume to whatever standard you desire, there is a gain knob for that.
Turn it to about 50% of its capacity to get the best volume rate. Its cube-shaped case is made of long-lasting material and finished with a beautiful matte black laminate.
It has a removable grille cloth that allows for a spectacular display of the black-trimmed metallic cone if you want. Its five-year warranty makes it the only subwoofer with the most extended warranty in the market.
PROS
• Its prices are friendly
• Maintains a steady volume for long periods and low effects
• Has an attractive cabinet design
• It is one of the best woofers in terms of performance on the market.
• A longer warranty than other home subwoofers.
CONS
• It is bigger and heavier than most subwoofers
• Its rear port needs more room to breathe.
• The BIC America F-12 has an underpowered amplifier compared to the others.
4. The Velodyne Impact 10
The Velodyne subwoofer cabinet is the most compact design in the market. Therefore, it’s easy to place it in whatever position you desire. It fits well even in a small room thanks to its down-firing port.
Its amplifier has 150 watts of continuous power, which is a lot of energy to project low frequencies at a high volume.
For a person who wants profound bass amplification for listening to music or watching movies, this 10-inch Velodyne woofer with a compact cabinet is the best choice.
Moreover, it’s fitted with level inputs and outputs that can work well with older receivers that don’t have subwoofers.
PROS
• Its cabinet is compact and efficient.
• It is among the best performers in music listening
• Has speaker-level inputs and outputs
• Best for smaller rooms
CONS
• The Velodyne woofer is Underpowered
• It is not suitable for larger rooms
- It has inconsistencies in volume during long effect sequences
Features of a Great Subwoofer
An excellent subwoofer is supposed to make listening to music or watching a movie higher than any other audio component. So, to know if you have bought a subwoofer that will deliver, here are some points to note.
1. A good subwoofer should produce sounds and feelings that a typical speaker can’t, in fact, standard speakers start dropping it off at 50HZ. This effect denies you the chance to experience clear bass tones.
2. The woofer should be able to play as loud as you desire without distortion. Bumping music at high volumes in most systems may distort the tweeters and mid-drivers.
But for a good subwoofer, this should be a walkover. It should be able to produce loud and excellent-quality sound without trouble.
3. A good woofer should be able to provide every note in the low-frequency range. Speakers have a sonic signature, while subwoofers can produce the bass notes precisely as you intend.
4. a subwoofer is in control and very fast in low-end transients.
Therefore, if you love listening to music, you will realize that most of them have rapid starts and stops in the instruments and vocals that speakers can’t produce.
A good subwoofer should have no problems and be able to match the speed and transient response to enable the real quality of bass.
5. A great subwoofer should have no problem blending in with other speakers.
In fact, it should be able to act as an extension of whatever speaker you are connecting to it without demeaning their performance.
It allows the speakers to perform best across the frequency spectrum without overpowering them.
Components of a Subwoofer
• The outer box
The outer box is the housing for all the electronic material that forms the woofer. It is usually a black box, though you might find it in different colors.
Apart from the housing role, it determines how the woofer performs. The quality of the subwoofer‘s enclosure is crucial because you want to get all the sound from the drivers and the ports, not from openings on the edges of the cabinet.
• The Woofer
The woofer is the loudspeaker driver that is responsible for the sound waves from the black box. An enclosure may consist of more than one driver.
The drivers are of different sizes; the bigger the drivers, the deeper the sounds the subwoofer can produce.
The materials that are used to make the drivers are aluminum, composite, or coated paper.
• Ports and Passive radiators
These two parts have more or less the same functions.
They reduce the excess pressure within the enclosure by allowing air circulation, which enables the woofer to play back lower frequencies louder.
On the other hand, the passive radiator reduces stress, allowing more sound to come from the surface. The combined effort of these two parts leads to better output.
• Amplifier
Most subwoofers have a Class –D, a Bash amp, or an AB amplifier. The difference in names does not make either of them superior to the other.
They play the same role; it is just that each manufacturer has a name for their brand. Be careful to ensure that your woofer has enough power that is 100 watts.
People who love great sounds will want something that saves energy for peaks. Most subwoofers have their amplifiers within the black box, while others perform better with external amplifiers connected to the speakers.
• Other parts
Other parts of a subwoofer are EQ circuits and connections. With this knowledge, it’s tempting not to get the subwoofer kit and assemble your product.
Subwoofer Designs
There are only three types of subwoofer designs available. The different models are identified by how the drivers interact with the cabinet.
Below are three designs that can help you define subwoofers.
The Acoustic- suspension subwoofer
It is also known as the sealed subwoofer or air suspension. It consists of a sealed box that has one hole for the woofer.
Its amplifier is at the back. There is no air circulation in the sealed box; which leads to compression and decompression depending on how the drivers move. It has down-firing subs, which are the primary source of the sound.
The Bass- Reflex subwoofer
This bass-reflex woofer is a ported subwoofer that uses a tuned port that allows energy to come from the port and the woofer, resulting in more output.
Most people prefer the sealed woofer over the ported one. But the truth is that a well-designed ported subwoofer can perform just as well as a sealed one.
Passive Radiator subwoofer
It is almost the same as the port subwoofer. The only difference is that one uses a flat driver with it is motor structure, while the port design can delicately balance air volumes.
The Bass-Pass Design
This design is commonly found in car radiators and pro audio installations. Its driver is placed entirely in the cabinet, so it does not fire directly into the room.
Its woofer produces sound straight into a tuned chamber, prohibiting it from shooting into a room.
This type is potent, flexible, and subject to the manufacturer's designs.
Conclusion
Finally, for you to get excellent quality sound for music or even movies, a subwoofer is essential or plays an integral part.
This information equips you well to identify the type of subwoofer to buy for your given space. All the best as you go shopping.