The Top 10 Best Studio Subwoofers in the Market

What are some of the best studio subwoofers that you can buy and what are the latest features incorporated into them? Studio subwoofers have been called by many an essential part of a studio, especially if you’re mixing (sometimes), while others say they really don’t need such thing and that it’s more of a personal preference and leisure toy. For us personally, we like having our studio subwoofer at our disposable for whenever we’re in the mood to bump what we’ve been working on. So depending on who you find yourself to be, we’ve been able to gather some of our favorite subwoofers for studios below.

Finding the best studio subwoofer

Subwoofers are a type of speaker that many aren’t sure if they need or not. The term “best subwoofer for studios” is going to differ depending on the reader, we’re aware. So as we compiled a list of 10 products as we usually do, keeping in mind the many factors that may span across our audience was key. Firstly, money is money. Budget will steer you in a particular direction, but at the same time so will your current “level” of whatever activity you’re using this studio subwoofer for. If you’re building up a home studio in your room, garage or extra office space you may have, a decent, sub $500 subwoofer will be fine. If however you’re a professional needing a high-end subwoofer, we know that go into the thousands range.

You will also keep in mind what exactly you’re looking for in terms of a subwoofer. Just want some extra bass to add-on to your leisure listening? You won’t need extra little features that really up that price. Do you want as many high-end features as possible to ensure your mixes are getting the attention it deserves? Up the ante and grab some more fancy features built-in to your studio subwoofer. You may also not necessarily be in to looking at the speaker specifications, such as Wattage, frequency range and more — you simply just need to add some thump to your sound. We ultimately just recommend trying to stay humble and “stick to what you need”, “not what you want” approach.

Lastly, keep in mind you don’t necessarily have to match your subwoofer to your studio monitors. If you have one brand, another can fit in just fine.

The best studio subwoofers

JBL LSR310S

When shopping for the best subwoofers for music studios, you should first in our opinion have a look at the JBL LSR310S. This is the right subwoofer to use for professional projects and home studios. It comes with a 10 inch down-firing driver that produces a truly balanced 3-way sound, making it ideal for creating great sounding productions. Its low-end output is super deep and accurate with improved linearity and lower harmonic distortion. Their JBL LSR line of studio monitors are famous at this point, and although it definitely isn’t required to match them up exactly, can be a beastly setup if you go with the 2.1 of this line.

The boundary EQ and HF trim helps you tailor the response to your surrounding environment. Creating great sound mixes in terms of power will be decent with its 200 watt Class D power amplifier. The XLF setting when activated gives you a club-like response with perfectly tailored bass volumes. The inputs are highly balanced to give you a low noise performance with your other studio gear. Most people who have bought it say that it is accurate and responsive with amazing quality for both volume and bass output in particular, and is a bit higher-end as compared to others but worth it as the best studio subwoofer if you have the cash.

PreSonus Temblor T10

This is one of the best studio subwoofers in the budget-friendly realm to consider buying as it will provide you with tight, clean and responsive bass. It is designed to produce an accurate and fast transient response, and handles low frequencies extremely well. This solid quality subwoofer comes with a lightweight, rigid cone that gives it the ability to produce tight and responsive bass. With this kind of design, sound distortion is very low, giving you a clear and coherent sub bass reproduction similar to your full range monitors.

The PreSonus Temblor T10 subwoofer produces a continuously variable low pass filter ranging between 50 hertz to 130 hertz. This makes it possible for you to create a smooth transition between the subwoofer and the full range studio monitors, giving you an excellent listening environment. With all the necessary controls provided, you will be able to use the subwoofer as the central hub for your basic monitoring setup. For power and safety features, it makes use of 250 watt class AB amplification, an internal damping and heat sink, and integrated rubber feet that give you a stable placement (never put it on the carpet or floor completely — always raise it a bit).

Yamaha HS8S

This is one of the best ultra-responsive high power woofers available, and it gives you a well-defined bottom end at any output level with low distortion. With another beautiful line of monitors, the HS by Yamaha are again famous here. Design-wise, it is an 8” bass reflex powered subwoofer with very good support for the HS-Series monitors. Well, this one also comes with a typical white cone. The monitor response is controlled by room control and frequency response switches, giving you accurate performance for any music studio.

The Yamaha HS8S high level engineered mounting system allows the subwoofer to perform at its full sonic potential. Also, its advanced magnetic circuit design has been created to produce an accurate and clean low-end response. The output power for the speaker is 150 watts with 70W power consumption. Definitely another one of the best subwoofers for studios here.

KRK 10s

The KRK 10s is a powerful, highly rated studio subwoofer that is ideal for any music studio. Combining the 10s with KRK or any other good quality monitors gives you an optimized mixing and listening experience with the extended low end. You can use the bypass control feature to provide full range audio to the recording monitors without turning off the speaker. This subwoofer is high quality for the price (we personally use the KRK studio monitors in our home studio), and it comes with a reinforced MDF enclosure that guarantees durability and maximum strength. The front port has been engineered to provide a low-frequency output while at the same time drastically reducing boundary coupling. With a unique port shape, port turbulence is greatly reduced.

The controls are flexible and cover every need with multiple inputs and outputs for necessary universal connectivity. With this powerful KRK 10s subwoofer, you should expect to get the tight, defined, accurate bass that you desire.

Adam Sub10 Mk2

This is studio subwoofer you can consider buying because of its special features and want to invest a serious amount of cash into your setup. To start with, it features a hardy exterior design protecting it from any harsh environment. It has an optimized cone and a heavy-duty coil that allows it to produce accurate output from its reflex enclosure. This design also enables it to extend the low frequencies of the mid-field monitoring system all the way down to 25 hertz.

It has a larger down firing bass reflex tube that blocks intrusive noise. The output of its PWM amplifiers has over 90% efficiency. Another reason to consider the Adam Sub10 Mk2 as your subwoofer of choice for your music studio is that it does not overheat even after prolonged use. You can connect as many subwoofers as you want from the provided output. It is worth noting that it is a 10” subwoofer (paper) and its Amp power is RMS / Music: 200 W / 300. The frequency response range of this subwoofer is 25 Hz – 150 Hz. With a 5-year warranty, the Adam Sub10 Mk2 subwoofer is a good deal for the higher-end studio, and you will get an ideal addition to near field and midfield monitors.

Focal Sub6

The Focal Sub6 is an 11 inch woofer designed with a rear laminar port. It has good bass linearity thanks to its larger volume cabinet engineering. It has a versatile control board with connectivity for multi-channel use through the L/R inputs and outputs. It couples well with Twin6 Be and the Solo6 Be monitors. This is made possible through the use of adjustable phase, high pass crossovers and level control.

The footswitch input helps you connect a pedal for deactivating the high pass crossovers and the subwoofer on the outputs supplying the monitors. With this you can achieve great control during different monitoring stages. The little extras that have been integrated make the difference and many like the square-like shape to this one, making it another one of the best studio subwoofers out there.

Genelec 7360A

The Genelec 7360A is a smart studio subwoofer that will not disappoint the professional. It produces absolute accuracy when operating at low frequencies. It is equipped with multiple channel audio for different needs. Its cabinet design is based on Laminar Spiral Enclosure Technology. The inbuilt amplifier is a 300 watt Class D Amp with a peak SPL of 109 decibel. The small enclosure design might make you think that it is not a powerful subwoofer, but you will be surprised by its optimized output.

Some of the key technologies used in the Genelec 7360A are Smart Active Monitor Systems, Laminar Spiral Enclosure Technology, intelligent signal sensing, a bass management system, optimized amplifiers and protection circuitry so you’re get a lot of extra features here for your cash. We only recommend grabbing this if you know what you’re doing, otherwise a cheaper subwoofer for a home studio will be fine. Otherwise, be our guest with this one.

Neumann KH 805

Are you looking for an advanced, high-end and beastly studio subwoofer? If yes, then you need to check out the Neumann KH 805, which is a very good subwoofer for music studios. Some of the features that make it ideal for studio works are the remote stereo bass management, the high maximum SPL of 110.7 dB, and the very deep bass response of 18 Hz. Its 2.1/0.1 bass manager is by-passable and comes with fourth order crossovers, four LFE routing modes, and acoustic controls that are adaptable. It is adaptable with many monitors and offers seamless integration.

The Neumann KH 805 studio subwoofer is definitely for the pro studio, but can also be used in various environments such as in broadcasting, music venues, and in studios for post-production where it can be used for mixing, tracking, and mastering. It increases the maximum SPL output by up to 8 dB.  You will love the structural finishing, which is composed of wooden cabinet with a tough painted finish. The best studio subwoofer if money wasn’t ever a factor, that’s for sure.

Adam Sub15

Another Adam Audio masterpiece here — this is a sturdy woofer engineered with a tough aluminum membrane, a 100 millimeter voice coil, and two exceptionally powerful magnets. It is a 15 inch subwoofer with a 1000 Watts RMS power capability. It extends the main and midfield monitor’s frequency down to 20 hertz. When handling critical music passages, it does not distort or show signs of overheating. There is no port noise as it is cancelled by the specially designed downward firing bass port.

Connectivity is much easier due to the use of balanced XLR and the unbalanced input/output connectors. They are positioned at the rear of the Adam Sub15 subwoofer. You can adjust the sound to your individual taste or according to different room scenarios. You will be sure to enjoy the Dolby surround setup.

KRK 8s

Last but not least as the best studio subwoofer list ends, the KRK 8s is an 8 inch powered subwoofer engineered using custom voiced glass aramid. It produces a highly defined and tight bass that is good for your KRK studio monitor or any other type for that matter. It is a compact subwoofer built upon the KRKs legacy for high accuracy. It provides you with optimized mixing capabilities that produce a very good output with extended low-end.

It is important to mention that it has optimized four position crossover controls. Its base extension is up to 30 Hz with a max SPL of 112 decibels. Polarity and input sensitivity controls are also included. The outer enclosure is a 15 mm reinforced MDF with an all-steel grill.