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What is a Subwoofer?

A subwoofer is a type of loudspeaker that is designed to produce bass, or also known as low-frequency audio notes. Subwoofers come in all different shapes and sizes. Some examples are the Kicker CompR circular subwoofers,  Kicker L7 square subwoofers, the Bazooka triangle subwoofers, and the Sony Xplod pentagon subwoofers. Subwoofers also come in all different sizes which include, but are not limited to the 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 21, and 30 inch. Subwoofers are also categorized by what are called single or dual voice coil subwoofers. A voice coil is sometimes referred to as an electromagnet. It uses coils of wire wrapped around some form of magnetic metal located at the bottom of the subwoofer to run electrical current. That electrical current produces a magnetic field around the metal and is able to create a north or south movement of the coil which generates certain frequencies. The frequencies that are produced by the subwoofer are calculated by hertz. Hertz are defined in an audio frequency sense as one cycle per second. For example, if the subwoofer moves back and forth 23 times in a second, that means that the frequency being played is 23 hertz. To put all of this in perspective, although humans can only “hear” frequencies from 20 hertz to 20,000 hertz, frequencies lower than 20 hertz can still be physically “felt”. Most subwoofers are only designed to play frequencies from around 15 hertz to 250 hertz.

Subwoofer Application

Subwoofers are often mounted in wooden enclosures or “cabinets”, which help direct the pressure produced by the sub and makes it easier to control. Subwoofer enclosures can often be characterized by type, size, and price. The main 3 types of enclosures are ported, sealed, and bandpass. A ported enclosure is a cabinet that has an area of it cut out and a port tube inserted in. This creates an improvement in efficiency and low-frequency output, while also making the bass frequencies sound significantly louder. This type is generally the most popular out of all of the different types of enclosures. The next type is the sealed enclosure. This cabinet is more popular with the people that enjoy precise/accurate bass. As the name implies, this cabinet is sealed, which generates tighter, more accurate, and more precise bass. The last type of enclosure is the bandpass enclosure. This type essentially is constructed with the subwoofer mounted in one sealed chamber which is inside of a ported enclosure. The main advantage of this type of enclosure is that it shares some characteristics between both the sealed and ported cabinets.

Amplification

A subwoofer and the signal it produces needs to be powered and amplified by some sort of amplifier. Amplifiers also come in hundreds of different sizes, types, and categories. How a amplifier works is by taking power from the car's battery, taking an audio signal from the radio, and amplifies the frequencies to allow the subwoofer to produce those frequencies at a higher volume and intensity. An amplifier is crucial in any subwoofer system. Amplifiers can be most generally distinguished by three main types. Mono(1)-channel, 2-channel, and 4-channel are the three most common types of amplifiers. Typically the mono-channel amplifier is the most widely used amplifier for subwoofers. The reason an amplifier is called a mono, 2-channel, or 4-channel is because of the amount of channels the amplifier can contain. Another characteristic of amplifiers is the amount of power it can produce. This power is defined in watts. A couple common amplifiers that are determined by power are the 500 watt, 1000 watt, 1600 watt, 2000 watt, 3000 watt, and so on.

Car Audio

A type of subwoofer application is the addition of one or multiple subwoofers in a vehicle. This application is very popular with the younger generation because of the results in yields. Most of the time a subwoofer is added to either the back seat area of the vehicle or the trunk. Since there is typically a very limited amount of space available in the cabin of the vehicle, the trunk is a more suitable location to place the subwoofer and the enclosure. Bass enthusiasts all over the world compete in competitions that can most familiarly be described as “Bass Wars”. This is a type of competition where an individual tries to get their subwoofer system as loud as possible. These “Bass Wars” have grow in popularity over the past few years and is really starting to raise the attention of the surrounding communities.

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/all-you-wanted-know-about-subwoofers

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-F8lWb0OkDP3/learn/understanding-bass-subwoofer.html

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-4iLSIiK8dJG/learn/learningcenter/car/subwoofers_faq.html

Good One http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/speakers/subwoofers/what-is-a-subwoofer/2642

http://www.fastcar.co.uk/fast-car-news/what-the-faq-your-subwoofer-questions-answered/

http://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/car-audio/599946.html

http://www.accordionboot.com/subwoofer-box-building.php

Voicecoils https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/voice-coil-speaker.htm

Sound Pressure http://www.acoustic-glossary.co.uk/sound-pressure.htm

Feeling the bass http://www.audioholics.com/room-acoustics/bass-the-physical-sensation-of-sound

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/subwoofer-basics/

https://geoffthegreygeek.com/understanding-audio-frequency/

I am a student at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County with interests in Engineering and Mechanics.