What we all enjoy most about subwoofers is their deep and powerful bass. An engrossing and exhilarating listening experience is provided by the stunning and mesmerizing feeling of vibrations. Because of this, music is a wonderful medicine for both the intellect and the spirit.
However, if you want to experience the deep, earth-shaking bass of your subwoofer, you must first learn the physics of sound and the complete audio frequency spectrum algorithm to tune your subwoofer.
For a seamless transition between the subwoofer and speaker, you’ll need to rely on your ears while fine-tuning the subwoofer frequency. Auto-calibration is available on many current AV receivers, however the settings may still need to be tweaked manually.
To help you decide what Hz is optimal for your subwoofer’s bass, this brief tutorial breaks these complicated audio spectrum range spans into simple frequency bands. To determine which Hz rating is suitable for your subwoofer, we’ll look into the sub-bass and bass categories.
How does a subwoofer work?
Your speakers’ bass can’t be fully reproduced without a subwoofer because of its low-frequency response. Those frequencies range from 20 hertz (Hz) all the way up to 80 hertz (Hz). In order to get punchy bass out of a subwoofer, you need to tune or modify it. Fortunately, most current systems include auto-calibration, so you don’t have to do any of the labor.
To get the most out of your subwoofer, you’ll also need to adjust the frequency, gain (volume), or phase of the subwoofer. The acoustics of the room are also critical.
The sub also deals with bass responsible for having the highest energy. Low-frequency audio power is relieved from speakers by the subwoofer, which also provides powerful and tight bass.
Human Hearing Capacity
Some subwoofers are capable of producing low frequencies down to 20 Hz. People are less able to hear the sound as the frequency drops below 20Hz. With great hearing and an acoustically clear environment, humans can detect frequencies as low as 12 Hz in the best of circumstances.
Frequencies in the 4–16 Hz range, on the other hand, are often felt but not heard. Physical vibrations, rather than audible sound, are the result of a subwoofer that can produce such low frequencies.
What Hz is best for subwoofer?
Most subwoofers have a 20-120 Hz rating, which is ideal for bass. The more bass you can obtain, the lower the Hz. There are several excellent subwoofers available with a Hz range like this. As long as the bass is vital to you, you should avoid subwoofers with a set Hz rating.
Understanding Frequency Ranges
Since sound is a wave, you presumably already know this. What you may not have known is that sound waves have two measurements: amplitude (height) and wavelength (frequency) (distance between peaks). On the other hand, frequency is the inverse of wavelength and is used to determine how densely packed a wave’s peak is.
Frequency is now measured by focusing on the cycle of a wave. The time interval between two peaks, known as a cycle, is often expressed in hertz (Hz), which is equal to one hertz here. This indicates that a wave cycle will travel through a certain place in space in roughly one second.
As far as frequency is concerned, pitch is the most important thing to remember. As a result, the lower the pitch, the lower the frequency. A look at the six basic frequency bands and their sound characteristics will help you better comprehend how these frequencies function.
Sub-Bass (20Hz-60Hz)
Despite the fact that the human ear is unable to detect infrasonic and subsonic frequencies, bass frequencies are quite low and may be heard by the human ear. Due to its rambling and earthshaking properties, the deep punchy bass they generate makes these extremely low bass frequencies readily felt rather than heard.
Bass (60Hz-250Hz)
Low-midrange, sometimes known as sub-bass, is a blend of sub-bass and midrange sounds.
Low-Midrange (250Hz-2.5KHz)
The human ear is most sensitive and receptive in this range. Boosting the frequency range above 1kHz might make the sound a little muffled, making it difficult to hear.
Upper-Midrange/Tremble (2kHz-4kHz)
Your ears are particularly sensitive to this frequency range. In this case, you must be very cautious while increasing the frequency since a tiny variation might result in higher-pitched sounds that can cause listening fatigue.
Presence (4kHz-6kHz)
The clarity of a sound is generally determined by this spectrum. The tremor of most home stereos falls within this range. Increasing this range may result in an abrasive, annoying sound, while dropping it too much can produce a distant, clean sound.
Brilliance (6kHz-20kHz)
As far as your home theater system is concerned, you won’t be hearing much of this frequency. You’ll hear a glittering, crisp sound from your audio system if you play music in this range. Clipping, which may harm your speakers’ tweeters, is the worst thing about this frequency. Boosting it can cause it.
What is Bass?
To begin, what exactly is a sub-bass? Using the information we just examined, sub-bass is a frequency range between 20Hz and 160Hz.
60Hz is the ideal starting point for sub-bass frequencies, which may go down to roughly 20Hz. When you’re listening to music, the subwoofer’s crackling and heart-thumping vibrations may be felt at this point. Bass guitars, kick drums, pipe organs, and stand-up basses are often used to produce bass sounds.
How Much Bass Can You Expect With a Lower Frequency?
As far as delivering punchy bass is concerned, subwoofers are the greatest option for any music system. Generally speaking, the lower the Hz, the more bass you’ll get out of your music. Some of the best subwoofers are capable of reproducing bass frequencies down to 20Hz in most circumstances.
Some subwoofers, on the other hand, are capable of far more. As long as you’re not seeking for commercial-grade music, a frequency range of 20Hz and higher is typically the most ideal..
Lower Limits of Subwoofers
Subwoofers lose efficiency when the frequency decreases to zero. In order to reproduce the lowest tones, larger subwoofers are better at it. Significant power and high excursion both contribute to low-frequency output. Both the material’s quality and the enclosure’s design are very significant factors. Although some subs can get as low as 1 Hz, this feat can only be validated with specialized scientific equipment since 1 Hz is much too low for the average person to perceive.
Upper Limits of Subwoofers
The top frequency range of subwoofers is normally restricted to 200 Hz or less. Subwoofers, on the other hand, are designed only to handle the lowest frequencies and cannot produce sounds that are audible to the human ear. It is feasible to increase the higher frequency limit of a subwoofer, but doing so would need design changes that would reduce the lower frequency limit. Other speakers in an audio system are better suited to produce frequencies over 200 Hz.
Crossovers
An audio speaker’s frequency response may be curtailed with the use of crossovers. Low-pass filters are often used in crossovers for subwoofers. The subwoofer can only hear sources with hertz values below a specified threshold using a low-pass filter. If a subwoofer can produce sound in the 20-200 Hz range, but a crossover limits the sub to just generating frequencies below 100 Hz, this is an example of a crossover at work. When other speakers in the system can handle frequencies over 100 Hz, the subwoofer’s contribution may be limited to the lowest frequencies.
Placement of a subwoofer
- For large room use 12” or more woofer size in a sub
- For small rooms, use the compact size of a sub
- Use subwoofer crawl technique: place the sub in your listening position, then walk around the room to detect 3 or 4 places where the sub sounds best.
Then put the sub in those places and listen to a music track again. Finally, find out the best place for the sub.
Conclusion
I will conclude by confessing that sound systems and sound enjoyment are two subjective factors. While one group of people prefer the deep punchy bass, the other prefers to listen to their music at the midrange level.
In either way, the best thing is that you’ve clearly understood how the subwoofer works and which Hz is best for bass. So, if you’re planning to buy a new car or home subwoofer, you now know that the best Hz to consider for deep bass is the one ranging from 20Hz and 120Hz. I hope, this will help you to find out The Best Hz For a Subwoofer.
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Freelance tech journalist & author of soundboxlab.com …Read More
