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Thread: difference between a woofer and a subwoofer?

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    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    difference between a woofer and a subwoofer?

    anyone somewhat verbose have a definitive answer?

    i keep telling this guy i know to not refer to the 8 inch woofer in the modern "mini-monitors" as subs....

    he says there is no difference between the two...

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    Senior Member edgewound's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by louped garouv View Post
    anyone somewhat verbose have a definitive answer?

    i keep telling this guy i know to not refer to the 8 inch woofer in the modern "mini-monitors" as subs....

    he says there is no difference between the two...
    There are many variations of both...but I'd say a subwoofer is dedicated to reproducing only the freqencies below 150-200hz, and is not capable of doing work above that threshold with any degree of accuracy.

    For instance. the 2235H can, and is, used as a subwoofer...but it's also used as a woofer in two, three and four way full range systems..upt to 1khz in a system such as the 4430.

    Too many uninformed, ignorant or just plain stupid people insist that the woofer be called a subwoofer? Why? Because they're just plain stupid and refuse to listen
    Edgewound...JBL Pro Authorized...since 1988
    Upland Loudspeaker Service, Upland, CA

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    Senior Seņor boputnam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by louped garouv View Post
    ...i keep telling this guy i know to not refer to the 8 inch woofer in the modern "mini-monitors" as subs....
    Er, actually, as edge points out, it is a function of the band pass it operates in.

    If it only supports LF, below, say, 100Hz, it is operating as a sub-woofer. The diameter of the woofer has little bearing on it being a "sub-woofer"...
    bo

    "Indeed, not!!"

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    Quote Originally Posted by edgewound View Post
    Too many uninformed, ignorant or just plain stupid people insist that the woofer be called a subwoofer? Why? Because they're just plain stupid and refuse to listen
    .

    Oh come on, a little dawgy is never going woof as low and as loud big dawgy. Are you saying they are deaf as well a dumb?....LOL

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    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by boputnam View Post
    Er, actually, as edge points out, it is a function of the band pass it operates in.

    If it only supports LF, below, say, 100Hz, it is operating as a sub-woofer. The diameter of the woofer has little bearing on it being a "sub-woofer"...

    but they are two way units....

    i would think, offhand, the 8" cone was doing more than just below 200Hz...


    i do hear what ya'll are saying tho'


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    Senior Seņor boputnam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by louped garouv View Post
    but they are two way units....
    Oh...

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    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    Hello louped garouv

    Well it seems with the advent of 5-6" woofers in many systems some guys see an 8 and it's a subwoofer by it's size alone. In a 2 way it's obviously a woofer. I doubt there is any or much extension into the first octave say 20-40 Hz as it's used. Figure HT subs cover the first 2 octaves so if you look at it as bass below 80Hz well then???? Me I agree with you.

    Rob

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    Well, another important point is that subwoofers (regardless of size) almost never share a cabinet with the other drivers in a sound reproduction system. In order to be properly tuned they need cabinets that are generally different in size, shape, volume, and construction from typical speaker cabinets.

    Thus I can have a 2235 that's a wide-range woofer in a 4430 and a 2235 that's a narrow-range subwoofer in a B380.

    It's really interesting that the LE14H-1 is a woofer (crossing over at 400Hz), and the 108H is a midbass driver in the 250Ti, while in the PT800/PS1400 stack, the LE14H-3 is a subwoofer (crossing over at 130Hz) and the 908Ti is a woofer. Of course, the LE14H-1 is in a separate enclosure, even when stacked.

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    Senior Seņor boputnam's Avatar
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    btw, Rob - nice avatar!

    Tell us how the newbies sound!!??

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    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    Thanks Bo

    I have an MTM thread going I don't want to hijack this one. They are OK

    Rob

    http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...ad.php?t=17450

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    Quote Originally Posted by louped garouv View Post
    anyone somewhat verbose have a definitive answer?

    i keep telling this guy i know to not refer to the 8 inch woofer in the modern "mini-monitors" as subs....

    he says there is no difference between the two...

    The sub in subwoofer stands for "sub frequency" . Without the sub it is a woofer.

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    Senior Member LowPhreak's Avatar
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    "difference between a woofer and a subwoofer?"

    About 20Hz more at the low end.

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