Is a 150 watt sub for a home theater good?

Question

We have a Sony home theater system, but have no subwoofer for it. I am looking online for subs, but don't know much about them. Is a 150 watt good enough? We don't need anything spectacular (not looking to spend a huge amount), but just want some good bass for realism for the surround when watching movies. Thanks! Also, if you have any recommendations that would be great!

Answer 1

I have a sub that is 150 watts and it sounds amazing....make sure it is 150 watts RMS, and also make sure that the frequency response can go down to at least 20 Hz or less so that you can hear the deepest bass sounds.

Answer 2

The "good names" in subwoofers are SVS and HSU Research.

But Home Theater Direct sells some nice units in the $200-$350 price range.

Answer 3

depending on the size of your room 150 watts maybe a little too much I have 120 watt sub on my home system and if I turn it up to a theater listening level it is sufficient enough to rattle the neighbors walls. It is really a matter of personal choice. You should also make sure that the type of connection for a sub is compatible with your tuner. It might require that you stay with Sony.

Answer 4

I have a 150 watt 12 inch. I usually do not have it turned past halfway. It will boom way too much so you should be fine!

Answer 5

150 watts should be plenty. An 8" is probably large enough, and Velodyne and Polk are two brands worth looking at, but given your non-demanding critieria almost any sub will probably work ... if it has the right connections.

If your A/V receiver has a subwoofer (sometimes called LFE) output (an RCA jack), you can get a sub with a low level input (again just an RCA jack). If not you will need a sub with speaker terminals. You wire the speaker to the sub speaker output terminals and connect the receiver speaker terminals to the sub input terminals. The sub crossover takes the low frequency sounds and sends the mid/high frequencies on to the speakers. See the link for a photo and discussion.