To experience that sublimity, though, you need to choose the right sub. They’re not exactly a one-size-fits-all proposition (unless you’re swimming in disposable income), but they’re also a little confusing to shop for if you don’t know where and how to look. If you’re Michael Bay, you probably want something powerful, but if you’re just trying to reduce stress on your prized pair of speakers, you don’t need to drop thousands on a sub. That’s why we’re here!

When it comes to low-end bass that can be felt as much as it can be heard, we firmly believe the Yamaha NSSW050 is the best subwoofer. With its outrageously powerful amp and stylish good looks, it will fill a room with bass you can feel deep in your bones.

Our team has more than 50 years of consumer and pro audio experience, and much of that time — thousand of hours — has been spent listening to home theatre gear, including subwoofers. We think most people will be deliriously happy with the Yamaha NSSW050, but if it’s not right for you, we’ve provided alternatives, each with its own specific strength, so you can find the one that’s best for your needs.

Bass heads and those who enjoy immersing themselves into what they are watching can surely fall in love with what the Yamaha NSSW050 Powered Subwoofer has to offer in a compact design. Combining a 20-centimetre 8-inch cone woofer and Advanced Yamaha Active Servo technology II, you are promised a crisp and accurate low range response. High sound quality is all the more ensured with the Twisted Flare Port that creates a smooth flow of air to cancel out unwanted noise in the background.

Why we love it:

— Bombastic bass — Reduces extraneous noise — Unobtrusive and stylish design

The Logitech Z623 Subwoofer Speaker System is a solid bet when you’re after a versatile and multi-device setup. It boasts a headphone jack, two 3.5-millimetre ports, and an RCA input that allow you to plug it in with your TV, computer, music player, or game console. You even have the option to connect them all at once. Experience power at your fingertips as you can adjust the volume and bass intensity with a gentle turn of a knob.

Why we love it:

— THX sound — Integrated controls — Multiple connections

The SHARP 2.1 Soundbar With Wireless Subwoofer simply gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to delivering a powerful bass as well as cinematic sound. This awesome combo will certainly guarantee sound that reverberates from every corner of the room. With the option to connect via Bluetooth or through the 3.5-millimetre AUX port, you can definitely stream audio from various devices. Having ample space may be the least of your worries since the soundbar is wall mountable and can be controlled not only through the buttons on the unit but also with the supplied remote or TV remote.

Why we love it:

— Wireless audio connection — Comes with remote control — Equaliser for different sound modes

If you have an Echo device lying around in your home, then now is a good time as ever to partner it up with the Echo Sub to enliven the bass, and give more power to your voice. All you have to do is plug it in and wirelessly configure settings through the Alexa app. To top it off, you can simultaneously pair it with up to two of the same Echo devices (sold separately.)

Why we love it:

— Dynamic sound — Simple setup via Alexa — Compatible with Echo or Echo Plus

You’d think a box of bass would be fairly easy to test and evaluate, but given how much a room can affect bass response from a subwoofer — along with the growing number of subs that come with room equalization features that aim to deal with those room-based influences — we’ve developed a fairly extensive process for gathering as much information as we can about a subwoofer’s performance.

Before we get to performance-based evaluations, we take a step back and look at the subwoofer on the whole. Is it bulky or compact? Is it solidly constructed, or does it feel a bit flimsy or cheap? How extensive are the connection options, and how do those impact connectivity? If there’s an app to help with subwoofer control and settings, is it intuitive and useful?

Once we’ve gathered information on those touchpoints listed above, we run the subwoofer for several hours before beginning any critical evaluation. While there is much debate over whether the “break-in effect” is real, we prefer to get that factor covered so it doesn’t play a role in our evaluation one way or another.

Our subwoofer tests take place in at least two different rooms, any of which we are intimately familiar with, and we generally test the subwoofer in three locations that we know offer the best possible response within those rooms. Testing material includes everything from test tone sweeps to blockbuster movies and a selection of music from multiple genres. We seek to learn how deep a sub can play, how visceral the low bass response is, how well it can be adjusted to integrate with both small and large satellite speakers, and how musically accurate it is capable of playing.

We hope for a versatile subwoofer, which can not only belt out the big bass notes needed for a high-impact action film, but one which can also stay tight and tuneful when playing acoustic upright bass, or reproducing the classic Fender P-bass tone. A good subwoofer will avoid tubby, boomy sound that lacks definition, and instead integrate itself seamlessly into a larger audio system, calling attention to itself only during instances in which its pure muscle can’t be ignored.