Need Some Subwoofer education.

[korsen]

I'm sure most people know what the midrange and tweeter speakers are for (let alone what the hell a tweeter speaker is), but alot of people's focus - at least in my area - is on the almighty subwoofer. The thing that you can feel shake the glass a block away from somebody's car. What is it that gives the subwoofers that deep monolithic rumble? As much detail as possible would be greatly appreciated - even excess information if it helps me make a monolithic rumble eminate from a subwoofer :] I've seen some good cheap ones from Pioneer at 500 watts doing 21hz-4khz on a 8", but something i thought makes sense, is that this subwoofer can also play high range sounds as much as low ones. However there are some subwoofers that will only hit from 24hz-150hz *which is nowhere near a khz* and that makes me think this subwoofer would wtfbbqpwn the other since it would only handle bass area sounds. So kindly, edumacate me and the other interested parties :]

Your friend,
Korsen.

 

[strangestranger]

tbh why do you need to know. all a sub is is a large diameter speaker which vibrates slowly and so produces the low notes. it has to be large as it kinda beats the air and it needs alot of power as it has to move the large speaker and in turn move a large amount of air.

tbh you shouldnt be using a sub for anything over 150hz. hell you don't need to go over 50 with some good bookshelves from what i have heard. oh and i am no expert but rumbling and boominess is not a sign of a good sub.

 

[wolfman140]

A lot of things make up how low a sub can go, not just diameter of the cone. The engineering, electronics, style of cabinet its in...all effects the sounds. Subs generally don't go any higher than 200 Mhz because at that point your satelite speakers take over. The important spec of subs is how LOW a freq. they go. However, a sub that says it goes to 8Hz (which would be sickening...You wouldn't even hear it you'd just feel the rumble of the sound waves in your gut) most likely doesn't go that far. Technically it may go down that low, but as it goes down it also drops away in volume leaving nothing to hear or feel. I have a sub that's rated for 30Hz (which is pretty damn low already) and it says strong and true ALL the way to 30Hz rather than dropping away in volume. (Acoustic Research Speakers/Sub)

Position of the sub is important as well...Bass waves are much longer wavelengths than higher freq. waves. Which makes their placement more picky in a room. In one spot the bass my sound overpowering and washy, in another spot it may sound not powerful enough nor punchy, and in the right spot it won't sound overpowering, washy, and have some kick to it.
I recommend going to www.audioreview.com
You'll find plenty of reviews for many models and makes of any speaker or sub. And enough info to keep you reading for a week.

 

[strangestranger]

i know what you mean by positioning, i had my sub just to the right of me but found it sounded better when i moved away from it, due to space limitiations the only place for it was under my desk so it sits there and sounds better because of it. the problem was it sometimes sounded lifeless and i found myself turning up the bass where as now i leave it pretty low down.

 

[idontknowmuch]

hello, my name is matt and i am looking for someone to learn from about audio and subwoofer technology because i plan to go to college in this field and get a career dealing with this subject, could you be able to help me

 

[idontknowmuch]

hello, my name is matt and i am looking for someone to learn from about audio and subwoofer technology because i plan to go to college in this field and get a career dealing with this subject, could you be able to help me

 

[strangestranger]

not really my field. perhaps trying some more dedicated audio tech forums.