Without a high-quality subwoofer, you will never be able to hear the subtle nuances of an acoustic bass during playback of your favorite R&B singer, and you surely will not be able to hear the organic, low-end crunch as you listen to the latest release by a popular band such as the Black-Eyed Peas.
Not to mention how a great subwoofer can fill your home theater with the sublime low-end explosions that occur during an action-packed movie such as “Iron Man” or “Transformers.”
With that in mind, the following subwoofers might not be affordable for everyone, but these fine audio components all provide clean and powerful low-end audio to any speaker system that they are paired up with, without question.
Why it's best: The Thunderbolt active subwoofer made the #1 spot on this list primarily because of it’s great ability to replicate the type of clean and contained low-end audio that is usually only found in a subwoofer speaker that retails over $25,000 or more.
The design team at Alon, which created this masterpiece of a subwoofer, used the same type of synthetic and natural fibers found in ultra high-end subwoofers for the titanium cones that comprise the inner component structure of the Thunderbolt.
This type of rigid and lightweight cone design is the main component that allows this magnificent subwoofer to disperse sublime and clear low-end to your entire room without the slightest hint of distortion, audio blur or “low-end fallout”.
One of the greatest assets of owning one of these high-powered beauties is the fact that the overall dynamic range of the Thunderbolt allows you to hear the most subtle sound effects in a movie, during such a scene as when waves are gently caressing the front bow of a boat, in perfect natural tones.
And on the other side of the audio spectrum, this subwoofer will explode with intense power during an action-packed movie such as “Saving Private Ryan” in which you will believe you are on the beach at Normandy after hearing the shrapnel flying all around you as the Thunderbolt replicates magnificent displays of low-end bomb explosions.
And for the relatively modest sum of $1700 or under, you will be able to experience this sensational audio realism for yourself. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Why it's a best pick: If you are looking for a subwoofer that features explosive low-end power of more than 100 decibels, features two 12-inch drivers and is one of the top performers when it comes to low-end audio dispersion, you need look no further than the MKIV-12P.
This subwoofer has a 15-inch cube contained in its ultra-sleek lifestyle block that will break the glass in your home’s windows if you push up the volume too loud, no joke.
This latest subwoofer design from the folks at Earthquake has been re-designed from earlier models by mounting a Magma driver across from the passive SLAPS radiator, which results in a much higher degree of output overall and better control over the sheer decibel power that the MKIV-12P puts out.
The icing on the cake comes when you notice how cool this subwoofer runs all the time, no matter how long you run it for, because the designers are also using the control panel as part of the chassis, resulting in much cooler temperatures overall.
This subwoofer is practically a steal at the lower cost of $1697 when you consider the sheer power of this glorious low-end audio component
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Why it's a best pick: A heavyweight in the field of subwoofers, Velodyne’s SPL-1200R weighs over 56 pounds and is about 14 inches high. And this subwoofer delivers powerful low-end that will substantially increase the amount of pure audio dexterity to any consumer’s audio system. The subwoofer even comes equipped with a full-featured remote control that creates a test tone that expertly calibrates the exact tone needed for whatever music or movie source you happen to be listening to.
That type of intricate technology greatly helps with correcting any audio blur that may occur during playback of a hard-rocking CD such as Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” 2008 release, because the subwoofer’s 6-band internal EQ will kick in as soon as that CD’s first song begins to play.
The EQ levels in the subwoofer will then block out any distortion from occurring, allowing you to bask in low-end audio heaven that most other subwoofers can never achieve. Definitely worth a purchase if you need superb low-end in you audio configuration that will not set you back more than $1200.
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Why it's a best pick: An important facet of any subwoofer component has to be the bass driver. Krix, the audio manufacturer that has developed it’s “Seismix 5” line of subwoofers know this fact and has designed a sublime 305mm bass driver that pounds out high-sustaining yet clean low-end at all times.
The design team at Krix also installed a 400 watt amplifier into it’s Seismix subwoofer and included front porting which affords easy installation into a room’s walls and cabinet area.
The enclosure type of cabinet for this system is a bass reflex, front vented enclosure, which insures low distortion rates and much clearer dispersion of low-end audio signals. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Why it's a best pick: Sunfire has long been known as an audio manufacturer that is always looking to improve the overall audio clarity of all of their audio components, and the TS-EQ10 True subwoofer is no exception to this rule.
Sunfire’s design team created what they call a High Back-emf design, which delivers incredibly pure low-end audio, and when that type of design is coupled with Sunfire’s Tracking Downconverter power supply, the bass signals are substantially improved.
The clean power that is pumped through the subwoofer via the Downconverter supplier produces high levels of pristine bass that separates the TS-EQ10 apart from all the other high-end subwoofers currently on the market today.
The dual 10” woofer and auto room EQ adjustments built into the circuitry of this magnificent subwoofer all combine to reinforce my view that this audio component is a “must-have” for true audiophiles all over the world. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Hey Rob...so Nola has officially stopped making the thunderbolt subwoofer and the 203 number is out of service. Do you have a suggestion for the new #1 pick? Thanks.
I think the best bet would be for you to call the new phone number for Alón By Acaria's corporate office at 203-937-8025 and ask them where to find one of these amazing speaker components.
I really like the thunder bolt subwoofer but I can't find it anywhere online. Can you please help? I'm trying to purchase it. Thanks in advance, mike