tmurnin

tmurnin

Full Audioholic
i was browsing through a local a/v store and they had a big outdoor speaker display with some Paradigm and B&W speakers featured. They sounded fine but what caught my attention was that they were promoting an outdoor subwoofer as well. How exactly would an outdoor sub work given that there is infinite space to pressurize? The salesman didn't understand what I was asking and (of course) was raving about how great the subs sounded - in their acoustically treated demo room. Does anyone have experience with an outdoor sub? Is it really beneficial??
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai

Well sure it isn’t going to hit 20 Hz, but it should get deeper than the typical outdoor speaker.
Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
You can put any sub outdoors and let it play, of course, but subwoofers which are intended for outdoor use are typically meant for live sound applications, so they are usually very powerful. This is an example of a outdoor subwoofer, and with a powerful enough amp was shown to hit 140 dB above 50 Hz.

As far as pressurization goes, sound is just pressure waves. These waves weaken as they spread out over greater areas, but as long as you are close enough to the point of emission, you will hear them. Naturally a more powerful subwoofer will audibly affect a greater area. An advantage of bass waves is they do not weaken as much with distance as higher frequencies. This is why you can hear the 'boom' of cars with powerful audio systems a long distance away and never hear its treble.

Yes, you can use your sub outdoors, and it should still sound fine, as long as you are close enough to it. The nice thing about using your sub outdoors is you will hear the subwoofer's native frequency response. So if your sub has a flat frequency response, you will get a very nice bass sound and not have to worry about room acoustics messing everything up.
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
Ever been to a concert outside? They definitely use subs. You don't have to pressurize the whole space to hear or feel the benefits from a sub :)
 
P

Poultrygeist

Junior Audioholic
I use this Marcato outdoor sub on my screened porch along with a pair of Axiom Algonquins. Outdoor subs produce more bass if placed against a wall.

 
tmurnin

tmurnin

Full Audioholic
Thanks. Obviously I forgot all about the outdoor concert thing, but that makes sense. Maybe something to look at down the road
 

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