The world's biggest subwoofer

Danley Sound Labs' Matterhorn Subwoofer may be the world's biggest--at least I hope it is. The mother of all subs has 40,000 watts of power, and the whole thing is built into a 20x8x8 foot shipping container. I guess that makes it easy to return when you blow it up! It looks like too much of a good thing to me.

(Credit: Danley Sound Labs)

More is just more; it's not necessarily better. True, the more drivers a sub has the lower the distortion, but I think the Matterhorn may have passed the point of diminishing returns. Just kidding, the Matterhorn isn't a consumer product, but large audiophile subs tend to sound better than most 1-foot cube models. Mini subs can pack a wallop, it's just that they tend to sound boomy and muddled. They're not great for music.

I reviewed the original Outlaw Audio LFM-1 subwoofer here at CNET a few years ago and was mightily impressed with its deep bass power and rock-solid definition. It was equally phenomenal on home theater and music.

This $499 sub is big enough to rock your world

(Credit: Outlaw Audio)

The current model, the LFM-1 Plus, is a large beast all right; it's 21.75x15x22 inches, and features a 12-inch woofer and a 350-watt amplifier. It's just $499. So yes, size does matter, and if you really want to rock your world buy two. Multiple subwoofers are a good idea for a number of reasons I'll cover in a future blog. Outlaw sells pairs of LFM-1 Plus subs for $899. Check their site for more info.

[jonathan260]

Boeing once had a facility to test satellites that simulated the launch noise level of the space shuttle. It had an exponential horn that was blown by nitrogen gas. The system stored 11,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen and vaporized it to blow the horn. It lasted only a few minutes.

[jladner123]

What application would this be used for?

[Seaspray0]

Steve Guttenberg, how about a story on the shotgun that blew a hole into the trunk of the car that was blaring it's woofer at wee hours of the night disturbing the entire neighborhood.

[cardes]

Seaspray the whiner maybe you should go sit in this car for a minute ... http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/551/world-record-1805-db-from-a-single-subwoofer ... 180.5 dB with 1 woofer.

[GlennAllen]

If you think anyone within 100 yards of you deserves to listen some crap you're listening to as you tool around wherever, then you deserve a shotgun blast... a whole 'nother kind o' whine.

[cardes]

No I don't think you deserve to listen to my music. Thanks for putting so much thought into the reply though.

[borispmchan]

Most subs are not really hifi stuff. People cross their subs @ 100+Hz, which makes the presence of the source very obvious. Unless you're doing 1 sub/ch.