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Q Acoustics' new Q SUB subwoofers boast ease of use and easy price

Q Acoustics' new Q SUB subwoofers boast ease of use and easy price

Yahoo07-03-2025
Those Brits make excellent speakers, and today one of the country's finest purveyors of audio goodness, Q Acoustics, announced a trio of powerful active subwoofers that it hopes will make integration into any system easy, while not blowing out your wallet. The Q Sub series woofers include the 8-inch Q SUB80, the 10-inch Q SUB100 and a 12-inch model, Q SUB120, range from $900 to $1,200, and are available now.
Made to integrate into both existing home theater or two-channel music systems, be it a Q Acoustics setup or another brand of speakers, the three sizes of Q Sub speakers make it easy to properly pair them up with your speakers as well as the size of room you need to fill with sound. Ranging in power from 200- to 300-watts of continuous power (400- to 600-watts peak), it's unlikely you'll be wanting for more.
Subwoofer placement and setup can be a fickle beast, so Q Acoustics is putting an emphasis on easy system integration and setup with the Q Sub series. Employing DSP (digital signal processing) and easy phase and delay fine-tuning, as well as low pass filtering and frequency response adjustments (from a wide 40 to 250 Hz) for matching with a broad range of speakers, Q Acoustics hopes to tame the setup beast. The Q Sub subwoofers also use automatic source detection that identifies the source signal type (be that stereo, mono, integrated amplifier, or set of powered speakers) and its level so it can automatically adjust the sub's volume. The auto detection will also out the sub in standby mode after 20 minutes of inactivity.
All three Q Sub woofers are built using '18 mm high-density MDF with a 36-mm double-thickness baffle,' and 'internal dart bracing,' which Q Acoustics says offers big strength and stability that reduces something called 'cabinet ballooning' — all this translates to excellent performance under huge amounts of low frequency pressure.
The drivers in each of the Q Sub speakers are made up of a heavy-duty steel chassis, paper cone, and rubber surround and, as mentioned above, come in 8-, 10-, and 12-inch sizes. Here's a more detailed rundown of each Q Sub subwoofer:
SUB80 (8-inch), 200-watts continuous, 400 watts peak, size: 12.4 x 12.4 13.6 inches, 33 pounds, $899
SUB100 (10-inch), 250-watts continuous, 500 watts peak, size: 13.7 x 13.7 x 15 inches, 36.8 pounds, $1,049
SUB120 (12-inch), 300-watts continuous, 600 watts peak, size: 15.7 x 15.7 x 17 inches, 49.6 pounds, $1,199
The Q Acoustics Q Sub series subwoofers are available in two finishes — Satin Black with a black grille or Satin White with a grey grille — and are all available now at the Q Acoustics website.
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In a smaller space, a big subwoofer, played at normal levels, can completely overwhelm and produce too much bass, which swamps the midrange and treble frequencies from the speakers or soundbar. Alex Munro says it's important to assess the size of a subwoofer to ensure it matches the size of speakers you are using. For example, bookshelf speakers can't reproduce much bass because of their small cabinet volume. They simply can't shift the quantities of air needed to get those big fat bass tones. So, with a pair of bookshelf speakers, you need a subwoofer that can take over the bass duties However, if you have a large pair of floorstanding speakers, they can already produce a good bass response, so in a 2.1 you'll need to dial back the crossover point where the subwoofer kicks in and restricts it to reproducing just the very low frequency levels, so a larger subwoofer is beneficial Location, Location, Location Where you place the subwoofer matters a lot. 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These settings need to be adjusted to your room as well as the main speakers or soundbar you are using. The subwoofer's volume should be set conservatively. While a heavy bass is thrilling, less is often more because a thumping bass can make the ears tired. Ideally, you should aim for a level that produces a natural blend with the speakers instead of a dominating thump. The phase control—often a simple polarity switch—helps ensure the bass from the subwoofer complements the output from the main speakers. Try alternative settings until the sound feels like it's working with the speakers instead of against them. While you are at it, make sure the main speakers are set up properly with the positive and negative from the amplifier connected to the positive and negative binding posts on both the speakers. The crossover control determines the frequency point where the sub takes over from the speakers. If you set it at too high a level, the bass will overlap awkwardly with the stereo speakers. If it's set too low, there will be a gap in the sound. For 2.1 Alex Munro suggests checking the specifications of your main speaker system and starting the crossover just below that lower limit. For Home Cinema, set the crossover as high as it can go. If you've set up your subwoofer properly, you shouldn't notice the bass frequencies as a separate source. Ideally, the bass should augment the main speakers by filling the sound out and underpinning everything with a more dynamic low-end. Two Are Better Than One A recent development, according to Alex Munro, is the use of two subwoofers. Despite what I said about a subwoofer not being directional, some people advocate for two subwoofers for their home cinema setup to significantly improve the bass response and overall sound quality. The reason for this is that multiple subwoofers can help to smooth the bass response over the whole listening area and reduce room modes. A second subwoofer can also provide more headroom by using two smaller subwoofers instead of one large unit. A single subwoofer can create 'hot spots' and 'dead spots' in a larger room where the bass is either too loud or too weak. Multiple subwoofers placed strategically can help distribute the bass more evenly throughout the room for a more consistent listening experience. With a single subwoofer, the frequency response can be uneven because of peaks and dips in certain frequency ranges. Multiple subwoofers, when properly placed and calibrated, can help reduce these irregularities, delivering a more balanced and natural-sounding bass. Two smaller subwoofers placed correctly can also be less intrusive than one massive subwoofer. Reduced Room Modes Room modes are resonances that occur at specific frequencies caused by the interaction of soundwaves with a room's dimensions. These modes can cause booming, a muddy bass or areas where there is little to no bass. Dual subwoofers can help fill these areas by distributing the bass energy more evenly for a cleaner and more accurate low-frequency response. Two subwoofers can also enable each unit to operate at a lower volume with less strain, increasing the system's headroom. This means the subwoofers can reproduce a louder and more dynamic bass without distorting or clipping, serving up a more powerful and immersive listening experience with more impact. So, if you've been toying with the idea of extending your bass, these tips from Alex Munro and the team at Q Acoustics could help you get the kind of sound you want from your home theater or stereo. You can check out the Q Acoustics subwoofer range here.

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