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Subwoofer

A speaker system built to handle the lowest working frequencies.

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Why it matters

Bass takes displacement and control.

A subwoofer must move enough air at low frequency without exceeding excursion, overheating, chuffing through the port, or exciting the room in a way that leaves big nulls at the seat.

How it works

Most subwoofers combine four pieces:

  • A low-frequency driver with enough excursion.
  • An enclosure, usually sealed, ported, passive radiator, bandpass, or horn.
  • Amplifier power matched to the driver and load.
  • A low-pass filter that keeps the subwoofer from playing too high.

Room placement matters. At low frequencies, the room can change output more than a small driver or amp change.

Common mistakes

Simple example

Speaker driver A speaker driver is the moving part that turns amplifier power into air movement. Woofers, midranges, tweeters, and full-range drivers are all speaker drivers. Speaker parameters Speaker parameters are measured driver values. They describe resonance, electrical load, moving mass, compliance, motor strength, sensitivity, excursion, and safe power. Sealed vs ported A sealed box traps the rear wave in an airtight cabinet. A ported box uses a tuned vent to add bass output around tuning. Wattage Wattage is electrical power. In audio, it helps describe amplifier output and speaker power handling, but it does not directly tell you loudness or sound quality. Frequency response Frequency response shows how loud a speaker is at each frequency. It helps reveal balance, crossover behavior, box tuning, and room problems.

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