Subwoofers are often overlooked when building a new home theater system. Sure, they might be tucked away in a corner or otherwise out of sight, but they can help your home theater sound more like the cinema. Add a subwoofer, and you’ll feel the depth of the music rather than just hear it. Explosions will have a whole lot more body, and music will have more depth.
A group of Sonos wireless speakers, including Arc, Sub, Move and One models taken on September 28, ... [+] 2020. (Photo by Neil Godwin/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Future Publishing via Getty Images
There are a ton of options out there, so finding the best can be tricky. We think the best subwoofer for most people is the SVS SB-1000 Pro, offering a great balance between power, price and size. Its rustic design is attractive and it comes with neat smartphone-enabled features, too.
Want something cheap? Willing to pay more? Want the deepest bass possible? Does it need to fit with your Sonos system? We’ve rounded up the best subwoofers for different situations and setups to help give your setup that cinema rumble.
If you’re looking for a great subwoofer that delivers deep, booming bass at a decent price, the SVS SB-1000 Pro Sealed subwoofer is the way to go. This subwoofer boasts a solid design, a frequency range of 20Hz to 270Hz and more.
As with most of the picks on this list, you’ll need a good place for the subwoofer, but as long as you have a spare corner, it should look solid in most living rooms. It’s available in a few different colors, though some cost a little extra.
The subwoofer can deliver a decent amount of power, though not quite as much as other options. It offers a wattage of 325W, so it should deliver enough power through its 12-inch speaker for most small and medium-sized rooms. For a large room, it’s worth considering our upgrade pick below.
The subwoofer has Bluetooth connectivity, which allows control through a smartphone app, but there are controls on the back to quickly and easily control levels.
Pros:
Nice design
Good power for anything but large rooms
Works with a smartphone app
Cons:
Power isn’t as high as some
Still not cheap
Different colors cost most
Best Subwoofer For Home Theater
Bigger Boom
Amazon
SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer
Best For: Larger rooms and bigger bass.
If you like what SVS has to offer but have a larger room or need deeper bass, then the SVS SB-3000 is the way to go. This is basically a step up from the SB-1000 Pro, giving it louder bass and a bigger speaker.
This subwoofer only has a 13-inch subwoofer but that’s only part of the louder speaker story. It also offers 800W of power, meaning that it can easily deliver a whole lot louder bass. That can come in handy if you have a larger room.
You’ll get many other features in this subwoofer such as support for the app and controls on the back for easy tweaks. Plus, it looks great.
The downsides? Well, it’s a bit more expensive than the SB-1000 Pro, and like that model, you’ll pay even more for different finishes. Still, if you want super deep bass and powerful audio, it’s a great option.
Pros:
Deep, loud bass
Nice design
App support
Cons:
A bit pricer
Nicer finishes cost more
Best-Looking Subwoofer
Looks As Good As It Sounds
Amazon
Polk Audio HTS 10 Powered Subwoofer
Best For: Living rooms without a hidden corner.
For a subwoofer you can put on full display without worrying about having a big cube central to your home theater, the Polk Audio HTS 10 subwoofer is a great option. It’s still a big cube, but it’s a pretty big cube thanks to its nice, rounded corners, sleek black look and cool-looking foot.
There’s more to the Polk Audio HTS 10 than just good looks. The subwoofer sounds excellent, too. Polk Audio has a long and storied history in home audio, and the HTS 10 represents why. It has a 10-inch speaker with a 200W amplifier, so while it’s not as powerful as some other options on this list, it should do the job for most small and medium living rooms. On the back, like some others, you’ll get volume control, a low pass filter and audio inputs.
So what about downsides? Well, it’s a great product, but as mentioned it’s a little underpowered compared to some. But if you have a small or medium living room, it should be plenty loud.
Pros:
Great design
Not overly expensive
Cons:
Not as powerful as some
Best Budget Subwoofer
Punching Above Its Weight Class
Amazon
Monoprice 12-inch Powered Subwoofer
Best For: Deep bass on a budget.
Want to improve on the level of bass in your living room without spending more than you have to? The Monoprice 12-nch Powered Subwoofer is the way to go. This subwoofer delivers much of what makes other options great, but at a fraction of the price.
There are some concessions to make. For starters, the design of the subwoofer is a little boring compared to some of the competition. That’s not to say it’s ugly—it’s just a little boring-looking.
But this subwoofer delivers decent audio quality. You’ll get a power-level of 150W, which should be enough to give you that extra bass bump, especially in smaller and mid-size living rooms. The frequency response is 50Hz to 250Hz, which isn’t as deep as others, but enough to give some weight to those explosions.
Pros:
Inexpensive
Decent power
Cons
A little boring-looking
Not as low as some
Best Subwoofer For Sonos
Excellent Audio, If Your A Sonos User
Amazon
Sonos Sub (Gen 3)
Best for: Pairing with Sonos soundbars.
Have a Sonos soundbar but want a little more oomph from it? The third-generation Sonos Sub offers a stunning design, excellent low-end boost and easy wireless pairing with any Sonos soundbar.
That’s easily one of the best things about this subwoofer—it’s so easy to set up and connects wirelessly, so you don’t have to run cable through your living room. It can be paired through the Sonos app with a Sonos Ray, Sonos Beam or Sonos Arc. And, because it’s wireless, you can place it anywhere in your living room, though considering how great it looks it doesn’t necessarily matter if it’s out in the open.
It’s not all just looks and wireless connectivity though. The Sonos Sub sounds excellent, too. It delivers plenty of boom for even larger living rooms, and most find that it gets too loud for their situation. Thankfully, you can adjust the volume in the Sonos app. Note, if you don’t want all that boom, consider the Sonos Sub Mini, which is better served for smaller and mid-sized living rooms.
Pros:
Great design
Can get nice and loud
Wireless connectivity
Cons:
Only works with Sonos products
Best Small Subwoofer
Big Bass In A Small Form-Factor
Amazon
Klipsch R-100SW
Best for: Fitting in tight spaces.
Not everyone wants to dedicate a lot of space to a subwoofer, and thankfully, not everyone has to. The Klipsch R-100SW is smaller than many, but delivers solid audio quality for most situations.
The black-and-gold color-scheme is signature to Klipsch, and it should look great in any living room.
Despite the small size, the subwoofer can drive some oomph. It has 150 watts of power, and can drive frequencies from 32Hz to 120Hz. Again, that’s not as low as some, but it’ll definitely bring some added bass to your existing sound system.
Pros:
Compact design
Nice design
Decent price
Cons:
Not as great-sounding as some
What To Look For When Choosing A Subwoofer
When looking for a subwoofer for your sound system, you should consider several things. Sound is chief among them, of course, but you’ll also want to mind how it looks among the rest of your equipment and furniture, plus any special connectivity or convenience features that make it easier to use. Here’s a full list of items to check as you find the best subwoofer for your needs.
Design
Your subwoofer is likely to sit in your living room, and as such, you’ll want something that fits your home décor. Most subwoofers offer a black build, which should fit in most situations. And because of the nature of lower frequencies, you can hide your subwoofer in a corner. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy a decent-looking subwoofer.
Power
Subwoofer power basically helps determine just how much bass a subwoofer can produce. Simply put, more watts means louder bass. Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, but wattage is still a good indicator of whether your subwoofer can pump out enough bass for your living room.
You might find two power measurements—RMS and peak. RMS stands for “root mean square,” and refers to the average amount of power that your subwoofer can produce. Peak, on the other hand, is the amount of power you’ll get in short bursts. Generally, RMS is the more important figure to consider.
Frequency Response
Subwoofers are generally built to handle the low frequencies in the frequency spectrum. Most subwoofers should produce frequencies down to 20Hz, which is the bottom of the range of human hearing, or even lower. How high they go greatly varies, but it’s common for subwoofers to stop at around 200Hz or 250Hz.
Connectivity
How you connect your subwoofer to your sound system can be extremely important. After all, if you can’t connect your subwoofer, it’s not worth buying. Usually, you’ll connect a subwoofer to a receiver through speaker wire, but in some cases, you can connect a subwoofer to a TV through an HDMI connection, or even wirelessly, as is the case with Sonos’ subwoofers.
Compatibility
In the case of wireless subwoofers, make sure it’s compatible with your system. Sonos’ subwoofers, for example, are built for perfect pairing and use with Sonos speakers.
Ported Or Sealed
Whether a subwoofer case is ported or sealed affects how it sounds. Sealed subwoofers offer a tighter, more accurate bass response, but need a little more power. Ported subwoofers can produce louder bass, but are also “boomier.” Ported subwoofers don’t require as much power.
A subwoofer is usually on the floor and out of the way, but that doesn't mean it can't be pretty.
Klipsch
Do I Need A Subwoofer?
Not necessarily, but it can seriously help. If you’re perfectly happy with the way your system sounds, then you don’t need a subwoofer. But if you find it’s lacking in the low-end, or even a little weak, it’s definitely worth investing in a subwoofer to round out the lower frequencies.
Are Bigger Subwoofers Better?
It depends on what you mean by “better.” Based on the laws of physics, bigger speakers can produce lower frequencies. But not everyone needs a speaker that can produce the lowest of the low frequencies, and buying something a little smaller may be a trade-off that you’re willing to make.
What Is A Good Wattage For Subwoofers?
It depends on what you’re looking for. Smaller, lower-power subwoofers go as low as 150 watts, but larger ones range up to 1000 watts. For smaller living rooms, something between 100 and 300 watts is perfectly fine. For larger subwoofers, it’s recommended you buy a subwoofer with between 400 and 600 watts. Super high-end subwoofers can go over 1000 watts.
How Much Does A Subwoofer Cost?
Subwoofers can greatly vary in price. Our best budget pick—this 12-inch Monoprice model—is often on sale for around $100, but high-end subwoofers can cost over $1,000.
