January 30, 2012 | by EH Staff Woofer Size. All other factors
being equal, a larger cone moves more air. More air movement
means that your subwoofer can play louder. Excursion. Not all
woofers of the same size have the same excursion. Greater
excursion allows the cone to move more air. Greater air motion
equates to greater bass energy to be reproduced, whether it is
in level or lower frequency. Frequency Response. This describes
how evenly a subwoofer can reproduce its range of sounds.
Subwoofers are typically designed to reproduce frequencies from
below 20 Hz to above 100 Hz, producing this band with more
accuracy and authority than smaller satellite speakers.
Distortion. More or deeper bass doesn’t mean very much if it is
produced with large quantities of distortion. Typically this
will show itself as “slow” bass,” “muddy bass,” “overhang,” or
even hearing a higher frequency than is intended to be
reproduced. Maximum Output. Because a powered subwoofer (one
with an amplifier built in) has been designed to h