Active Subwoofer vs Free Air/Enclosed Subwoofer

Epic · 1st December 2009, 11:23

Hi guys,

Overview

A friend of mine has recently just purchased a used Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX and we were discussing the ICE install for the same. This car has come with a Blaupunkt headunit & 4 Blaupunkt speakers. 2 in the front doors & 2 in the boot in the stock locations. I believe all 4 are coaxials.

We already have a pair of Pioneer 6X9s, a Pioneer 10" Sub & a Sony 444 amplifier from his previous vehicle. Now he is not the kind to spend the amount that we BHPians spend on ICE in our cars so we would like to make do with the equipment that we currently have. I have however, advised him to buy a good set of components for the front doors connected to the two channels of the amp, keep the rear coaxials & connect them directly to the headunit and connect the subwoofer to the amp in bridged mode.

The Confusion

Now for some reason, my friend is very keen on installing an active subwoofer (with a built-in amp) from Blaupunkt or Soundstream instead of the current subwoofer in an enclosure. I have informed him that active subs are not very powerful & very limited in sound quality and cannot be tuned as compared to a regular sub. He wants to save boot space and is looking for an active sub that can be installed under the seat.

Advice Needed

I would like to know from the Gurus as too what is the major difference between an active sub & a free air/enclosed sub & why are'nt active subs evey used in car audio setups and since they are still manufactured, when are these subs used? is it advisable to use active subwoofers in a proposed set-up as mentioned above?

Epic

Ravi Nandrajog · 2nd December 2009, 00:08

Hi, all the active subs are enclosed, these enclosures can be ported , sealed or even band pass types. These active subs are an enclosure with an in built amp and woofer.
you are right the active subwoofers are not very powerful and very limited in output.
Active woofers are cost effective , they are very compact (they dont eat up your car boot space much) and very easy to install.
As it seems your friend is very specific about his car boot space he can go ahead with active woofers.
My suggestion is exactly like yours , a 4ch connected to front comps and woofer while the rears are playing directly from hu.

Epic · 2nd December 2009, 10:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravi Nandrajog

Hi, all the active subs are enclosed, these enclosures can be ported , sealed or even band pass types. These active subs are an enclosure with an in built amp and woofer.
you are right the active subwoofers are not very powerful and very limited in output.
Active woofers are cost effective , they are very compact (they dont eat up your car boot space much) and very easy to install.
As it seems your friend is very specific about his car boot space he can go ahead with active woofers.
My suggestion is exactly like yours , a 4ch connected to front comps and woofer while the rears are playing directly from hu.

Hi Ravi,

Please correct me if Im wrong here, but I was always under the impression that an active subwoofer is used with a set-up not powered by an external amplifier. I believe if one uses an active subwoofer with a set-up that is powered by an external amplifier; it firstly may be over powered by the components/coaxials and also may not blend in as well as it should as it has limited power. Just my two cents though.

1st December 2009, 11:23	#1
Epic Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,560 Thanked: 925 Times	Active Subwoofer vs Free Air/Enclosed Subwoofer Hi guys, Overview A friend of mine has recently just purchased a used Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX and we were discussing the ICE install for the same. This car has come with a Blaupunkt headunit & 4 Blaupunkt speakers. 2 in the front doors & 2 in the boot in the stock locations. I believe all 4 are coaxials. We already have a pair of Pioneer 6X9s, a Pioneer 10" Sub & a Sony 444 amplifier from his previous vehicle. Now he is not the kind to spend the amount that we BHPians spend on ICE in our cars so we would like to make do with the equipment that we currently have. I have however, advised him to buy a good set of components for the front doors connected to the two channels of the amp, keep the rear coaxials & connect them directly to the headunit and connect the subwoofer to the amp in bridged mode. The Confusion Now for some reason, my friend is very keen on installing an active subwoofer (with a built-in amp) from Blaupunkt or Soundstream instead of the current subwoofer in an enclosure. I have informed him that active subs are not very powerful & very limited in sound quality and cannot be tuned as compared to a regular sub. He wants to save boot space and is looking for an active sub that can be installed under the seat. Advice Needed I would like to know from the Gurus as too what is the major difference between an active sub & a free air/enclosed sub & why are'nt active subs evey used in car audio setups and since they are still manufactured, when are these subs used? is it advisable to use active subwoofers in a proposed set-up as mentioned above? Epic
	() Thanks

2nd December 2009, 00:08	#2
Ravi Nandrajog BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 38 Thanked: 0 Times	Hi, all the active subs are enclosed, these enclosures can be ported , sealed or even band pass types. These active subs are an enclosure with an in built amp and woofer. you are right the active subwoofers are not very powerful and very limited in output. Active woofers are cost effective , they are very compact (they dont eat up your car boot space much) and very easy to install. As it seems your friend is very specific about his car boot space he can go ahead with active woofers. My suggestion is exactly like yours , a 4ch connected to front comps and woofer while the rears are playing directly from hu.
	() Thanks