There’s no question that people love it when low frequencies shake them when listening to a concert. Live engineers love it because you can never get a sound system powerful enough until you engage those subs. Subwoofers are now an essential component of just about any fixed system because people can’t seem to get enough of that deep, deep bass. But is there a limit to how large they can be?
Apparently not, as Ascendo Immersive Audio GmbH has introduced two new subwoofers in its Pro Passive Infrasonic Sealed line: The100 Sub, which is a massive 100-inch model, and The64 Sub, which is “only” 64 inches.
This isn’t a new venture for Ascendo, as the company previously featured both 50-inch and 80-inch designs. The company says that the new 64 and 100 inch subwoofers are totally redesigned from the ground up, and even come with a field-replaceable recone kit in case things really get out of hand.
I was really curious about the amount of power that was needed to power one of these things, so I went to the company site for a look. These new models are actually too new even for a mention there (I got the info from a press release), but I did find that their 32 inch self-powered unit contained a 6,000 watt amplifier!
We’re talking about some serious teeth-rattling here, and that was only with the 32 inch model.
The Brown Note
In case you’re thinking that a subwoofer this big might be dangerous because it can reproduce the “brown note” at 7Hz, you can rest easy. This is a myth that’s long been busted.
The idea was that 7Hz played loud enough would cause someone in the vicinity to loosen their bowels. Not surprisingly, there were many willing subjects that tested the theory (including the TV show Mythbusters) and found out that it was indeed not true.
So now that you’re not afraid of inadvertently messing your pants, it’s time to go out and buy that full 100 inches of low end and be the envy of studio owners everywhere.
The100 Sub will sell for around $300,000, while The64 Sub will sell for around $150,000. Time to buy 2!
