Comparison Yamaha NS-SW100 vs Onkyo SKW-208

— Behind. It is recommended to install subwoofers with a rear bass reflex so that the back of the case, where the bass reflex is located, is away from the wall. If you put such a subwoofer right next to the wall, then the sound quality will be noticeably reduced. Bass reflex subwoofers on the back of the cabinet are usually placed in the centre of the room. If it is not possible to put acoustics in the centre, then they try to place this type of subwoofers away from the wall that the bass reflex is looking at.

— Front. Front-facing bass reflex subwoofers are good if the acoustics need to deeply reveal the image of low-frequency sound. Acoustics of this type are recommended for music in which there is a lot of bass. The front location of the phase inverter allows you to put the subwoofer almost close to the wall.

— From below. Bass reflex subwoofers are designed to be hung at a height. In this case, there will be no interference in the path of low-frequency sound, that is, the bass will be revealed as fully as possible. If it is not possible to hang such a subwoofer, then it is permissible to put the acoustics on a high stand. But the stand should not overlap the phase inverter.

— Sideways. Subwoofers with a side bass reflex can be placed close to the wall and in the corner, but if the corner wall does...not block the bass reflex. The lateral location of the phase inverter allows acoustics to focus on mid-frequency and high-frequency sound. The low frequency sound will become moderate. This is the optimal acoustic scheme for watching movies.

Rated power of the subwoofer. Technically, this is the highest average (rms) sound power at which the device can work normally (without sound distortion and damage to components) for an unlimited time. Simply put, the more powerful the subwoofer, the louder it is. The choice for this parameter depends primarily on the size of the space / room that is planned to be covered; detailed recommendations for different situations can be found in special sources.

Also, the power is directly related to the characteristics of the amplifier used with the subwoofer. For active subwoofers (see "Type"), this item actually indicates the nominal power of the built-in amplifier; the speaker itself can be more powerful, but it doesn't matter anymore. For passive models, the power rating corresponds to the highest amplifier power that can be connected to the speaker without the risk of damaging it at high volume.

Subwoofer AC impedance. This parameter matters primarily when connected to an external amplifier: if the impedance is lower than that of the amplifier, sound distortion is possible, if the impedance is higher, the subwoofer may sound quieter than we would like.

The range of audio frequencies reproduced by the subwoofer. As a general rule, the wider the frequency range, the richer the sound and the more detail the speaker can convey. However, it is worth remembering that subwoofers as a class are designed for low and ultra-low frequencies in the range from 20 to 150 (sometimes 200) Hz. Therefore, in fact, a significant difference in sound is noticeable only with a large difference in the reproducible ranges (for example, 20-200 Hz and 50-150 Hz).

Also, do not forget that an extensive frequency range is not yet a guarantee of high-quality sound; and in some cases (for example, if the main speakers of the speaker also cope well with low frequencies), it may be completely redundant.

The ability to shift the sound produced by the subwoofer in phase — usually by 180 °, but in some models the option is also available by 90 °.

Sound vibrations can be represented as a sinusoid. In some cases, the sinusoids from the subwoofer and from the main speakers may be out of phase — for example, with a difference in distance, inconsistency in the operation of amplifiers, etc. This degrades the sound quality. And the phase adjustment allows you to correct the situation and coordinate the subwoofer with the rest of the components of the speaker system.

The presence of an adjustable crossover in the design of the subwoofer.

A crossover is a device that divides the audio signal into separate frequency bands and directs each band to "its own" speakers. See "Crossover Frequency" for more on this. Here we note that the adjustable crossover allows you to change the upper threshold of the frequencies supplied to the subwoofer. This allows you to optimally match the bass speaker with the main speakers — so that, on the one hand, the bass does not overlap, on the other, there is no gap between the subwoofer and the rest of the acoustics.

Cutoff frequency of the crossover installed in the subwoofer (or supplied with it — for passive models, see "Type").

The crossover splits the audio signal into separate frequencies so that only the bass goes to the subwoofer and only the main range goes to the speakers. Such a device is mainly equipped with home models (see above). And the crossover frequency is the upper threshold of the frequencies fed to the subwoofer. This information is important for matching with the rest of the speakers: ideally, the lower threshold of the main acoustics should correspond to the upper threshold of the subwoofer, otherwise the frequencies will either overlap or dip in them (neither of which contributes to sound quality). For the convenience of matching, the crossover can be made adjustable (see above).

- MDF. Medium-density fiberboard is one of the most popular materials for modern speaker cabinets, including subwoofers. This is due, on the one hand, to the relatively low cost and neat appearance, and on the other hand, to excellent acoustic characteristics. MDF cases are found in “subs” for all purposes and price categories.

- Tree. Natural wood is well suited for low-frequency acoustic enclosures; its performance characteristics are comparable to MDF described above. At the same time, this material is considered more “natural” and has its own beautiful surface pattern, but is noticeably more expensive. Therefore, although wooden cases are common, they are not as widespread as MDF.

- Plastic. The main advantage of plastic is its low cost, but it is very difficult to create a body with the necessary acoustic characteristics from this material. Therefore, plastic subwoofers are extremely rare, mostly built-in models.

- Metal. In this case, we mean various alloys and aluminium models. The metal is highly durable, but the acoustic characteristics are far from optimal. This requires the use of various tricks, which respectively affect the price of a metal subwoofer. Therefore, this option is quite rare.