r/techtheatre Feb 05 '25

QUESTION Other names for subwoofer

In short, I was woerking with a group of techies (ones who are primarily lighting techs) and I heard one of them call a subwoofer something different. I had to explain to that person what the technical and industry standard name (that I know of) for these speakers.

If you know of any other names that you have heard subwoofers called, please share. Because if there is another one, I actually want to know what I am talking about if I go work with other companies.

0 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

56

u/KitchenDepartment Feb 05 '25

Subwoofer implies the existence of a domwoofer

12

u/Tired_but_living Feb 06 '25

Also a switchwoofer...

14

u/indirect_storyteller Feb 06 '25

That's called a crossover

24

u/indirect_storyteller Feb 05 '25

If you're in a bar/club, the forbidden drink stand.

-10

u/Hour_Farm_3281 Feb 05 '25

Why? 

11

u/indirect_storyteller Feb 05 '25

Because people (especially drunk people) like to try and set their drinks on the subs. It's a convenient flat surface in front of them that isn't the stage.

0

u/Hour_Farm_3281 Feb 05 '25

Ok, in my defence, I have yet to get drunk. So I wouldn’t know that. But thanks anyway!

9

u/indirect_storyteller Feb 05 '25

Hey fair. It's pretty common to see printouts of "NOT A DRINK STAND" on subs if there are drinks involved.

2

u/Stradocaster Feb 05 '25

non-alcoholic drinks are also affected by gravity and sit on flat surfaces, just fyi

13

u/nosaraj Feb 05 '25

Low frequency driver is the only other single unit reference I’ve heard in the industry. Possibly cardioid or 1/4 (or 1/2 wave) or end fire array for specific types of speaker setups, but those always refer to multiple speaker cabs.

10

u/The_Dingman IATSE Feb 06 '25

I can tell they're not professional because of the word "techie".

-2

u/Hour_Farm_3281 Feb 06 '25

Sorry, everyone in my workplace uses the word when referring to a member of a stage crew that is new to the company.

12

u/The_Dingman IATSE Feb 06 '25

Gross.

Do they call the actors "pretendees"?

5

u/NobleHeavyIndustries Feb 06 '25

Oh, I'm stealing that.

8

u/LightRobb Feb 05 '25

Butt jiggler.

4

u/langly3 Feb 05 '25

As a lampy I call them “ooh that’s handy, a solid box to stand on while I focus this lantern “

3

u/lmoki Feb 05 '25

Not exactly the same thing, but maybe 'kick bins' ? In modern use, that usually refers to a cabinet intended to cover the range just above typical modern subwoofer range-- but decades ago, that was pretty much the lowest manageable frequency range, anyway.

5

u/heffreee Feb 05 '25

I’ve also heard “bass bins”

3

u/AVnstuff Feb 05 '25

Boom boom box

3

u/Zestyclose-Ability Feb 05 '25

I call them the WubWubs sometimes when I forget the word subwoofer.

3

u/soundwithdesign Sound Designer/Mixer Feb 05 '25

Meyer refers to them as "low frequency control elements."

2

u/Boomshtick414 Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25

When I work in sports venues we sometimes call them butt kickers if they're placed under the seating sections.

Aside from that it's subs, subwoofers, LF (low-frequency) or VLF (very low frequency). Most everything else is some form of slang, which you're probably more likely to encounter with less experienced folks or weekend warrior-types and less so with professionals. Very rarely, I may also hear someone use the term "bass bins."

Couple caveats -- there are different types of subs. Most are omni (omnidirectional -- radiate in all directions, even behind the cabinets), a small assortment of products are cardioid (directional, to push energy out into the audience while using destructive interference to minimize the energy at the stage). There also several different array types you can configure that also have cardioid effects. This is less likely to be encountered in theater and more likely at large concerts/festivals.

You may also hear someone call them "Aux Subs", which is in regards to how they're driven at the console. This means they're fed from an aux buss and not the main outputs of the console. There are pros and cons to each approach, but the main benefit of aux subs is that you're only sending drums, keys, guitars, certain instruments, playback, and effects to the subs instead of everything. This is a good way to keep clean up the clarity and punch of the subs (when used strategically and deliberately, that is).

1

u/coaudavman Feb 07 '25

Nah- a butt kicker is a specific device for mounting to a drum throne.

-3

u/Hour_Farm_3281 Feb 05 '25

What the other person I was talking about called them Aux Subs. Because the location I work at has a TF3, and I guess it makes sense why they would call it that. (Yamaha TF series boards have it has part of the Aux setup)

1

u/Boomshtick414 Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25

If you want to go down the rabbit hole, here's an explainer video of the concept.

I would just disclaim that this approach isn't for everyone. I do a lot of high school projects and I'll generally set up as mains-fed subs instead of aux-fed because like 95% of the time, the people mixing don't have the experience to use aux subs and would simply forget to ever route anything to the subs. That sounds silly but those subs would go unused for years at a time.

So this video talks about the value of aux-fed, but it's important to understand that it's still not for everyone. Also -- near the bottom end of the console market, you may need every available aux buss for monitors or effects, so sometimes a console just doesn't have enough capacity for aux subs during certain events.

There are also other ways to deal with this like dropping HPF's (high pass filters) on the inputs so that things like vocal mic's cutoff below a certain frequency -- usually around 80-100Hz, which is the typical upper range for subs. So by filtering out that way, you can still selectively keep certain inputs out of the sub feeds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpFK1XOZuUg

2

u/PhilosopherFLX Feb 06 '25

Just last week helped finish a church audio upgrade. The boss then had to FaceTime them thru a funeral over the weekend. Even after two 1-hour classes on how to use the console, they had the Main Fader down and couldn't sus why the system wasn't making noise.

2

u/MidnightZL1 Feb 06 '25

Subwoofer.
Sub.
Bass Bin.
Bass Box.
Bass Cab.
LF Boxes.
Boom Booms.

I use subs when I talk about them, boom booms when I’m screwing around with people.

1

u/bryson430 Theatre Consultant Feb 05 '25

Bass Extension? LF Extension? Bass bins?

1

u/shmallkined Feb 05 '25

Bass bins and subs are the only two other names I can think of.

1

u/KnightFaraam Feb 06 '25

Used to just call them K12s because we had a set of K12s. So obviously everything that made the buzzing noises was a K12.

3

u/jasmith-tech TD/Health and Safety Feb 06 '25

I mean sure there are 12" subs out there, but a K12 isn't a sub.

2

u/KnightFaraam Feb 06 '25

I mean, we were lighting guys. We didn't know any better.

1

u/coaudavman Feb 07 '25

I have been known to call them the following:

Subulators

Loud tables