David Lee from BASSBOSS discusses the optimal ratio of subwoofers (subs) to top speakers (tops) in this video:
Hi, I'm David Lee from BASSBOSS. And we get asked, what's the right ratio of subs to tops? Now that all depends on the tops themselves and the subs as well, so there's no simple answer to that. But bear in mind that for every octave that you lower your frequency target, you have to increase your effective output by four times. So in general, you should probably plan to have two subs for each top. Two appropriately sized subs to an appropriately sized top, for instance, two 18-inch subs to a 12-inch two-way, two 15-inch subs to a double 12-inch two-way, etc. That gives you the ability to match the output levels that you get from the mid-highs with the output levels that you want from the subs, which is to say people want more than the same level of low frequency. Then they want the tops, so they want more low end. People sometimes say, you know, a preponderance of bass or haystack or something like that where they really want a boost in the low end. And so since you have to create four times the displacement to match sound pressure level one octave down and you want to increase output by, let's say, six dB, that's four times again. So that's 16 times more output to achieve the desired ratio of sound pressure level. And that isn't going to usually be done with one sub and one top. Hopefully that will help you pick the right ratio of boxes that you need to do the kinds of shows that you're going to do. And see you soon.