PA Subwoofers

Low-frequency reinforcement from Martin Audio and NEXO, from compact boxes for speech and background systems up to double-18 touring subwoofers, including cardioid designs where spill control matters. The range splits into active and passive sub-categories, with an accessories section for covers, wheelboards and stacking hardware.

Format is the first call. A single 12 or 15 adds weight to speech and playback and is often all a function room needs. Single 18s handle most band and DJ work. Double 18s carry dance floors and outdoor stages, and they carry them a long way, which is as much a neighbour problem as a specification one.

Powered models keep amplification and processing in the box and suit portable work where every extra rack is another trip to the van. Passive cabinets assume amplifier channels and DSP in the rack, which suits installs, flown positions and touring inventories where a failure is a channel swap rather than a cabinet coming down. Decide where you want the weight and the spend before comparing boxes.

Cardioid designs deserve more attention than they get. By cancelling energy behind the cabinet they keep low end off the stage, out of the microphones and away from the room next door, which is often the difference between a system that works in a venue with a noise limit and one that does not.

Stay inside one manufacturer’s family where you can. Published crossover points and limiter presets for matched top and sub pairs are proven by the maker; mixing families means doing that alignment work yourself, and the usual result is a hole or a hump around the crossover that no amount of graphic EQ fixes.

The subwoofer guide covers sizing, crossover points, mono centre clusters against left and right, and cardioid and end-fire arrays. Matching tops are in the Point Source categories and amplification is under Amplifiers.

Subwoofer FAQs

What size sub do I need? A single 12″ or 15″ lifts speech and playback in function rooms; single 18s cover most band and DJ work; double 18s carry dance floors and outdoor stages. Placement matters as much as size, see choosing and placing subwoofers.

What is a cardioid sub? A design that cancels energy behind the stack, less spill on stage and to the neighbours, which is why noise-sensitive venues spec them.

Active or passive? Same logic as tops: active for portable simplicity, passive with system amplification for scale, compared here.