Experiences Designing and Building A Subwoofer Amplifier
Matthew Rodriguez Erika Ross-O’Brien Kelli Martino
MateoElBoriqua@gmail.com eob476@yahoo.com Martino00900@yahoo.com vjil.venus@verizon.net
Robert Nahas Joseph Civitello Christopher Roselle
Joustman57@comcast.net Muzicfreak2k3@gmail.com chrisroselle@gmail.com Rodman89@aol.com
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this project is to fully understand
how a subwoofer amplifier works. The
motivation behind this experiment lies in solving
the underlying problem which is that the low
voltage input AC signal needs to be amplified to
a magnitude usable by a subwoofer as well as in
actually learning about electrical engineering and
learning how to build a subwoofer amplifier.
This project entailed the use of a circuit
simulator, PSPICE, on which the final circuit is
simulated. Research and calculation is needed to
determine the values specific to the task along
with a knowledge of circuit theory. Through lab
work and teamwork, the circuit is physically
built in the lab using a power supply, function
generator, oscilloscope, and discrete parts. The
subwoofer amplifier is also tested to ensure that
it is fully functional. The circuit is connected to a
CD player and fed into a subwoofer where the
bass frequencies of the audio from the song are
amplified.
INTRODUCTION
The subwoofer amplifier was first developed in
the 1970s by Ken Kreisel, president of the
popular electronic company, Miller and Kreisel
Sound Corporation. Kreisel was inspired to
create subwoofers after the complaints of
customers about “reduction of bass” of the
current electrostatic speakers. Therefore, Kreisel
designed a device that would be able to amplify
the low frequency sounds that the electrostatic
speakers were unable to convey. Kreisel first
tested out his device publicly in a recording
studio while recording Steely Dan’s album
“Pretzel Logic”. The first movie to feature ‘bass
extension’ was “Star Wars,” in 1977. The
popularity of the subwoofer soared as more and
more people wanted to increase the quality of
their sounds through the amplification of the
bass frequencies in their songs and movies.
Vanessa Lannaman
Rodrigo Colon
As the popularity of the subwoofer increased,
newer technologies allowed the subwoofer to
improve in both its sounds quality by increasing
the signal to noise ratio and in the amount of
amplification it can provide.
In order to better understand how Kreisel
invented the subwoofer amplifier, a background
in circuits was required.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION/RELATED
WORK
Subwoofers are loudspeakers specifically
designed to reproduce very low frequency audio
signals. A subwoofer works by charging a paper
cone sounding a magnet causing the paper to
move in and out based on the difference in the
magnetic charge between the paper and the
magnet, thus reproducing the audio waves. This
project’s specific subwoofer amplifier amplifies
frequency signals less than 200Hz.
An amplifier takes an electrical signal and
increases its power in a linear fashion. The
degree of the power increase is called gain. The
output waveform matches the input waveform
except in that it has an increased magnitude.
The gain of any amplifier is the ratio of the
output over the input which can either be a
positive gain or a negative gain. In this project,
positive gain is used to amplify the signal.
The very first subwoofer was developed by Ken
Kreisel, current president of M&K Sound/Miller
& Kreisel Corporation, in the early 1970s.
Kreisel’s business partner, Jonas Miller,
complained about the reduction of bass response
in the electrostatics of his highest quality
electrostatic speakers. Kreisel designed the
subwoofer to reproduce only those frequencies
that were too low for the electrostatic speakers.
When Walter Becker from “Steely Dan” asked
Kreisel to design a speaker system to use for
mixing their new album in 1973, everyone
present at the recording was taken aback by the
crisp bass produced and all the workers from
Steely Dan wanted their own sound system.
The subwoofer became popular quick due to its
easy compatibility with speakers. In 1974 Jonas
Miller and Ken Kreisel formed a separate
corporation exclusively for manufacturing
subwoofers. Two years later they developed the
first “Satellite-Subwoofer” combination called
the “David and Goliath” system. The first self
powered subwoofer was developed in 1977.
Then, in 1989 the push pull drive concept was
developed and revolutionized the sound quality
of subwoofers. This is achieved by mounting
and wiring the driver on the bottom cabinet
backwards. This causes both speakers to move
in the same direction with one of the drivers
physically inverted. The result is cleaner and
tighter bass reproduction with less harmonic
distortion and improved quality.
Through research, it is determined that a
subwoofer amplifier is mainly used in cases
where the base or lower frequencies of an audio
signal needs to be amplified for use in a public
place or to increase the playing quality of an
audio signal playing through loudspeakers.
The subwoofer amplifier in this project is made
of discrete parts and one integrated circuit. One
discrete part being used is the capacitor.
1uF
A capacitor is two metal plates in parallel with
each other. One plate is positively charged by
being connected to power and the other plate is
oppositely charged being connected to ground.
This causes electrons to jump from one plate to
the other and a voltage to build across the plates.
The capacitor charges in a nonlinear fashion. The
maximum voltage charge is the voltage being fed
into the capacitor. The value of the capacitor,
measured in Farads, is used to determine the rate
of charge of the capacitor. The capacitor is used
both filter out noise and help filter out the lower
frequency signals.
Another discrete part used in the implementation
of the circuit is the transistor.
NPN
The transistor is a small electronic device
containing semiconductor material and doped
material which has at least three electrical
contacts used in a circuit as an amplifier,
detector, or electronic switch. In the
implementation of the subwoofer amplifier, the
transistor is used as an amplifier to amplify the
signal to a usable level.
Resistors are used to alter the behavior of a
circuit.
1k
The resistor applies impedance for the electrons
moving the circuit. Resistors are devices used to
control current in an electric circuit by providing
said impedance. By using resistors, it is possible
to achieve a certain current or voltage to be fed
into a certain component of the circuit.
The only integrated circuit (IC) used in the
implementation of the subwoofer amplifier is the
OPAMP or operational amplifier.
OPAMP
+
The OPAMP is a nonlinear device which can
have a very large voltage gain, has very high
input impedance and very low output impedance.
In an active configuration, the OPAMP can act
as a filter which is its main purpose in this
project. By using the OPAMP as a filter,
frequencies greater than 200Hz are attenuated or
weakened.
In the process of building the circuit, circuit
theory is involved to determine how the circuit
will behave. Circuit theory itself is the
description of how voltage and current behave in
a circuit. One aspect of circuit theory is Ohm’s
Law (V = I*R). Ohm’s law states that the voltage
can be calculated by multiplying the resistance of
a certain load or component by the current
flowing through the load or component. Ohm’s
law is used in determining the values of the
resistors needed to achieve a certain current.
Kirchhoff is a mathematician that specialized in
physics who stated that the voltage in a series
circuit is divided amongst the components while
the current is the same throughout the circuit’s
components. It is also stated that in a parallel
circuit, the voltage remains constant while the
current is divided amongst the components. His
theories and formulas were necessary to
determine the values of the resistors needed to
split voltages in certain areas by a certain
amount.
Each discrete part by itself doesn’t do much for
the circuit. By combining discrete parts to make
certain components, the circuit behavior changes.
By using discrete parts to create a common
emitter amplifier, the signal being fed into the
common emitter is amplified to a magnitude
usable by the next stage.
The common emitter amplifier amplifies an The DC level shifter downshifts the voltage of
analog signal by a gain calculated by R1/R2 the AC signal so that there is no saturation when
(R4/R5 in above circuit). being fed into another portion of the circuit. This
keeps the AC signal intact.

The red signifies the original signal while the

green shows the amplified signal.
To filter out the high frequency signals so that
only the low frequency signals are amplified, the
Before the Push Pull amplifier can work, it needs
Sallen-Key Low Pass Filter is used.
to be fed to separate signals. The phase splitter
provides another signal which is 180 degrees out
of phase of the original signal.

The Sallen-Key low pass filter uses two resistors,

two capacitors, and an OPAMP to filter out all
frequencies above a certain threshold. The
threshold is calculated through the formula Fc = From there, the two separate signals are fed into
1/(2π√(R1R2C1C2)). The values used in the the Class B Push Pull amplifier which amplifies
subwoofer amplifier attenuate any frequencies the two signals separately and combines them to
above 200Hz. form the original signal amplified.
In the amplification of the signal, the average
DC voltage of the signal also increases. If the
signal is to be amplified again, the average DC
level has to be lowered so that the signal isn’t cut
off at the maximum voltage that the circuit can
handle. The DC level shifter solves this problem.

A Class B Push Pull amplifier uses two

complementary AC signal pairs to amplify
separate halves of the signal, thus amplifying the
signal to the fullest.
PSPICE is a circuit simulating software package
on which the subwoofer amplifier is simulated.
There are three modes in which the circuit was
simiulated; Bias Point, AC/DC Analysis, and
Fourrier Analysis. Bias point analysis will
generate the voltage and current values at each
node (junction of wires) in the circuit.
This is used to determine the values of the
resistors needed to modify the behavior of the
circuit. To determine the gain and effect of the
circuit on the waveform, AC/DC analysis is used
to determine the output waveform from each
stage. This generates a graph showing the
amplification of the signal when juxtaposed with
the original signals. In order to determine
whether the Sallen-key low pass filter was
working effectively, Fourier analysis is used.
Fourier analysis portrays the voltage levels of a
certain number of frequency values which is
used to determine the status of the filter which
shows that the AC signal attenuates after the
frequency rises above 200Hz. This displays a
graph which shows the strength of the signal
reducing at around the 200Hz point.
EXPERIMENTAL/ENGINEERING DESIGN
Before the design of the circuit could be
initiated, research had to be conducted on the
function of a subwoofer and the electrical
properties behind the circuitry. Background
information on Ohm’s Law, Kirchoff’s Law of
Node Voltage, and an electrical CAD program
called PSPICE had to be acquired to provide a
strong intellectual foundation for designing the
circuit. PSPICE not only allows virtual
visualization of the circuit, but also a simulation
of what is likely to happen if there were to be a
current traveling through the circuit, permitting
the evaluation of the physical application.
To find the best resistor for each place in the
circuit, Kirchoff’s Law of Node Voltage was
used to calculate the resistor value (in Ohms)
that would use the voltage needed to produce the
desired output voltage. After calculating the
values needed to build the circuit, the
construction of the circuit began in the Electrical
Engineering laboratory on campus. Each stage
of the circuit is tested as it is being built in order
to pin point any problems. Practical adjustments
are made to the design due to the limitations of
PSPICE in order to make the calculations as
accurate as possible. Even though PSPICE
allows humans to predict whether the circuit is
likely to function in the way that is desired, the
technological limitations of the program do not
anticipate problems that arise such as over-
heating of the circuit.
This unplanned problem caused a
reconfiguring of the planned circuit in order to
limit the heat production of the amplifier. The
original plan for the subwoofer amplifier had
entailed eight sections, but the final amplifier
resulted in four sections. These four sections are
the common emitter amplifier, the Sallen Key
Low-Pass Filter, a phase splitter, and a class B
Push-Pull Amplifier. These four sections were
chosen to allow the circuit to be as
uncomplicated as possible to help reduce the
amount of heat released by the amplifier. First, to
make the signal easier to manipulate, the
common emitter amplifier is used to increase the
electrical signal entering the amplifier. In the
next stage, the Sallen Key Filter, filters the
higher frequencies (those above 200Hz) so that
the amplifier only amplifies the target
frequencies in the bass range of 20-200Hz. Once
the desired frequencies are being filtered, a phase
splitter creates another signal similar to the
original signal, but shifted so that it is 180
degrees out of phase with the original signal.
This is useful because of the property of the
subwoofer of which the push-pull amplifier takes
advantage. Subwoofers require negative and
positive inputs; the two signals match up so that
the peaks of the original signal are aligned with
the troughs of the reproduced signal. When the
push-pull amplifier receives the two signals it
uses the greater differential to produce a louder
sound than if a single signal were to be used,
thus the greatest potential of intensity is used.
This simple process allowed the least
complicated bass frequency amplification to
Once the circuit is completed, the subwoofer
amplifier is connected to a DVD player. The
subwoofer allows the effectiveness of the
subwoofer to be tested. The only unwanted side
effect of reducing the number of stages was that
additional amplification was cut out of the
circuit, effectively reducing the gain and
effectiveness of the amplification. Despite this
setback, the subwoofer successfully amplified
the targeted frequencies. The circuit had to be
reconfigured so that it performed its function, but
due to the lack of extra amplification stages, its
effectiveness is limited. In the physical building
of the circuit, the redesign process required a
pragmatic approach to fixing the problems with
an ideal amplifier.

RESULTS
The circuit doesn’t act in the way depicted by
PSPICE so the circuit is a modified version of
the PSPICE simulation. Based on this, it can be
concluded that physically, a circuit may behave
in a way different than what is theoretically
predicted. The major problem is that the AC
signal fed into the circuit is attenuating to a
lower voltage. The circuit components weren’t
interacting as depicted by PSPICE. To solve this,
the circuit was trimmed down to four stages.
This shows that sometimes one must sacrifice
quality for functionality. Another problem is that
the signal is distorted due to the saturation of the
transistors. The transistors also can’t handle the
power. Higher power rated transistors are used
with heat sinks attached to dissipate the heat
given off by the transistor to efficiently cool it.
Circuit simulations show what is to be expected
but not everything can be seen through a
simulation. An engineer must have foresight and
intuition to solve unforeseen problems.
The finished circuit receives an input from a CD
player and outputs the signal to an 8 ohm
subwoofer. The gain predicted is 7. The actual
gain is a lot smaller and so the subwoofer output
is quieter than what is predicted. Also, the signal
to noise ratio is low. This is due to the length of
the wires which act as antennas and pick up
energy from the air or surrounding wires.
FUTURE WORK
When building a subwoofer amplifier, there is
always room for advancement. For example, the
amplifier being built in this project is designed to
specifically enhance low frequency tones to
achieve a gain in order to make the AC signal
usable by the subwoofer. As of now, the
subwoofer has a very low gain, but in the future
the gain can be increased, creating a higher
output with a louder and sharper sound. To do
so, the ratio of the resistors would be changed to
increase the gain. In addition, as technology
advances, more unique materials will be
available to enhance the sound. The subwoofer
in this project was built using discreet parts, but
there is another option, which is a much easier
design. This option is a simple chip. The chip
would be programmed to take care of all the
calculations by itself. So instead of spending
large amounts of time doing the calculations and
trying to balance the voltage and resistance by
trial and error, the chip will do this for us,
making the building process much easier and
more time sufficient. New filters will, too, be
available in order to make the sounds of the
subwoofer sound sharp. Filters, such as the
“Butterworth Low Pass Filter,” are prime
examples of the capabilities of the future. These
filters will be much easier to design, possibly
opening doors towards new discoveries.
Another project that can stem from the
subwoofer amplifier project is a tweeter
amplifier project. By reversing the filter to be a
high pass filter and allow the high frequency
signals to be amplified, a tweeter can be created.
CONCLUSIONS
Through this project, many skills were learned
which will prove to be useful later on in life,
especially in engineering careers. This project
entailed the use of the circuit-simulating program
PSPICE and the development of the physical
circuit in the Electrical Engineering laboratory
on the Rutgers Busch campus. By using PSPICE,
it became much simpler to plan out circuits,
while minimizing margin for error.
The construction of the subwoofer, which took
place in the Electrical Engineering laboratory,
helped to give group-members a good feel of
college research and experimentation. In addition
to the lifestyle of a college engineer, the
innovation and creativity were also mimicked
during our experiment. Many of the tools which
engineers use were introduced, such as the basic
wire cutters, needle nose pliers, and wire
strippers to the more advanced tools such as the
digital multimeter, the oscilloscope, the power
supply, and the function generator. The most
important benefit of the experiment was a chance
to work in a team environment, accomplishing
tasks in a group. This is an essential skill in
college because group work is required to
succeed. At certain times you must be a leader
while at other times you must listen. By working
a group, we developed communication skills and
the skills essential to surviving in the real world.
One problem that occurred derived from the
transfer o the schematic from PSPICE to a bread
board. The problem stemmed from the DC level
shifter in the third stage of the drawing. In
PSPICE, it was theoretically sound and did not
imply any mistakes were made. However, when
the actual circuit was constructed, the AC
voltage was attenuated. This resulted in a
decrease in gain, which opposed our goal of the
experiment. After discovering the problem, one
proposed solution was to manipulate resistors
and other pieces around the DC shifter. By doing
this, several stages were eliminated, but the gain
was salvaged. Even though the original eight
stages are reduced to four, the gain still remains
7 which is a good value to have.
Another problem is that the transistors used in
the circuit aren’t able to handle the amount of
power in the last stage. The problem was quite
obvious when the last transistor overheated and a
burning smell occurred. To solve the problem,
new transistors were purchased that were rated to
handle more power, and as a safety precaution
heat sinks are attached to them. The purpose of
the heat sinks is to increase the surface area in
order to decrease the buildup of heat in the
transistors.
Another problem is the final result of the
subwoofer. The quality is slightly fuzzy, and the
gain was lower than expected. The source of the
sound distortion is a result of the wires being too
long and not being taught and directly on the
bead board. The loss of gain is affected by the
circuit as a whole, and would have to be resolved
by reconfiguring the design.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Hvidding for providing skilled leadership in this project.
Sean Borkowski for providing guidance in this project.
Vivian Ho for helping with the completion of the subwoofer amplifier.
Govenor’s School of Engineering and Technology for providing us with this opportunity.
Anthony Welch for providing us with this opportunity.
Computer Controlled Lighting Project Group for letting our group join with their project group when we
were unable to meet with our project leader.
Rutgers Staff for allowing us to use the Rutgers facilities.
OCCAD, the developers of PSPICE for providing a software package allowing for the soft design of the
subwoofer amplifier circuit.

CITATIONS
Wikipedia. Audio Amplifier – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_amplifier.

Kai Harada. Sound System Basics. http://harada-sound.com/sound/handbook/basics.html.

Jeroen Bijsmans. Network Music Displayer: Using a Graphical User Interface on a Personal Music Player