Adding a subwoofer to your current sound system does a few things to your venue and audience.
First, it drops the level your audience perceive the music to be playing at. Adding more fidelity to a sound system makes the experience more pleasurable to all that listens to it,
and they will thus stay longer in that environment. We interoperate sound pressures differently as the frequency change, 80Hz played at 80 dB SPL will sound a lot softer that 800Hz or 2000Hz played at the same level. Your ear is “tuned” for human speech.
With that said, getting the best out of your 12” or 15” speakers, for your venue, restaurant, bar, or church, might sound good up to a certain level (We can electronically, make the bass (50Hz-100Hz) part of the signal so much louder that the mid and then bass part seem balanced. (Electronically and measured though, you’ll see the bass is boosted by some manner of dB over the Mids. And at moderate levels – around 60db SPL – this is not a problem, but, as the level increase, the percentage of power used by the amplifiers to produce that bass, and the amount of time spent by the drivers (The distance the cone needs to travel) increases exponentially. So, you’ll find that your system sounds good with no audience (if there is no major reflections or smooth walls in the venue) and at low levels, but as soon as the band play, and the audience get noisy – your PA starts acting up. The reason for this is that your sound system is spending all its energy (and time) producing bass frequencies that the speaker cabinet was not designed for – important to remember – AT THESE LEVELS.
Obviously, your mid-range become either distorted or unintelligible because they ask for- and get the least amount of energy in a single full range cabinet.
Adding a dedicated subwoofer does not really make your system louder, well it does, but that’s not the point of adding subwoofers. It makes your audience feel like the music is still playing at a reasonable level, they can still talk with one another, and they feel that they can be heard by others– this makes them comfortable and enjoy their surroundings, the point of the sound system in the first place.
Secondly – you can play the music a heck of a lot SOFTER without losing the bass. This is especially true for restaurants and music venues. When you have an SPL (Sound Pressure Level = Music Volume) you strive to keep at, call it 85 dB SPL, which is quite loud, and you turn the music down from there, let’s say on a Sunday morning breakfast run, you’ll find that the bass taper off far quicker than the mid- and high frequencies. In other words, the more you turn your sound system down, the more it will lose bass and become “Sharp”. Adding subwoofers allows you to compensate for this effect and add bass as needed, playing your PA at the level you need to, and just add the bass to suit the atmosphere.
You can always opt to add a bass cabinet or subwoofer to any system – almost all the time there is an optional output you can use from the sound mixer or - source, but it is better to do this with the original install. Because your customers can enjoy soft (even if it measures loud) and soft, for being soft, music at a very high fidelity (Hi-Fi) from the start.
Just a couple of declaimers:
1. This analogy does not really translate to Hi-Fi Speakers all that well, but then again hi-fi speakers are the worst idea when it comes to venue, club or church sound
2. Subwoofers obviously makes your sound system louder, but you as the operator can turn it down, reaping the effects of subwoofers ability to play well at lower levels
3. Subwoofers WILL make any 100V Line, church or live venue sound system sound better
4. Subwoofer hold a couple of tricks when they are not completely aligned with the high speakers – this depends on the venue and placement of the speakers, get this right and you’ll save money
Otherwise, or when in doubt, get in touch and have a chat with us.