You know those goosebumps you get when you’re sitting in the cinema and the sound overwhelms you? All these feelings related to sound cause a specific type of emotion, and the low frequency is mostly the main reason for that.
This is what makes cinema being so much better option for movies – it makes you live through them realistically. Related to this, research has shown that this represents a true auditory phenomenon, which is why many people tried to work out how to imitate this effect or make it themselves.
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One of the results was the appearance of the so-called home theatre. Just imagine – your own cinema, with all the sound effects you have been experiencing only in front of the big screen so far!
However, making your own sound system in order to create your own movie nest might not be a piece of cake. Obtaining all necessary devices and equipment might be a tiring and long process, especially if you’re not that much into technology. For instance, if you’re choosing a soundbar, you also want to take your TV into consideration. There are soundbars here that are ideal for Roku TVs, while there are those that work better with LG and other brands. And, among those things your little creation simply can’t exist without, a subwoofer definitely represents a piece that should be carefully chosen.
For some, it’s the fundamental puzzle piece, while for others it means a huge and unnecessary box that gives them headaches. But the truth is – you can’t go without it. It means another element that lets us enhance sound performance and provides us with some super low frequency.
And low frequency is everything when it comes to this. So, in case you’re still not quite sure what a subwoofer is – it’s a kind of speaker whose main task is exactly to reproduce this kind of sound. The reproduced waves are rather big, and it actually takes a lot of power to reproduce them in the proper way.
The subwoofer affects the quality of the whole sound body – and this is precisely why it’s crucial to opt for a great piece. When choosing a subwoofer that will go well with the rest of your components, you need to take a look at some major points and characteristics that would be great to consider.
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The size of the subwoofer
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So, basically, what we know is that there’s a huge variety of sizes out there in the market. So, how do we choose? How do we know which size is appropriate, anyway? Well, as this may look as a pure matter of aesthetics or a way to offer a wider selection, there’s so much more to the size of a subwoofer than mere appearance and cost.
The unwritten rule states that bigger pieces produce deeper sound, which is what everyone actually wants from this machine. However, smaller subwoofers are convenient in cases you don’t want the sound to be so deep that it “covers” or predominates the rest of the components of your sound construction. Therefore, you should search for the one that will go best with the pieces you already have.
The size of your home theatre
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Having the size of the room that you chose to be your movie room is one of the most important parameters when it comes to this kind of choice. Having on mind dimensions of the space dedicated to the home theatre can actually help you decide quite easily on the type of subwoofer you need. This will probably seem quite logical: if you chose a large room, it’s clear that you’ll need a more powerful device, as the bigger room lets the sound waves flow, which can cause some bad tunes.
The appearance (for those who are aesthetically oriented)
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As a subwoofer often represents a robust box of absolutely non-negligible size, for some people it might be quite important to choose a device that will look good with the rest of the room. Luckily, designers have thought about this, too. Nowadays you’ll be able to find various alternatives, from the regular ones to the on-wall pieces.
If you care about your subwoofer to look modern, nice or to fit to the rest of the furniture in the room, you won’t have much trouble. The only thing you’ll need to do is simply get the one that you like the most, as most brands had the physical appearance of the device in their mind. Cool, right? This way, it can be easy to “hide” it or integrate into your home theatre, without your room looking too “tech”. You can have a look at some smaller options that won’t take much space, for example, the ones with airtight housing – this might look quite nice along with cool façade.
Price
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First of all, you should decide your budget and determine how much money you’re ready to give for this component. Of course, the best possible option is to put aside a decent amount of money so that you can easily choose between the best pieces. Prices vary from the simplest ones to professional and more complex devices – but the major concern should be to find the one that suits all your needs and the amount of money you have.
Subwoofers come in a price range according to their size, material and, of course, the amount of power they can bear. The good ones often exceed the price of $1000, however, News Watchngr has made a list of the items that go below this price and, well, are really good. This could be more than helpful in case you’re not in a great financial situation or if you need something to serve you until you can afford a better one.
Power
So, this characteristic might be the one that can determine a couple of other features mentioned in this article, like price. Why does power matter? It represents the actual amount of electrical power that the rest of the equipment can bear.
It’s important to know that this doesn’t have to do with other types of power, for example with acoustic power. If too much “power” is provided to the speaker, this can easily harm the equipment, and it will affect the quality of the sound, of course.
The choice of amplifier
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And finally, one more key feature to consider when choosing a subwoofer is the amplifier that you’re going to use to power your subwoofer. There are certainly some main considerations that will make choosing an amplifier an easier process.
After making sure what you need, the rest of the decision depends on your personal preferences. If you choose an amplifier that properly powers your subwoofer you can make even a mediocre subwoofer sound surprisingly good. Determine the type of amplifier you need.
Since you’re feeding a single subwoofer, you don’t need to buy a four-channel amplifier. While a one-channel amplifier may seem like the best idea, keep in mind those with two channels, which are usually less expensive and, when bridged, can offer similar power to a mono amplifier.
