Help! My Subwoofer is Too Big!

You shopped for a subwoofer exclusively online. The best deals come from online-only vendors so there was little point in buying locally. You measured out the size of the subwoofer and you were sure it would fit. But now it is here and this subwoofer is much bigger than you expected! You were so convinced that they lied to you about the dimensions that you measured it. Sure enough, it is just as big as they claimed. How could you have been so wrong? More importantly, what do you do now? Let’s discuss!

Send It Back!

As distressing as it may be, the best and easiest solution is to send the overly large subwoofer back for a refund. If you shopped carefully, you probably paid attention to return policies. Places like SVS have free two-way shipping and no-questions-asked returns. Slap that big subwoofer back in the box and send it back.

The problem is that you did, in fact, shop carefully. You shopped based on the size of your space and the subwoofer’s capabilities. If you send it back, you now have to start over. You likely ran afoul of the one rule of subwoofers – you can have small, loud/deep, or cheap – pick two. You chose loud/deep and inexpensive and ended up with a big subwoofer. Now you are either going to have to settle for a less capable subwoofer or one that costs a lot more. Sorry for the bad news.

Make It Fit

Chances are that your new subwoofer isn’t too big, it is just bigger than you expected. You can get it in the door and probably put it in one or two places in the room, but you are getting the side-eye from your partner. Fair enough. You didn’t follow our instructions (especially the one about building a box) and now you’ve got a massive subwoofer that isn’t going to be easy to place in your room. For whatever reason, you also can’t send it back.

We understand it is hard, but you may have to move some stuff around to fit in your new, overly-large subwoofer. No, you probably won’t be able to place it optimally, but do the best you can. Remember, you can use your subwoofer as a stand! Need some help setting it up? Here are a couple of links to help you out!

• Subwoofer Placement—Crawling Around for Bass?
• The Best Ways to Hide a Subwoofer
• Does Decoupling A Subwoofer Make it Quieter
• Home Theater Room Correction: How To Get the Best Results
• The Single Best Upgrade for Your Home Theater

Recoup as Much as You Can

A lot of people buy used and that’s the reason why they can’t return their big subwoofer. If you bought it for a certain amount, chances are that someone else will as well (or may even pay more if you got a deal). Or you may have to take a small loss. Either way, get as much for it as you can and start over. Better to lose a little money than to deal with the wrath of your significant other!