Subwoofer Sound
What Subwoofer Sound Is For Me?
It's official that asking yourself "What Subwoofer Should I get?" is on your mind. Anyone moving into the car audio field has asked themselves this at one point, so don't feel out of place. There actually is a good route to take when asking yourself this question. Too many people impulse buy equipment they later regret.
We and our writers have created a step by step process to help people decide which subwoofers and components work best for their environments and desires. Also, check out the "What Amplifier?" step by step guide.
Step By Step Guide On Choosing A Subwoofer:
1. What Sound Do You Desire / Work Best For Your Vehicle?
Your buddy Joe Shmoe has the loudest system you have ever heard. Two days later, you go impulse the same exact system for a couple hundred bucks and the system isn't half as loud. "WTF!" is the usual response we hear.
Rule number one, plan out the system to your vehicle. Air space and air flow are a huge deal. This also goes along with figuring out what enclosure best suits your equipment and vehicle as well. We can't urge this enough, do the numbers before spending the numbers from your bank account. Patience is a virtue.
A great example we like to share, are Steve Meade's Designs. If you don't know who he is, visit your local youtube and do a search on him. His designs are the largest in the world but they are pushing TOP NOTCH levels. Three quarters of his designs go into figuring things out before "just building" it.
Back On Topic Here, Figure out what sound you want:
Subwoofer sizes:
Small = More Crisp, sharp bass notes (8 inches - 10 inches)
Medium = Happy medium, crisp and deep (12 inches - 13 inches)
Large = Deep Deep Bass, sacrifice crisp sound (15 inches+)
2. Do Research. And Then Some More
When dealing with electronic equipment like this, there is no such thing as "too much research." To be frank, this whole site is here to help people "in search" of this type of stuff. Some sites offer small reviews like amazon and such, but the in depth ones are tough to find. Maybe check out mindblowingaudio.com.. might help.
3. Look Into Different Brands
Different brands and different makes of subs create different bass levels. Some brands are better at different levels of makes then others. This is just like any other line of electronics. Cameras, dvd players, you name it. Here again, research is key if your new to this stuff. It could take years and years of hanging around the field to get a good hands on idea of brands.
4. Shop For Prices
Yeah Best Buy and those huge retailer stores are probably close to you and an easy stop and shop.. but these stores are most likely the best price. Most best prices on electronics are found online. We don't want to mention any sites because we try to stick away from helping advertise for other sites.
Subwoofer Sound Quality Check
When it comes to subwoofer sound quality, were talking the difference between night and day. There really is no substitute for great subwoofer sound quality. The difference between subs from your local dollar store and subs that are hundreds of dollars worth spent is day and night.
I always get asked the question, "What's the cheapest sub I can find with good quality?" I personally hate the question because you get what you pay for and that's the end of the story. Cheap subs that have speaker size magnets are what wrecks the whole aspect of cheap subs.
I have created a help guide to let people know what there doing before they go out and pay for things they don't need. I myself have wasted so much money and so have others around me. The help guide isn't the only thing to you should base your things off of, but I feel it is very helpful guide.
Subwoofer Sound Quality Help Guide: Buying Subwoofers
1. Research Your Brands
I say this because different brands usually means different sounds. Different sounds are a huge deal when it comes subwoofer sounds. For instance, I've personally heard that people thing audiobahn is more of a air flow bass for vented boxes and some brands like.. Rockford are more a sealed box deep bass sounds. Do research on what you think you may desire and what type of vehicle you may be putting it in and what type of box your going to be pushing bass with.
2. Find The Right Box For Your Vehicle And Sub
Don't just go and buy the sealed boxes because they are cheap and that's what was all used ten years ago. Vented boxes and pushing air is the new science to the car audio world. I would say it's almost safe to say that vented boxes and pushing more air and letting the subs breath are most of the time double the loudness. With some research you can find what type of box is best for your subs pushing sound power of decibels.
Figure out what box and sub will be loudest for your vehicle. NOT your cousin Joe's vehicle but your vehicle that the system will be going into. With research you will find that sealed boxes might be better in an air tight trunk that cant breath. Or an SUV will have much louder sounds with vented or bandpass. It's really up to you and your research to figure this out.
3. Don't Impulse Buy
People laugh at me when I say this one, but I truly see it everyday. "I heard my buddies system that is loud as heck, so I went out and bought all the same exact equipment and IT DOESN'T SOUND THE SAME." Relate back to number two on the list of figuring out what setup is best for your vehicle. Your buddies vehicle has different cubic feet and air flow than your vehicle.
4. Buy Online
Sorry Best Buy, but your prices are not even close to what I can get for online. Heck, even crutchfield and such have better deals than the retail stores that sell car audio. Don't get me wrong, Walmart sells a heck of a deal on the dual subs, but I hope your looking at better products than those. (No offense to be given).
When purchasing online though, beware of a couple of things. For example, the "no returns" usually tends to scare me a bit. Also, if the items are mailed from anywhere but the country your from, set aside a lot of shipping time to receive the actual item. Ebay buying is around the same matters but you can also research "how to find reputable sellers."
Different Subwoofer Sounds?
The different subwoofer sounds out there are what makes each subwoofer different. A smart buyer would research different brands and different makes of components before buying, but that is just my opinion. I have been in the car audio field for quite some time and that's why I've decided to create this site to help guide people.
When buying subs, there are some very important factors to really take in to account. I have made a help list to help you go by when just buying a subwoofer and not an enclosure or anything. It is real basic and not too in depth.
1. Magnet Size
I go by the actual magnet size. Take a look at the size and try and figure out what is actually magnet and not plastic that is fooling the eye. A lot of brands do that. They will have a plastic piece that goes over the magnet to make it seem larger. I saw a set of Rockford P1s the other day and the actual plastic piece comes right off.
2. Magnet Weight
Along with magnet size comes magnet weight. Just because the magnets are huge doesn't mean that they are heavy duty. Huge subs like the Power series of rockford and stuff have deep magnets that weigh a lot. Yes I am aware that other brands have heavier subs than rockford. It was an example and only that.
3. Rubber Quality
When I say rubber I mean the rubber surrounding the inner cone. This rubber is what takes the excursion of the magnets and if its cheap material and small, the sub will have little excursion and most likely not be a real low bass. And as we all know, the lower the bass is the louder it usually is.
Don't get me wrong, this is not the nasa version of picking out a subwoofer but it is a guide to help. We are well aware of more in depth tactics to find good subwoofers for bass but we wanted to give a basic help guide that was real user friendly. Thanks for visiting the site, and don't be afraid to comment.
"I Want No Subwoofer Sound"
Top 5 Reasons People Hate Bass
So your looking for no subwoofer sound huh? Don't get me wrong, I respect your choice but I am a believer that there are people who wreck it for others. The ever so famous situation of grandma driving down the road to get groceries and 50 cent rolls up next to her shacking the pavement. Grandma gets so freaked out that she may need some new panties.
What most people don't know is that a true tuned stereo has more bass than what you think. The feeling that makes you feel like your actually in the movie is bass mainly.
1. Punk Kids Wrecking Bass
As I said above in my example, people hate punk kids driving with high levels of bass. I'll even admit as a car audio enthusiast that having a punk kid roll up with loud bass is very annoying in it's own way.
I've learned what seems to get me annoyed is the fact that if the person is driving a beater of beater but bumping their bass.. than that's annoying. If your gonna take the time to have people look at your car, then you better have a damn nice car at least.
2. "It's Too Loud!"
Some people just can't handle the loudness and feel of bass even though its a low not a high volume. This is a pretty basic idea and understandable to me. Like for instance, I couldn't imagine an elderly person enjoying the loud levels of bass..
3. Waste Of Money
This equipment to run high sounds like this is never cheap. Even your cheapest system is most likely going to cost a couple hundred dollars. There is usually no way around spending money on electronic equipment. Its the same as computers, or tvs, and such like that.
4. "I Can't Even Hear The Words Of The Music"
With most systems that are super loud, you can't hear the words. Most of your local teenage drivers that have systems only put the subwoofers in and not music highs to even out the sound. A true tuned system will not be like this though. The difference between the top runners and those just craving bass for cheap.
5. Not All Music Sounds Good With Bass
I can't argue this one.. Garth Brooks should never be played on a set of L7s and that's for sure. I would say in my opinion there is a slim majority of music that even does sound good with bass. But once you find that music, you are in for some joy!
Subwoofer Sound System Help Guide
When choosing a subwoofer sound system there can be a lot of confusion on what to go with, how much to spend and the other thousand questions you may have. Below we have made a basic help guide to guide people through the fact of looking for some more bass into their lives.
And just so you know right now, this is a car audio bass help guide. If your in search of more bass to the interior of your home, this may not be the right guide for you.
When buying a subwoofer sound system, your going to want to look for a couple of things in subwoofers. I created a small help guide when it comes to buying subs.
1. Look At Magnet Size
In the back of the subwoofer/s, there is a magnet. I hate to say it, but this is number one for a reason. The magnets are what creates the bass to begin with, and if they are not big at all or they are crappy quality.. your going to get crappy bass.
2. Magnet Quality
Next after magnet size, comes magnet quality. A lot of companies trick you and put a plastic neatly designed piece over the actual magnets to make the magnets seem better, but they are just psyching you out with the plastic. Magnest quality matters!
3. Rubber Size and Material
If the rubber on the outside of the inner cone is small, that basically means the sub company knows that the sub will not have a large excursion rate.. making the sub not move that much.. basically meaning the sub is not going to be that loud.
If the rubber is thin and too hard, then when the sub does have excursion the rubber will break. Different climates from weather really play a roll on the rubber as well too.
