Woofer
TL;DR
A woofer is the largest driver in a speaker cabinet - handles bass and low midrange frequencies. Common sizes in bookshelves: 4-6.5 inches; in towers: 5-8 inches; dedicated subwoofers: 8-15 inches. Larger woofer = deeper bass at the cost of higher-frequency accuracy.
A woofer is the driver responsible for low frequencies in a speaker. Named “woofer” for the low “woof” sound versus the high “tweet” of the tweeter.
Common sizes
- 4-5 inch – compact bookshelves (HiVi-Swans Oasis 140). Rolls off around 70-80 Hz. Needs subwoofer for full-range.
- 5.25 inch – typical bookshelf woofer (Sony SS-CS5M2, Klipsch RP-500M II). Reaches ~50 Hz.
- 6.5 inch – larger bookshelf, small tower (HiVi-Swans D3.1 MKII, RP-600M II). Reaches ~40-45 Hz.
- 8+ inch – towers, dedicated bass drivers
Trade-off
Larger woofers move more air = deeper bass at higher SPL. But large woofers have more mass and beam higher frequencies (become directional), which is why 3-way designs use a dedicated midrange driver above the woofer.
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