10 Best Subwoofers for Your Home Audio System
If you enjoy listening to music or watching movies, there’s truly nothing better than a great audio system. There was a time when large, powerful speakers weren’t available at a reasonable price, and they certainly weren’t as advanced as they are today.
Luckily, that’s all changed, which means you can find all sorts of great speakers, subwoofers, pre-amplifiers and more without having to empty your bank account.The best part of this shift in the audio market is the fact that everything is becoming more convenient.
There was a time when you had to use physical controls on your speakers or subwoofer to adjust the volume settings, but newer audio components allow you to connect via iOS or Android devices such as your phone or tablet.
Because of all of this great audio technology we currently have, it’s a great time to buy a new subwoofer for your home. Subwoofers are the anchor of your sound system, providing the deep sound that speakers just can’t replicate.
This is why it’s important that you find a subwoofer with plenty of power. However, you don’t want to focus too much on power—sound quality and additional features are important too.
If you’re on the hunt for a new subwoofer for your home audio system, read on to learn more about our picks for the 10 best subwoofers on the market.
Comparison Table
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How Do We Pick?
These picks were made with a great deal of research and thought. To determine where we rank each product, we take a close look at the power, sound quality, features, driver size, direction and appearance of the subwoofers.
Sound quality, power and driver size are the most important factors to take into consideration when shopping for a subwoofer. You need a sub that provides plenty of power for your needs, whether you’re listening to head-knocking hip-hop or watching an action movie.
The overall power of the sound that comes from your sub is a direct result of the driver size and wattage. That being said, you don’t want to shop for power for the sake of power—it’s equally important that your subwoofer actually sounds good. A subwoofer can be extremely powerful while still putting out a muddy sound.
Because this is a list of the best subwoofers in regards to quality and not value, some of our picks may be a bit out of your price range. That being said, some of the best subwoofers can be snagged at a pretty reasonable price, especially if you’re willing to wait for a good sale.
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If you’re looking for a complete subwoofer that does well in nearly any situation, the SVS PB16-Ultra is a fantastic choice.
This is a big, hefty subwoofer with powerful sound, but it still provides the clarity you’d expect from a high-end sub. It also looks great which is a nice bonus; it has a glossy black finish with a digital display above the driver.
The PB16-Ultra features a 16” driver and 1,500 watts of power, making it one of the most capable subwoofers on the market. There are also three 3.5” high-flow ports for even better sound, and a smartphone app that allows you to control the subwoofer.
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For people who want high-end subwoofer quality without spending a fortune, the ELAC S12EQ is perfect. The bright side is that the S12EQ has some of the best sound quality you’ll find in a subwoofer.
The Auto Room EQ feature allows you to use an app on your smartphone to automatically figure out the best settings for the room you’re in.This subwoofer is a little bit smaller than the PB16-Ultra, featuring 12” drivers and 500 watts of continuous power. Unfortunately, power is the one area where the S12EQ falls a bit short, especially compared to the PB16-Ultra.
It has a nice, clean look to it, but it certainly isn’t stunning to look at. There is also no digital display that some other models have, which may be a drawback for some.
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This is another great-value subwoofer that provides the perfect solution if you’re looking to get a nice subwoofer for your home audio system but aren’t ready to fully dive in.
It features a 12” front-firing driver and 150 watts of continuous power, which is enough for it to provide great sound for its price. It essentially looks like a black cube, which may be a bonus or a drawback depending on what you like.
Obviously, the biggest reason to opt for another subwoofer is the fact that the BIC America F12 isn’t very powerful. The PB16-Ultra delivers a whopping 10 times more continuous power.
However, this is still a great subwoofer for the price tag, and you’ll be happy with your purchase as long as you aren’t looking for something too powerful.
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One of the best breakthroughs in audio technology in recent years is wireless technology. You no longer have to carefully run a series of wires around each other to recreate an ‘80s spy film laser alarm system.
Subwoofers like the Klipsch Reference R-112SW allow you to enjoy your music without wires without sacrificing sound. You’ll even get 300 watts of power with this subwoofer, which isn’t bad at all for a wireless model of its size.Unfortunately, the Klipsch Reference R-112SW can’t handle very high frequencies, so it puts a lot more of the weight on your speakers than other subwoofers do. Still, this is one of the best wireless subwoofers you’ll find, and Klipsch is known for quality.
And if great design is your thing, the black and gold Klipsch colors give you another reason to love this sub.
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One thing people often discount when they buy a subwoofer is how much space it’s going to take up. If a subwoofer has a 16” driver with inches of space all around it, it could take up nearly two square feet of space.
The Polk Audio PSW10 is a good way to avoid running into this problem without losing out on sound quality. This tiny little sub provides 50 watts of continuous power with 100 watts at its peak. It also has a frequency range of 30 to 200 Hz for solid sound quality. The PSW10 is an incredible value. It has the very simple black box look that you might expect from a lower end sub, but the wood grain on the box is at least nice, and you have a pretty good selection of settings to toy with. Of course, 50 watts of continuous power may simply not be enough for some people.
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The Samsung SWA-W700 gives you Samsung Sound+ compatibility as well as wireless capability. Combine these two factors with the beautiful design of the SWA-W700 and you have a shining example of modern audio technology.
The lower end of the 27 to 120 Hz frequency range actually can’t be picked up by the human ear, but it does provide some extra rumble, which is always a plus with subwoofers.
When you connect the Samsung SWA-W700 to a Samsung Sound+ speaker, it automatically tunes itself and uses distortion-canceling technology to make sure you get a nice, clean sound.
The cone is covered by a black grille that blends nicely with the rest of the subwoofer, but the grille can be removed so you can see the cone in all its glory.
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If you’re more of a movie watcher than a music person, you’ll enjoy the Yamaha YST-SW216BL. This subwoofer features a 10” cone and weighs just under 29 lb, so it’s perfect if you’re looking for something that you can easily move.
It only has 50 watts of nominal power, but the sound quality more than makes up for the lack of powerful bass. Plus, 50 watts is all you truly need for a good living room home theater setup.
The YST SW012 features a 25 to 180 Hz frequency range, which allows it to bear plenty of the speakers’ burden. An integrated amplifier means this sub can max out at 100 watts, which is pretty good for its size. If you’re looking for something beefy to listen to bass-heavy music with, this probably isn’t the sub for you.
Power Sound Audio S3601
There are powerful subwoofers, and then there are subwoofers that are so powerful they seem to shake the entire house.
The Power Sound Audio S3601 definitely falls under the latter category, with an insane 1,700 watts of continuous power and two separate 18” drivers—one on the front and one on the back. This provides both big sound and great sound quality.
The S3601 also gives you a ton of different settings so you can perfectly customize its sound to your room.
If you want to make things a bit easier on yourself, you can purchase one of their Auto Mode audio processors to automatically EQ and account for the size of the room.
The only reason this subwoofer isn’t higher on our list is because of the cost and may be a bit too large and loud for many people’s needs.
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There are powerful subwoofers, and then there are subwoofers that are so powerful they seem to shake the entire house.
The Power Sound Audio S3601 definitely falls under the latter category, with an insane 1,700 watts of continuous power and two separate 18” drivers—one on the front and one on the back. This provides both big sound and great sound quality.
The S3601 also gives you a ton of different settings so you can perfectly customize its sound to your room.
If you want to make things a bit easier on yourself, you can purchase one of their Auto Mode audio processors to automatically EQ and account for the size of the room.
The only reason this subwoofer isn’t higher on our list is because of the price, and it may be a bit too large and loud for many people’s needs.
Paradigm MilleniaSub
Subwoofers can be pretty large, so finding one that you can fit in convenient spaces is always a nice bonus.
The Paradigm MilleniaSub is a powerful subwoofer with two 14” drivers, but it’s one of the more compact options you’ll find on the market.
It sort of has the same shape as the Sonos Sub but it’s a bit thinner, which means you can fit it into spots where you couldn’t normally fit a large, cube-shaped sub.
Although this subwoofer is starting to age a bit, it still has a modern look. What’s really surprising about the MilleniaSub is the amount of power it’s able to deliver for its appearance.
The two 14” drivers and 300 watts of RMS power give it a strong sound that remains clean. However, the Klipsch Reference R-112SW is a better value at this point.
Buying Tips
No matter what subwoofer you choose, there are some things you should consider before you buy. Make sure you have ample room if you’re buying a large subwoofer.
Look at small features such as whether the controls are app-based or analog so you’re getting what you want.
You should also check to make sure that your audio system is compatible with the subwoofer, although this isn’t quite as important if you’re putting together a brand new system.Most importantly, put sound quality over everything else. You can start by looking at subwoofers with a certain amount of RMS wattage, but that shouldn’t be the entire basis of your decision. Your best bet is doing plenty of research and seeing what other people have to say.
If everybody says a particular subwoofer has amazing sound quality, the wattage is as high as you need it to be, and it has all of the features you want, you shouldn’t have any problems.
Last update on 2024-04-26 at 20:42 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
