Subwoofer Reviews

One could argue that it’s silly to make a subwoofer look nice. Most subs get shoved into out-of-the-way places where even the most exotic wenge veneer, doused in seven coats of hand-rubbed lacquer and applied to gracefully arcing side panels, won’t really look any better than the cheapest black vinyl wrap glued over a plain rectangular box.

Those who find ugliness a virtue in subwoofers will love SVS’ new $769 PB12-NSD, which is about as plain as subwoofers get.

Some home theater enthusiasts see automatic equalization as a sonic savior. They believe it guarantees great sound. But it doesn’t.

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Exemplary value
Clean, punchy bass
Optional wireless transmitter works like a charm
Minus
Doesn’t go quite as deep as the big boys

THE VERDICT
When I heard I was going to review a budget $399 subwoofer, I dreaded the month I’d miss my reference subs. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

There are two things that I really love in life. The first is the entrepreneurial spirit that grows within someone and inspires them to take a chance with an idea, create a company, and do their best to make it succeed. The second is great bass. As longtime readers know, I’m a bass-oholic—and if my wife would let me, I’d have four (or more) subwoofers in my media room, because there’s no such thing as too much bass!

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Foundation-shaking bass
Outstanding Build Quality
Servo-control is the real-deal
Minus
Very Heavy
Large footprint can make room placement challenging

THE VERDICT
Rythmik’s direct servo technology isn’t a marketing slogan—it provides the most precise bass these ears have ever heard.

Performance
Build Quality
Value

The latest addition to the Sonos family of products is the Sonos SUB, which is specifically designed to work with the company’s speakers—the Play:3 and Play:5. Either of these can be paired with another speaker of the same model to create a stereo pair for a wider soundfield.

Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Inexpensive
Small for 15-inch subwoofer
Deep, rich sound

Minus
Generic appearance
Takes prodding to wake from standby mode

THE VERDICT
If you want the horsepower of a 15-inch subwoofer but can only accommodate an enclosure that typically comes with a 12-inch sub, the Starke Sound SW15 might be where your search ends.

Subwoofers, an essential component for every home theater system. Unless you have an extraordinary set of speakers the same holds true for a two-channel setup, you need a sub to reinforce the bottom end. While their contribution is critical for the reproduction of full-range sound, for the most part they aren’t much to look at.

Often little more than square black cabinets, subwoofers rarely enhance the aesthetics of your HT room. I’ve reviewed over 50 of them in the past 12 years and in that time very few have visually differentiated themselves from the rest. The Starke Sound SW15 is no exception from an appearance perspective, but can it stand out from the crowd in some other way?

Bob Carver is a legend in the A/V industry, and when he formed Sunfire in the 1990s, the company’s name became closely associated with subwoofers. In 1996, the Sunfire True Subwoofer, as it was marketed, was born, and it popularized what eventually became a whole new subcategory (so to speak) of the speaker industry. The 11.5-inch cube produced a copious amount of bass from a small enclosure by utilizing specially designed drive units and a patented Tracking Downconverter (TDC) amplifier that could dynamically adjust its power supply based on the incoming signals.