Home Subwoofer Review

The choice of subwoofers available for the home enthusiast can seem overwhelming, particularly if you are an inexpert or infrequent purchaser. To help you get going and provide a mini guide to help your next purchase, here are reviews of three subwoofers currently on the market. We'll follow-up with a home speakers review page soon, a home amplifier review, a further powered subwoofer review and other home audio review as appropriate.

ButtKicker LFE

What's good about it? Lets you literally feel the bass in your home theater helping your sense of immersion in films; decent overall performance; can be neatly hidden away under your seat.

What's not so good about it? Needs a separate high-watt amplifier; complicated setup and installation. Your neighbours are not going to like it.

The Buttkicker is essentially a 5.5-inch diameter cylinder of equal height which you mount to the furniture in your home theater or something that's in contact with your furniture (like the floor). The clue to this sub woofer is in the name which is more or less literal. The Buttkicker's gimmick is to make your furniture a massive sub woofer which boots your home theater's low frequency (LFE standing for low frequency effects) output phenomenally. What you get in return is tactile bass which is a real treat. In movies, you will be able to literally feel explosions or heavy footsteps. Bass-heavy music will gain incredible prescence - your couch might feel like it's pulsating and the floor rippling.

There are some things to consider before rushing out to buy one though. Obviously if you live in an apartment then the buttkicker is going to have your neighbours pounding the floor/walls/ceiling in outrage in pretty short order (unless you invite them round to watch the movie with you!). The butt kicker is also quite a power gobbling device and sucks up between 400 and 1,500 whatts at 4 ohms. So you'll need to check that your amp meets those requirements. Also, although it can function nicely on it's own, the manufacturers recommend pairing it with a more conventional subwoofer for added definition and agility in the upper bass registers. If none of those requirements are an issue for you then the ButtKicker is well worth a look.

Polk Audio DSW Pro 400

What's good about it? excellent connectivity. 180-watt amplifier. Presets to help with room placement

What's not so good about it? Polk has a 10 inch sub for less.

The Polk Audi DSW Pro 400 comes with a flexible configuration, a full list of features and a meaty bass performance. It compares very favorably to other similarly sized subwoofers. Although this is a budget subwoofer, Polk have not been afraid to endow it with some forward thinking new ideas. For example "Feed forward distortion suppression technology" that Polk claims will boost the dynamic capability and maximum output of the subwoofer without sacrificing its low distortion. The credit card sized remote control offers welcome customization and control functions; with four room equalization presets: corner, short wall, long wall and mid-room to allow you to get the optimum sound for your physical set-up.

The 8-inch woofer has a 180 watt digital amplifier. By default it's down firingm but it's possible to move the rear feet to tip it 90 degrees into a front firing configuration. All the usual connectivity options are supported. In use, the DSW Pro's bass on movies and music is gratifyingly deep and properly defined, even when faced with large bass demands. Having a remote allows you to adjust it to the proper volume whenever you put something new in your disc tray. Overall this is a good subwoofer for the money and even outclasses some budget 10-inch woofers.

Klipsch Synergy Sub-12

What's good about it? A reasonably priced full sized down firing 12-inch woofer with a 300 watt amplifier and anexcellent spread of connections.

What's not so good about it? Looks a little cheap.

The Klipsch Synergy Sub-12, is the company's budget 12-inch sub. Although smaller subwoofers can produce acceptable bass, a 12-inch (if you can afford it) is something else entirely. The Synergy sub 12 is a large unit - 18 inches high and 20 deep. It can deliver 300 watts of continuios power and up to 650 watts of dynamic power. As with the Polk there are a wide range of connectivity options.

In use the Synergy Sub-12 reproduces sounds like big drums with exceptional clarity and definition. However it does not overwhelm other parts of the soundscape. This subwoofer reproduces the very deepest frequences with room vibrating authority which smaller subs really can't match. Happily this does not come at the expense of definition which is purfect with individual instrements sounding perfectly detailed. If you can afford the price and want a revelatory experience of what a powerful suwoofer can offer, then this is definately one to buy.