Emotiva X-Ref 10 user manual About Subwoofers

About Subwoofers

The design of virtually all loudspeakers involves compromises; and producing large amounts of undistorted low bass is often difficult (and expensive) to achieve in a full- range speaker. Most full-range speakers, therefore, simply aren’t designed to produce extended output at very low frequencies. This has historically been a limitation of high- end stereo speakers, and is often considered to be “an acceptable compromise” in many otherwise superb stereo systems; many audiophiles simply accepted that they weren’t going to hear the lowest octaves of a pipe organ or feel the solid punch of a drum with lifelike realism.

When home theater entered the scene, with its demand for the prodigious bass to accurately reproduce sound effects that you could actually feel, this limitation was addressed by including a separate speaker designed especially to produce only low bass; the subwoofer. The addition of a subwoofer simplifies the job of designing the other speakers, which no longer need to be totally full-range. It was also discovered that low frequencies (typically below 100 Hz) are virtually non-directional to the human ear, so a single subwoofer can provide the low frequencies for both channels in a stereo system or all channels in a multi-channel system.

In principle, it should be simple to design a subwoofer that can do a great job of producing the narrow range of frequencies required. Unfortunately many early subwoofers, while they did a good job of producing window-rattling explosions, dinosaur stomps, and subway crashes, didn’t sound very good with music. It turns out that it’s a lot easier to design a subwoofer that can make lots of earth-skaking bass if low distortion and smooth frequency response aren’t major concerns.

Now, however, as home theater listeners are coming to expect not only loud bass, but high quality bass, and audiophiles are starting to look for the same impressive bass performance from their stereo systems, but only if it sounds as good as the rest of their system, there is a need for subwoofers that can both rattle the floor and deliver extended low end with superb musicality.

Fortunately, advances in speaker technology, such as new cone and cabinet materials, more powerful and efficient amplifiers, and advanced DSP management systems, have made it possible to design a subwoofer that can deliver both thunderous special effects and superb musical performance. One of the leaders of this new generation of “super subs”, at home in both high-end home theater systems and audiophile stereo systems, are the new Emotiva X-Ref DSP Powered Subwoofers.

Page 8