Top 5 best full range woofer

Our top 5 full range woofers, enjoy!
If you want to enjoy your favourite music, a good woofer is a must-have! It can make a big difference, especially for audio enthusiasts who want to build their own speakers. Before you buy a woofer it is important to take a few things in consideration, like the frequency graph, the sensitivity, the resistance, the size and the power handling. Once you have set your criteria and price range you have to choose between the many many brands that are out there. We know this can be difficult. To help you out, we created a list with our five favourite woofers sold on our webshop. We have chosen the best woofers based on a few facts like the sensitivity, price, resistance and the look of the woofer. Continue reading to see which woofer we considered the best! We would highly recommend these picks for your next audio project. In our top five we have listed all the pro’s and con’s, to make it easy for you!

#5           The FR88EX is old but gold, except it is aluminium

Last on this list but definitely not least we start our top 5 with the FR88EX from Fountek. This model is a great full-range speaker which earned his place in this list. The FR88EX has been around for many years now. The extremely low distortion, light cone, good frequency response and beauty ensure that the FR88EX is a keeper. Audio enthusiasts worldwide used this woofer in many different projects. The Fountek FR88EX has probably has seen every possible configuration as it is one of those drivers everybody should try! The cone is small and fragile, however at the same time precise and light. The basket is sturdy and the designers, also, thought about ventilating the cone as well as the Spider.

If you really want to squeeze every last bit out of this woofer it should be placed in a small horn box. Assisted by a larger woofer, it really clears up the sound image as the strain is taken away from the FR88EX and it can play the rest of the frequency range to all its glory!

#4           Peerless by Tymphany  NE85W                                                                                               €56,45

The NE85W is a woofer from the brand ‘Peerless by Tymphany’. The NE85W-04 2-1/2” has a stealthy and sophisticated look. This tiny woofer houses a lot of technology and is extremely well thought out. The designers of Peerless by Tymphany made the back of the woofer as open as possible. They created this open back by using a small, yet strong, Neodymium motor together with rounded over brackets to keep air flow as smooth as possible. This clever design helps avoid resonances in the area between the cone/spider and basket, by letting the back wave escape freely. This is really beneficial as now all the backward radiated energy can be absorbed by the enclosure clearing up the sound image this speaker makes!

This speaker excels with its low-distortion and a good frequency response. Its bass output is okay for a speaker this size, but this model would really benefit from some extra support on the low-end. It will give the woofer the ability to focus on the rest of the frequency spectrum where its distortion is the lowest!

#3           Dayton Audio ND65 2-1/2”!                                                                                                      €29,95

The ND65 is a nice and little woofer with a crazy amount of bass for the fact it is only a 2-1/2”! The woofer only costs €24,95 which is a small price to pay for this quality. If you are looking for a small woofer with a great sound, the ND65 is what you need.

This driver is able to play from 100Hz to 12kHz, which is remarkable for a woofer this size. The ND65 has very good base characteristics, especially in a ventilated enclosure. Also a thing that should be noted is that it has a Xmax of 3,5mm, which is about the same as a normal 4” woofer would have! The small size is also optimal for small speaker projects, like a small Bluetooth speaker project. When small size is the goal this is the speaker you should choose! Do you want to see how this woofer is used in a project? Then watch the video from DIY perks about the Concrete Bluetooth speaker.

# 2          The Dayton Audio RS100 is beautiful, right?                                                                    €46,95

The second place in this list belongs to RS100 which is a very good-looking driver. This small model features a black anodized cone and a black phase plug giving it a Stealth Fighter look. The frequency range of this model is extremely flat on axis. With only a small bump of 3db around 3kHz, it is one of the flattest models in this list. However due to the size the woofer has become more directive when frequency increases.  It can excellently be used as a full-range speaker, but the area where the sound will be excellent is small. This woofer flowers when used in a small 2-way or a 3-way system.

The bass output for this small model is good. It has a larger Xmax and can reach deep. 80Hz in a vented enclosure is easily obtained while at the same time listening to higher levels, it is all possible in this little monster! This low-end extension makes it easier to combine this woofer with a subwoofer.

#1           The Dayton Audio PS95-8 is just fantastic                                                                           €24,95

One of our best-selling full range models is the Dayton Audio PS95-8. Which is totally understandable, as it seems to offer it all. It has a beautiful look with its black cone and copper phase plug, it offers the ability to play almost the complete frequency spectrum and it has a very sturdy construction/basket. The PS95 has a fairly flat frequency response up to 2000Hz and then starts to rise. This ragged top end results in a “airy” sound and it counters the increasing directivity once you go up in frequency. Therefore, this speaker gives you a very balanced sound wherever you sit in the room.

The bass output of this small driver is remarkable for its size. It does go down to 100hz in a bass-reflex box and is still able to maintain high volumes. Under 100Hz there is however not much going on. Therefore don’t expect a low rumbling bass from this small speaker, a nice punch with your music is what it is capable of however! If you really want to get everything out of this driver it should be crossed over to a woofer around 200 to 500Hz, relieving it from bass frequencies.

This is our sum-up of our top five full range woofers based on our and our customers experience. Don’t forget to look at our other models as they deserve a chance as well

Do you have any questions about these woofers?
Feel free to contact our technical customer support! You can reach us at [email protected], by chat via our website our give us a call on +3185 – 0711860

• Snir

  Posted on saturday 6 april 2024 19:58

  mark audio?

• Erik Hulshof

  Posted on thursday 3 march 2022 09:18

  Dear Dave,
  
  The DS135-8 has a limited top-end or treble. Depending on your enclosure, you might want to look at the Dayton Audio RS100(p) or Markaudio PLUVIA-7HD/CHR-70 for more treble. If you have any more questions please let us know!

• dave redman

  Posted on wednesday 2 march 2022 14:03

  i have a pair of ds135-8 speakers that are a little too basey (if thats a word) for me. im looking to change them out for a pair that give more in the treble range and not so much in the bass range. thanks for help regards dave redman

Show more

Show less