If your idea of a good time is having an amazing sound system or home cinema setup, then a subwoofer will almost certainly already be part of it.
However, if you’re dipping a toe into the choppy waters of improving the sound output from your TV’s speakers, or want to get a fuller thicker sound from streaming audio, then a subwoofer is an essential purchase. It’s the .1 in 5.1 and 7.1 sound systems, adding in the low frequencies other speakers can’t manage.
The reason for this comes down to the size of your speakers. The ones built into modern, thin TV sets are necessarily small, and while a small speaker can be fine for mid-range and higher frequencies - think human voices or birdsong - the speakers for lower frequencies, known as woofers, need to be bigger.
If you’ve got larger bookshelf or floorstanding speakers, this is fine, but the tiny ones in TVs, surround sound satellite speakers and soundbars can require a little help if you want to get the most out of movie soundtracks, or annoy the neighbours with some drum and bass (or Beethoven).
So with the addition of the bass frequencies that your speakers can’t manage, explosions sound more real, low notes and drones in a soundtrack acquire more presence, and the entire audio presentation of a movie takes on a thicker texture. Turn up the subwoofer enough, and you’ll feel the sound coming from it.
A curious quirk of low frequency sound is that it’s less directional than higher frequencies, so while you’ll always know which of your satellites is firing, or get stereo separation from larger pairs of speakers, a single subwoofer is usually enough to fill a room with bass.
Here are some of the best.
Best subwoofers at a glance:
- Best for superb bass tones: Bowers & Wilkins ASW610 - £ 499, Peter Tyson
- Best for existing Sonos owners: Sonos Sub (Gen 3) - £ 749, Amazon
- Best for bass power: Q Acoustics QB12 - £383.65, Amazon
- Best for extra features at a reasonable price: SVS SB-1000 Pro - £625, Amazon
- Best for bass in small rooms: Sonos Sub Mini - £399, Amazon
- Best for larger spaces: REL Acoustics T/9x - £1149, AV
- Best for very serious audio systems: M&K X12+ £4295, Quiet Interiors
- Best for a complete soundbar system: Samsung HW-Q700B - £323.28, Amazon
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Bowers & Wilkins ASW610
Best for: superb bass tones
If what you’re looking for in a subwoofer is a box that sits on the ground and emits shattering bass, then congratulations, you’ve found it. It’s a perfect square, with a circle inside it containing the 25cm speaker cone, and at just over 30cm to a side is quite small considering the noise it makes.
There’s more to a subwoofer than simple low-note power from its 200W amplifier, however, and the ASW610 also trades in subtlety and texture, which makes it a great all-rounder and a fine addition to any burgeoning sound system.
Buy now £499.00, Peter Tyson
Sonos Sub (Gen 3)
Best for: existing Sonos owners
The Sonos ecosystem is one many people have bought into thanks to the popular Era, Move and Beam speakers it offers. The Sonos Sub is a wireless addition to an existing Sonos system, and adds bass and power to your music and movie soundtracks.
It’s also very nice looking, with the whiff of a modernist sculpture about the squared off ring of its structure. Inside there are two amps and some force-cancelling drivers that will really allow you to feel the presence of the bass frequencies, though Sonos is cagey about exactly how powerful they are. Whatever’s in there, it produces a deep, thick bass sound.
Buy now £749.00, Amazon
Q Acoustics QB12
Best for: bass power
Designed for use with the 3000i range of speakers from Q Acoustic, the QB12 contains a 220W amp and 30cm driver, and weighs a mighty 21.5kg. Despite the bulk, it’s an extremely nicely built and finished cabinet, with steel reinforcement inside to subdue any rattling that might occur.
This extra strength is welcome, because the QB12 is a powerful bass speaker. It does, however, know when to blend into the background when required, ensuring that quiet or tender scenes in a movie aren’t treated with the same gusto as exploding cars and crashing spaceships.
Buy now £383.65, Amazon
SVS SB-1000 Pro
Best for: extra features at a reasonable price
The SVS SB-1000 Pro may be an entry-level model, but this subwoofer includes features such as a remote control app (iOS and Android) that connects via Bluetooth, plus a powerful 325W amplifier, in a refined cube with rounded corners that measures around 13in to a side.
Inside there’s a 12in woofer, which faces directly forwards so there’s no extra outlet port to worry about when positioning the cabinet. Sound is good, with low distortions and none of the boominess that can otherwise spoil a quieter soundscape.
Buy now £625.00, Amazon
Sonos Sub Mini
Best for: bass in small rooms
The perfect choice to accompany Sonos soundbars such as the Beam, the Sub Mini is designed to work with the company’s smaller products and in medium-sized rooms like the bulk of UK living areas.
The plain black (or white) cylindrical shape of the Sub Mini mean it blends in with the other Sonos products it’s designed to support, as well as looking nicely minimal when installed. You’ll hardly notice it until it starts working, and then you’ll wonder how you ever coped before as you get an extra punch to your music and movies. There’s Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and a ‘join’ button to jack it into your network and connect the sub to the rest of your Sonos kit, but otherwise it’s entirely calibrated using the Sonos app.
Buy now £399.00, Amazon
REL Acoustics T/9x
Best for: larger spaces
A true floor-standing speaker that’s supported by four little feet, the T/9x offers 300W of power and dual 10in drivers that fire both forwards and downwards to include the floor of your listening room in its low-frequency fireworks.
It’s another roughly cube-shaped sub, this time around 14.5in to a side, but one you’re going to want to put on display. To help with this, the T/9x ties into REL’s Arrow wireless system, though you can connect it with a normal interconnect if you need to. It’s ideal for filling larger spaces with bass, but may be overkill for using in tighter domestic settings.
Buy now £1149.00, AV
M&K X12+
Best for: very serious audio systems
Offering 600W of power from a pair of 12in drivers, the X12+ is the cherry on top of an extremely serious home cinema system. It stands upright in a simple black cabinet with both a visible speaker and duct, effectively two subwoofers in one and shaking the air with its frequencies.
There are grilles and baffles that can be magnetically snapped on, but you may just think it looks its best without them. The audio performance is, of course, superb, with plenty of power and control to provide serious bass for home cinema rooms or massive open-plan living areas.
Buy now £4295.00, M&K
Samsung HW-Q700B
Best for: a complete soundbar system
Sometimes you just want to buy one product and have all your audio problems solved. And while that’s perhaps contrary to the philosophy of constant fiddling and replacing that comes with the home cinema hobby, it is possible.
Samsung’s HQ-Q700B is a Dolby Atmos-compatible soundbar system with a wireless subwoofer that’s perfect for placing along the front of your TV cabinet to improve the audio output from your TV tenfold. Not only does it provide a cinematic presentation of movies streamed over the internet or from a Blu-ray player, but it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker with hi-res music capabilities, all thickened out and enhanced by the simple and discreet subwoofer.
Buy now £323.28, Amazon
Verdict
Adding a subwoofer to your audio system, whether that’s a dedicated cinema or listening room or a massive OLED TV in a communal living space, is one of the best things you can do after you’ve got the main speakers set up. Having a dedicated unit for the bass takes some of the work away from the other speakers, allowing them to concentrate on the mid-range and higher tones that they do better, and means you’ll feel the impact of both exploding helicopters in action movies and the orchestral stabs in a concert.
The subwoofers we’ve profiled here span the whole gamut from easily installed models that tie-in with soundbars and other existing audio kit, to massive units that cost many thousands and could be used in a theatre or concert venue. Whichever one you choose, adding more power to the low-end of your preferred audio gives it more body and punch, and enhances the listening experience greatly.
