What are full-range woofers?
A full-range woofer is a loudspeaker that can produce (almost) all the sounds that humans can hear. Human hearing has a frequency range of about 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Most woofers are designed to reproduce low frequencies, but full-range woofers can also reproduce the high notes. This is usually only done by tweeters. This makes a full-range woofer the perfect all-round driver we can find. A full-range woofer is especially suitable for applications where there is limited space to fit both a woofer and a tweeter.
Full-range woofers offer superior sound quality and are an excellent choice for those who want the best possible sound experience in a small speaker cabinet. Full-range woofers are especially popular in desktop setups or in selfmade speakers, as they do not rely on an additional woofer or tweeter to reproduce the full frequency range of human hearing. This makes it possible to build small and compact speaker pairs. At SoundImports, you can buy full-range woofers from a wide range of top brands. Some of our best brands for full-range woofers are Dayton Audio, Markaudio, SB Acoustics, SEAS, Tang Band and Visaton.
The size of full-range woofers
It is important to stress that the size of a full-range woofer is always a trade-off between bass and treble. The smaller the cone, the better the full-range woofer performs in the high frequencies at the expense of the lower frequencies. The same rule applies the other way round - the larger the full-range woofer, the lower frequencies it reaches at the expense of restrictions in the high frequencies.
Do I need a full-range woofer?
It all depends on your specific home audio setup and the kind of sound you are trying to achieve whether you need a full-range woofer. A full-range woofer is a great compromise when there is no space or budget for both a woofer and a tweeter, as it can reproduce the bass, midrange and treble of music with equal clarity. Since full-range woofers do not need crossover components, they perform more cleanly in frequency ranges where regular woofers or tweeters with crossovers may experience interference.