How Your Speakers Affect Which Subwoofer You Buy
It’s common for people to ask for advice online. When they do, they often list their other gear. That’s a great idea. If you want help with a problem, listing your other gear is important for those trying to help you. When asking for subwoofer buying advice, people often list their speakers. You’ve heard that you don’t need to match your subwoofer and your speakers. Is there a reason that your speakers would affect the subwoofer you buy? Let’s discuss!
More Information is More Better
As someone who often answers such questions, I’d rather have too much information than too little. If you want to list every piece of gear you’ve ever owned, that’s fine with me. I can ignore any information that isn’t pertinent.
I also don’t blame people for thinking that their speakers might affect their subwoofer buying decision. They aren’t completely wrong. There are some things we need to know before you choose a subwoofer. Well, one thing really…
Crossover
We need to know how low your speakers can play. We can then match this with a subwoofer that can play high enough. Generally, all we really want to know is if your speakers can play low enough for an 80Hz crossover. If they can’t, then you’ll need a subwoofer that can play higher. Most of the time we don’t care if your speakers can play much lower. We will still recommend an 80Hz crossover.
Are There Other Considerations?
From a performance standpoint, we really only care about the crossover region. But you might care about other considerations. Some people want all their speakers to match. That’s fair enough. Aesthetics are important. If you have speakers with a specific finish, getting a subwoofer to match could be important to you.
One common consideration is size. If your speakers are all small (or huge), it affects which subwoofer you might be interested in buying. If all your speakers are tiny, recommending a huge subwoofer might be a non-starter.
Take Away
Far more important than your speakers is the size and shape of your room. If you have a large room, you’ll need a very capable subwoofer. Unfortunately, many people don’t take the room into consideration when purchasing speakers or subwoofers. If they did, we might be able to look at your speaker choice to inform you which subwoofer you should buy. Instead of listing your speakers, list your room size and shape when asking for subwoofer buying advice. You’re much more likely to get appropriate recommendations.
