9+ Best Home Theater Subwoofer Under $ 500 | Ultimate Guide 2022

Do you want deeper sound for your Home Theater, Cinema, or HiFi stereo system? Adding a subwoofer to your speaker system is certainly the solution you are looking for. Let’s see which are the Best Home Theater Subwoofer Under $ 500 on the market for features, performance, and price ranges.

Best Home Theater Subwoofer Under $ 500

 What exactly is a subwoofer?

The purpose of a subwoofer is to create and produce the lowest tones of the dynamic range of any audio system. A quality subwoofer is capable of recreating a 20-hertz test tone. This is usually more physical (felt) than auditory. This makes the subwoofer perfect for home theater use.

A 30-hertz subwoofer, on the other hand, fits well in most environments and fits a wide range of music. Many subwoofers are powered today.

 This implies that their construction consists of a built-in amplifier and a crossover filter. The latter allows you to control the high-frequency response of the car which fits the main speakers. The way a subwoofer works is also decided by its placement, which can vary from room to room.

Best Home Theater Subwoofer Under $ 500 | Comparison Table 2022

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Best Home Theater Subwoofer Under $ 500 | 2022

How to choose the best active subwoofer for home Under 500 USD

Choosing the best subwoofer for your home doesn’t have to be superficial.

The sound emitted by the sub is a low, dark, grave sound: if distorted and not of the quality it risks covering all other sounds, making you unnecessarily vibrate furniture, glass, and in all probability even the speaker grille.

Therefore devote some time carefully to what will be the evaluation and analysis of the chosen parameters.

Here are some pointers.

Sound system:

Before buying the subwoofer, analyze your audio system. Is it suited to your expectations and needs?

Can it support (and handle) the subwoofer? And does the sub you’re choosing have the right inputs to connect to the system you already have?

If you have a quality system, target a sub of the same level.

Equally, if your audio system is cheap, opt for an entry-level woofer, perhaps following our instructions provided above.

A cheap sub may not give you a bad yield, but a lot depends on your system.

Positioning:

How much space do you have to place the subwoofer?

The diver places himself on the ground, near the walls of an environment, but his performance may vary depending on the positioning and the surface of the room.

Basically, the principle is that the larger the sub is dimensional, the better it performs, because a greater amount of air passes through which will make you perceive a more full-bodied sound.

Placing a 20 cm cube for a 30 square meter room makes no sense: you would have a disappointing yield and you would have spent your money badly.

Think about where you would like to place your audio accessory and think accordingly based on the space available.

Fundamental advice: never place the subwoofer on a shelf or shelf.

Always place it on the ground, preferably next to a linear wall to improve the sound diffusion of the waves, which would be penalized by the corners.

We have written an article that gives more in-depth information on this topic, if you want to know where you can place both the Subwoofer and the Soundbar you can read our Guide by clicking here.

Power:

Power is not everything, even if the opposite is often thought. Having a lot of it without having control makes no sense, just as it must be commensurate with the spaces available.

It is useless to have a 200 Watt sub in a bedroom and it is also useless to have a 50 Watt sub for a reception hall.

Speaker diameter:

Is critical. One of the main guiding parameters of the choice. The diameter measurement is generally expressed in inches and cm. The former range from 4 to 34 overall.

A good home sub should be at least 10 inches for a medium-sized environment. The larger the diameter of the diffuser cone, the more air it can handle and the better the sound comes out.

Adjustments and Inputs:

A good subwoofer gives you the ability to vary the intensity of the bass. This way you can modify the acoustics according to your musical preferences. The performance improves as you adjust the bass intensity to the type of audio you are listening to.

Entrances:

A look at the entrances you should give. Don’t take a device that has metered inputs, but try to be versatile. Some contemplate the possibility of connecting different systems.

Frequent questions :

Let’s try to answer with precision some of the most common questions regarding subwoofers, thus also trying to provide an orientation to the choice.

1) What is the difference between active and passive subwoofers?

You are immediately faced with a big difference that you must consider when choosing, also based on your type of audio system.

Active subwoofer: it is a sub that incorporates an amplifier. In this way, you will get a more full-bodied sound, at a relatively lower cost than the passive solution.

Passive subwoofer: the subwoofer has no internal amplification, but transmits a sound already amplified by an external device connected to it.

The acoustic quality is on average better, but the costs are rising considerably to the point that all the major producers are focusing on the first solution, which, thanks to modern technology, minimizes the sound gap.

2) Does the positioning of the subwoofer matter?

No, the positioning of the subwoofer is decisive for its sound performance.

Although it is not subject to the strict rules of the placement of normal audio speakers (for example of a 5.1 Home Theater), it still has some peculiarities that you must respect.

It is true that it gives you a few more possibilities that also compensate for the eye from an aesthetic point of view, but you have to give priority to the sound.

The sub must be placed on the floor, near walls, or in any case under the TV centrally, trying to avoid corners, unless there is a specific indication.

This is because the waves emitted could bounce off the double wall of the corner of the room and mix with the others, creating confusion and making you perceive a sound that is a little mixed and not very clear.

In extreme cases, it could also be positioned behind the listener, even if the ideal is centrally in front or immediately moved.

The low frequencies are not all audible to the human ear and therefore leave a little more positioning elasticity.

3) Why should you buy a subwoofer?

Buying a subwoofer allows the sound to be fuller and fuller as this type of equipment emphasizes the low frequencies of the audio.

This implies the possibility of having more real and enveloping acoustics. Try listening to your favorite song by adjusting the equalization of your audio system (even in the car), minimizing or completely removing the bass.

What do you think? It seems that something is missing as if it were incomplete work. In fact, the low sounds are also present in small compact stereos just to validate the music and sounds.

To identify the ideal system, it is useful to observe the indications of DVDs, films, or Home Theater systems.

When you see written for example 2.1 or 5.1, just that number 1 is indicative of the channel designed for low frequencies.

This means that there is a predisposition to let the bass come out not from the normal speakers, but from a way capable of enhancing them, precisely the subwoofer.

4) How important is the brand when choosing a subwoofer?

One would have to answer that the brand is one of the aspects that more than others know how to help the choice, more than anything else in terms of reliability, experience, and technology.

The secret is not to channel the low frequencies by directing them towards a bass-reflex cone, but the key aspect is how they come out.

Low frequencies tend to vibrate objects (even people) and if the structure that incorporates the entire system is not more than adequate, unnecessary vibrations and possible breakages are felt over time.

The brand identifies a guarantee of reliability, or so it should be. However, another important thing must be specified.

There are brands that are not known in Italy, but that boast great experience in the audio and subwoofer sector.

Before buying, it is good to spend a few minutes on the internet to find information about apparently unknown brands, but which perhaps offer quality products or at an attractive price.

Jamo, Denon, Klipsch, Canton, are just some examples of excellent brands not very visible in Italy, but worthy of consideration.

5) How much does a subwoofer cost?

It depends on the brand, the size, the components used in the construction and in the project. Lastly, also from the power, even if it is not a fundamental parameter to determine the investment.

An entry-level sub that has a build quality, however, of a decent level, can cost around 150-200 dollars.

A more interesting product that can offer much more in terms of quality and reliability can reach 350-420 dollars (and you would buy an excellent product), while going up the range, again for domestic installations, it is also necessary to foresee 1,000 dollars for absolutely top of the range products.

On average, we can say that for a typical home application, spending from 300 to 400 dollars would already be a way to get hold of a valuable product, not only economic but also acoustic and aesthetic.

To provide some indication of a product that we have not reviewed before, but which certainly deserves mention for the value for money, especially in the mid-range of the sector, is the JBL Arena Series, perfectly fitting with some models in the indicated range and of sure reliability. structural and acoustic.