A Guide to Subwoofers (Part I): Characteristics, Placement, & Adjustments

[welwynnick]

Tremendous reference piece there. There's a couple of things I wanted to ask about though.

Size of the Driver: Subwoofers use the largest drivers (woofers) because they are responsible for moving the most air to create the lowest frequencies. The size of the driver (total cone area) is generally indicative of the amount of bass that a subwoofer will be able to produce. This is the main reason why we need powerful amplifiers to drive a subwoofer.

The reasoning is that you have to have more air for low frequencies, so you need a bigger driver. And a bigger driver needs more power to move, so you need big amps in active subs. Is that the right logic?

The most popular sizes for subwoofers are 8", 10", 12", or 15". Although a 15" subwoofer is capable of producing the lowest frequency bass at the highest volumes, a large driver is not necessarily the best option for optimum bass reproduction. The larger the driver, the slower the response to changes in bass frequencies. Large subwoofers create more boom for home theater applications, but they may not be able produce the tight bass needed for high-end music applications.

So the larger the driver, the worse it responds to tight, "high-fidelity" bass? Is that simply because it is heavy?

Nick