Subwoofers

Modern electronics have made almost everything smaller, including audio components like speakers. Of course, no plan is perfect and, though these new, smaller woofers and tweeters put out great sound, the smaller speaker drivers are unable to reproduce low-frequency audio signals to their best potential. You can fight city hall, but you can't fight the laws of physics, so, enter the subwoofer.

"Subs" don't have to be huge, but they have to be built for low frequency audio. Subwoofers are usually placed near the center channel speaker. However, the human ear can't really tell where low frequencies originate, so you can place a subwoofer pretty much wherever it looks best in the room. You could even buy speaker mounts and hang them on the walls or ceiling.

Many subwoofers today are also powered speakers, meaning they have an internal amplifier and connect directly to the source: CD, DVD and so on. Some subwoofers are as small as 6 to 8 inches and 50W RMS; they can go as high as the consumer wants; just be careful you don't crack your foundation (just kidding).

Many audio connoisseurs today are choosing multi-channel surround sound speaker systems. These are sold in packages, identified by the number of speakers in the group—5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 are most common. The ".1" is the subwoofer. Surround sound speakers offer some advantages over selecting individual components. These new audio equipment kits are designed for two reasons; so the stereo amplifier will put out enough power to run all the speakers and so the impedance will match. Most amplifiers and speakers are rated at 4, 8 or 16 Ohms of impedance; they work best when those numbers match.

Whatever your choice in speaker technology, Overstock.com has something for you--well, two things, if you also count the really low prices.