If you don’t understand how your speaker system works, then you are going to have an awful hard time making the right choice on what kind of bass you need. Though it might seem a little bit complicated at first, the numbers are pretty easy to figure out if you take a little bit of time to try and understand. For instance, if you are working with a 5.1 system, then the subwoofer in your system is going to represent the .1 of that combination. What does this mean in practical terms? It means that your subwoofer is going to be providing 10% of the range when compared to the other speakers in your system. Why is this important for your home sound system? It enables your other speakers to do what they were meant to do and doesn’t force them to provide the low sounds.
So how do you decide if you actually need a subwoofer or not for your home audio system? The answer to that question is a pretty easy one. If you are trying to put together a full home audio system, then you absolutely have to have a subwoofer. There is really no way to put together a system without that, so you will need to get a good one. Some people will just require a two-channel capability if they only want to listen to music or something and then they will not need a subwoofer. Really, it is up to you and how much capability you need. A subwoofer will always be a good way to manage your bass if you are in need of it, though.
What exactly is this bass management that we keep bringing up? Bass management, for lack of a better definition, is the ability to play the type of bass that a normal speaker just can’t produce. There is a wide range of sounds that you can get out of your full range speakers, but the deep bass sounds often evade them. The problem with not having a subwoofer is that you are going to be putting a lot of strain on your system. The more range you try to make your speakers handle, the more they will struggle and eventually, it will make life really hard on your speakers. It will make things tough on your amplifier and things will break much more quickly. This is why the idea of bass management is such an important one.
What can bad bass management do to your system? How can it impact the performance of your home audio system? Distorted frequencies have long been the killer for many audio systems and the amps that power them. You will end up messing up just about ever frequency that you have in your entire system and nothing will sound right. In addition, if you push things too hard, you might even end up blowing out an amp. Any of these things would be an extremely negative experience for you. This is why bass management is such an important thing.
