Subwoofers - The Speaker with the Big Bark

Executive summary by Victor Epand

First created in the 1960s, the subwoofer was developed in response to complaints about a lack of bass response in electrostatic speakers. The result was that subwoofers became increasingly popular in domestic settings.

Since that time, there has been an ever increasing popularity for subwoofers in home stereo systems, home theatre audio systems, and car audio systems. The introduction of surround sparked a trend of subwoofer installation in cinemas. That system was succeeded by the Dolby Stereo 70 mm Six Track, which was in turn followed by Altec's dedicated cinema subwoofer model, the 8182. Today, the THX certification qualifications define the parameters for audio systems in the cinema, including subwoofer requirements. In addition to commercial applications, almost all modern home theatre audio systems feature a subwoofer supplemented by two to five small "satellite" speakers.

The advantage of having a subwoofer as part of an audio system is that it allows the satellite speakers to be smaller without sacrificing low frequency capability. For optimum low frequency sound, experts recommend that the subwoofer be placed in a corner of the room, far from large room openings and close to the listener.