If you want deep, earth shaking bass in your car, you definately need a subwoofer. However, even if you don't want to blast the neighbourhood away, your system would benefit greatly from a subwoofer. Fed plenty power and played at high volume, your subwoofer will shake the car like a hurricane was outside . However, at low to medium volume, a subwoofer gives rise to a much fuller sound without making the car sound bass-heavy. It makes your car system sound like a top-of-the-line home audio setup.

Today there are many ways to add a subwoofer to your system. The easiest method is to buy one of the ready-made models that are available. These consist of a subwoofer speaker driver contained in an enclosure of some sort. The manufacturer has already gone to the trouble of matching the box to the driver. These usually give good bass reproduction. Some models even contain built in amplifiers (like the SAS Bazookas).

If you wish to buy the subwoofer units and build the box yourself, there are a few decisions that must be made.

1. What size driver you will use - Generally bigger drivers give louder and deeper bass.

2. What type of enclosure you plan to use.

3. How many drivers you will use - Generally, the more the merrier.

4. Where you will place the subwoofer system - Common places are under the seat, behind the seat (in pickups) and of course, in the trunk.

5. What brand of subwoofer - As with all components, try to stick to reputable brands. Some reputable manufacturers of subwoofers are: JL Audio, Cerwin Vega, JBL and Kicker

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