Car Subwoofers
When you're looking to swap out your vehicle's original sound system for an aftermarket set of speakers, you'll need woofers and subwoofers to produce the bass. You can pick and choose from many brands, models, and sets of specifications. When you're ready to change the sound of your music, you can narrow down your options and decide which subwoofer is optimal for your desired bass.
What types of subwoofers are available?- Enclosed non-powered - This passive bass subwoofer has the protection of an enclosure and will need an amplifier.
- Enclosed powered - No additional amplifier is necessary to use this protected subwoofer as it has internal amplification.
- Non-enclosed non-powered - These passive car subwoofers without enclosures will need external amplifiers.
- Non-enclosed powered - No external amplifier is necessary for this item, but make sure you keep it safe from dust, dirt, and liquids.
- Single - The single voice coil will have a single wire wrapped around the cylinder, with one positive terminal and one negative. The single audio coil has only one ohm option, which is the one listed.
- Dual - Dual audio coils have two wires wrapped around the cylinder and two of each terminal. This allows you to adjust the ohms slightly to be wired to match your amplifier.
- Quad - The quad audio voice coils have four wires and four of each terminal. They can significantly adjust the produced ohms to match the amplifier.
An important option to consider when picking a car subwoofer is the desired RMS, or average output. Since your car's audio system can't handle the peak bass spikes on a regular basis, you need to know how much sound it can handle regularly.
- Voltage - Using a voltmeter, find the voltage of the subwoofer or other speaker.
- Amperage - A multimeter will give you the ability to find the amperage released by the component.
- Average output - Multiply the voltage and the amperage to determine the average output. This number will determine if the sound system will work for your needs.
If you have a compact or other type of economy car, the most room you will have is for 8-inch and 10-inch subwoofers that will be able to produce a solid bass. Ten-inch car subwoofers are commonly used in vehicles that play significant amounts of rock and country music.