When designing your car audio system, subwoofers will be some of the first items you have to think about. In charge of providing bass to a quality sound system, subwoofers play a major role in the entire audio experience for your vehicle.
At Laketown Speed and Sound, subwoofers are just one part of our comprehensive car audio services, which include car stereo installations and numerous other solutions as needed. One common question we get from our clients when it comes to their subs: Should I install just a single one, or multiple subwoofers? The answer depends on the precise qualities you desire, but generally speaking, multiple subs provide better sound quality. This two-part blog will dig into everything you need to know about why.
Stereo Speakers and Bass
For starters, one quick note on the importance of subwoofers overall: They take the place of stock car stereo systems that simply do not have the bass quality you need for a good sound system. Auto manufacturers have to fit their mini woofers and tweeters inside tiny spaces based on frequency needs, and this leads to significant distortion and limited Hertz for your sound. Subwoofers, however, add longer bass notes that eliminate these issues.
Resonance Reduction
So why multiple subs rather than just a single one? One of the chief reasons gets back to reducing resonance, which is what we’re talking about when we mention the tiny spaces stock vehicles use for their bass.
Subwoofers are installed in confined areas as well, producing sound waves that are reflected between the walls of the car. Using a single sub can create a situation where certain frequencies become louder than others, sometimes making the bass weaker. You can avoid this by using multiple sources of bass, which reduce interference and help balance out resonance for a smoother sound. This also makes it so sound is consistent regardless of where someone is sitting in the car.
Sharper Sound
Multiple subs, even smaller ones compared to a single larger option, provide louder sound that’s sharper and of higher quality. This is based on air displacement in a space – two speakers of a smaller size displace more air than one that’s larger.
Headroom and Smoothness
Multiple subs also create more headroom, which also leads to improved smoothness. This is through reducing compression, increasing range and limiting the distortion of sound that comes from two or more sources rather than confining them to one.
In part two of this blog series, we’ll dig into localization issues, stereo effect and other reasons why multiple subwoofers are often preferable to a single one. For more on this, or to learn about our car audio, window tinting or other services, speak to the staff at Laketown Speed and Sound today.
