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The definitive list of some of the best subwoofers around right now. As you may or may not know, subwoofers are in charge of playing the low frequencies of the sound spectrum. Therefore no matter what size subwoofer you have, it will fill that lower end that the midrange speakers can simply not produce. Due to their design and use, subwoofers are Omni-directional. This means that no matter which way they face you will still feel the force of the subwoofer, unlike midrange speakers for example, where you would not be able to gain benefit of all the detail and clarity they are able to produce if you are standing behind the actual speaker.
Through my experience with different subwoofers, I've found that subwoofers generally become more like tactile transducers as they get louder in essence, you end up feeling the bass more than being able to hear it. As a result, if you're someone that is going for sound quality over loudness, I would recommend using a smaller size subwoofer. Many audiophiles who concentrate on sound quality over sound pressure will choose a smaller size subwoofer as the cone area is much smaller, and as a result, a tighter bass is achieved and when married with a sealed enclosure, the end result will be a nice tight bass that will be precise and accurate while not attempting to crack your windows! However, those who prefer sound pressure will choose the biggest cone area they can fit in their car. Take for example Steve Meade; with regards to his subwoofer he was able to put 4 18 inch subwoofers. The result of these monster subs is that Steve is able to achieve a high SPL. It is apparent that Steve attempts to increase his sound quality by installing large midbass speakers as well as using high quality midrange and good quality tweeters, all manufactured by Rockford Fosgate.
For my system I was restricted for space, and that is what defined to an extent my choice of subwoofer. I needed to have amplifiers that would be as powerful as could be whilst being as small as possible while still trying to maintain a budget! As a result, I settled for the Alpine MRP-M500 and as you can probably tell from the name, the amp is capable of pushing out 500RMS at 2OHM. Sure you might be thinking there's plenty of choice with regards to a subwoofer but after running a 400 RMS Pioneer subwoofer in my previous system, I quickly learned that each sub sounds very different and although the Pioneer produce very good subwoofers, (my old Pioneer, now retired to my bedroom!) I found that they were not able to produce the sound I was after which is when I turned my eye to Kicker.
The Kicker L7, a subwoofer that has truly lived up to the reputation and hypes that goes along with it. Yes the first time someone told me they had an L7 as part of their setup I stared at them, blank faced and somewhat lost, but then they gave me a demo and WOW! Although it was not perfect for what I wanted it sounded great! Precise and Accurate as well and the best bit of it all, I found that if I gave it 500rms, although not reaching its potential, it would be more than happy.
For subwoofers, the enclosure is vital for the sub to perform to its best abilities. Although you'll see many subwoofer packages come with generic subwoofer boxes. While this is not an issue, it does somewhat hinder the performance of your sub. This is why I would recommend a custom made box. By their nature, custom boxes are much larger in size giving the subwoofer the air they require and many people choose to have a ported box, usually tuned to between 30 and 34 hertz. The benefit of this range of frequencies is that you're pretty much maximizing the output of the subwoofer without it becoming solely a transducer. For me, my box was tuned to 32Hz and the result was a sound that is pleasurable to hear as well as giving you the physical experience of moving air and I love it!
So in conclusion, subwoofers are just as important as any other speaker you have in your car if you want to enjoy the full spectrum of your sound, and after having a subwoofer in my car I can guarantee you all that I will, no matter what size, always have a subwoofer in my future cars!
