—
Active. Subwoofer equipped with its own built-in amplifier. Such a subwoofer can be connected directly to the signal source, without any additional amplifiers; while the built-in amplifier, by definition, has characteristics that best match the parameters of the speaker. And when using other amplifiers, an active subwoofer reduces the load on them, which has a positive effect on sound quality and power. In addition, your own amplifier can be equipped with its own sound tuning tools and other additional features. On the other hand, all this affects the cost of the device, and active models are somewhat more difficult to install, because. require separate power supply.
—
Passive. Subwoofers not equipped with their own amplifier. They are cheaper than active ones and easier to install. work without a separate power supply, however, the connection is fraught with some difficulties: for normal operation, an amplifier is needed, the characteristics of which (in particular power and impedance, see below) must optimally match the parameters of the subwoofer.
Since the subwoofer was originally designed to reproduce bass, in fact, in this case, it implies the presence
of its own volume control, which allows you to change it without affecting the signal source. This allows you to easily set the desired bass level relative to the rest of the sound of the audio system (for different cases, this ratio may be different).
The presence of a
high-voltage input at the active (see "Type") subwoofer. Such an input greatly expands the possibilities for connection. Usually active subwoofers are connected via a linear (low-voltage) input directly to the radio. The high-voltage input allows you to connect the speaker to a separate power amplifier, like a passive subwoofer.
