Subwoofer Explained

By Author: narayan shankar
Total Articles: 43
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A subwoofer can provide a real movie-watching experience to your home theatre. To know a subwoofer, read below.

In a home theatre system, a subwoofer is the big speaker, usually hidden unobtrusively in the back of the room. A subwoofer is a woofer that reproduces the low-pitched audio frequencies also called as bass. They are intended to augment the low frequency range of loudspeakers covering higher frequency bands. Thus, a subwoofer enhances the bass capability of the main speaker.

Deep bass also sometimes known as low frequency effects or LFE are provided by Many Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. This bass is the reason behind entire soundtrack feel larger and more lifelike. It gives special effects like the rumbling of a thunderstorm, the crashing of an earthquake or explosions like window-rattling punch.

Using subwoofer also enrich music listening experience. All types of music, from classical to jazz to rock are equalized. A subwoofer is needed to ensure that your home theatre system delivers crucial low-frequency impact which most speakers can’t do.

Frequency range - The typical frequency ...
... range for a subwoofer is like for consumer products it’s about 20-200 Hz, below 100 Hz is for professional live sound and below 80 Hz is used in THX-approved systems. Subwoofers in turn use speaker drivers typically between 8" and 21" in diameter. There are various ranges of pitches for subwoofers, which depends on many factors like as the size of the system cabinet and construction and design of the enclosures and driver(s). Specifications of a frequency response depends on relevance of an accompanying amplitude value—measurements taken within a wider amplitude range will give any loudspeaker a wider frequency response

Since low frequencies cannot be limited to small areas, the home theatre systems feature only one subwoofer channel and a single subwoofer can be placed off-centre without affecting the perceived sound stage. Physical separation of subwoofer and main speakers not only allows placement in an unnoticeable location, but since sub-bass frequencies are particularly sensitive to room location the best position for the subwoofer is not likely to be where the main speakers are located.

Design - Subwoofers are made up of woofers in a loudspeaker capable of withstanding air pressure while resisting deformation. A variety of designs are available for subwoofer enclosures, including bass reflex , infinite baffle, and band pass designs, representing with respect to efficiency, bandwidth, size and cost. Subwoofers are built by mounting woofers in a cabinet of fibreboard/plywood, fibreglass, aluminium or other stiff materials. Subwoofer enclosures requires internal bracing so as to distribute the resulting forces because of the high air pressure they produce in the cabinet. By increasing cone surface area subwoofer output level can be increased.

Amplification – Passive subwoofers have a subwoofer driver and enclosure and they are powered by an external amplifier whereas active ones include a built-in amplifier.

Equalization - Equalization is used to adjust the in-room response of a subwoofer system. For example, if a listener's main speakers are used on 80 Hz, then the subwoofer filter can be permanently set to work only below 80.

Phase control – When relative phase of the subwoofer is changed with respect to the woofers in other speakers, this doesn’t guarantee to minimize unwanted destructive acoustic in the frequency region of both subwoofer and main speakers. It may create further problems with frequency response, but still so generally provided as an adjustment for subwoofer amplifiers. Phase controls actually allow listener to change the arrival time of subwoofer sound waves relative to same frequencies from the main speakers.

If you are looking for low power consuming, highly stylish, easy to use and best quality sound then Panasonic is the right choice for you.

Author Bio:

Narayan Shankar is a big fan of technology that brings in home theater like entertainment. In this new series of articles he discusses subwoofers and Panasonic sound bar to help you pick the best subwoofers available in the market.