Interesting Facts About the Subwoofer

We all love car audio subwoofers, they add an extra punch to music and is essential to any mobile audio kit. But have you ever wondered how our beloved car audio subwoofers got their start? Here’s a little history lesson:

The first-ever subwoofer was developed in the 60s by the former president of Miller & Kriesel  Sound Corporation in Los Angeles, Ken Kriesel. It was designed as a response to complaints from people who purchased high-end speakers. They thought the speakers lacked bass. Kriesel then developed woofers that would transmit the low sounds that the regular electrostatic speakers couldn’t pick up.

The first use of a subwoofer was in a 1973 recording session for Steely Dan’s album Pretzel Logic. The woofer made it’s big screen debut in the 1974 movie Earthquake which was released in Sensasound. Intially installed in 17 theaters around the U.S.,  Sensasound used large subwoofers which were powered by racks of 500 watt amps triggered by control tones of the audio in the film.  There were four subwoofers placed at the front of the theater, and four at the rear.