Editing Subwoofer (section)

===1970s to 1980s===
The first use of a subwoofer in a recording session was in 1973 for mixing the [[Steely Dan]] album ''[[Pretzel Logic]]'', when [[recording engineer]] [[Roger Nichols (recording engineer)|Roger Nichols]] arranged for Kreisel to bring a prototype of his subwoofer to [[Village Recorders]].<ref name=Phillips1997 /> Further design modifications were made by Kreisel over the next ten years, and in the 1970s and 1980s by engineer [[John P. D'Arcy]]; [[record producer]] [[Daniel Levitin]] served as a [[consultant]] and "[[golden ear]]s" for the design of the [[Audio crossover|crossover network]] (used to partition the frequency spectrum so that the subwoofer would not attempt to reproduce frequencies too high for its effective range, and so that the main speakers would not need to handle frequencies too low for their effective range). In 1976, Kreisel created the first satellite speakers and subwoofer system, named "David and Goliath".<ref name=KreiselTimeline />

Subwoofers received a great deal of publicity in 1974 with the movie ''[[Earthquake (1974 film)|Earthquake]]'', which was released in [[Sensurround]]. Initially installed in 17 U.S. theaters, the Cerwin-Vega "Sensurround" system used large subwoofers that were driven by racks of 500 watt amplifiers, triggered by control tones printed on one of the audio tracks on the film. Four of the subwoofers were positioned in front of the audience under (or behind) the film screen and two more were placed together at the rear of the audience on a platform. Powerful noise energy and loud rumbling in the range of 17 to 120&nbsp;Hz were generated at the level of 110–120 decibels of [[Sound pressure|sound pressure level]], abbreviated dB(SPL). The new low frequency entertainment method helped the film become a box office success. More Sensurround systems were assembled and installed. By 1976, there were almost 300 Sensurround systems leapfrogging through select theaters. Other films to use the effect include the WW II naval battle epic ''[[Midway (1976 film)|Midway]]'' in 1976 and ''[[Rollercoaster (1977 film)|Rollercoaster]]'' in 1977.<ref name=AboutSensurround />

For owners of 33&nbsp;rpm LPs and 45&nbsp;rpm singles, loud ''and'' deep bass was limited by the ability of the [[phonograph record]] stylus to track the groove.<ref name="aes.org" /> While some hi-fi aficionados had solved the problem by using other playback sources, such as [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel tape players]] which were capable of delivering accurate, naturally deep bass from acoustic sources, or synthetic bass not found in nature, with the popular introduction of the compact cassette in the late 1960s it became possible to add more low frequency content to recordings.<ref name="Masterclass Professional Learning" /> By the mid-1970s, 12-inch vinyl singles, which allowed for "more bass volume", were used to record disco, reggae, dub and hip-hop tracks; dance club DJs played these records in clubs with subwoofers to achieve "physical and emotional" reactions from dancers.<ref name="Krukowski" />

In the early 1970s, [[David Mancuso]] hired sound engineer [[Alex Rosner]]<ref name="Brewster, Bill p. 64">Brewster, Bill; Broughton, Frank. ''The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries''. Black Cat. p. 64</ref> to design additional subwoofers for his disco dance events, along with "tweeter arrays" to "boost the treble and bass at opportune moments" at his private, underground parties at [[The Loft (New York City)|The Loft]].<ref name="Lawrence, Tim 2009. p. 204">Lawrence, Tim. "Beyond the Hustle: Seventies Social Dancing, Discotheque Culture and the Emergence of the Contemporary Club Dancer". In ''Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader'', ed. Julie Malnig. University of Illinois Press, 2009. p. 204.</ref> The demand for sub-bass sound reinforcement in the 1970s was driven by the important role of "powerful bass drum" in disco, as compared with rock and pop; to provide this deeper range, a third crossover point from 40 to 120&nbsp;Hz (centering on 80&nbsp;Hz) was added.<ref name="Hill2010" /> The [[Paradise Garage]] [[discotheque]] in New York City, which operated from 1977 to 1987, had "custom designed 'sub-bass' speakers" developed by Alex Rosner's disciple, sound engineer [[Richard Long (sound designer)|Richard ("Dick") Long]]<ref name="Brewster, Bill p. 64" /> that were called "Levan Horns" (in honor of resident [[DJ]] [[Larry Levan]]).<ref name="Krukowski" />

By the end of the 1970s, subwoofers were used in dance venue sound systems to enable the playing of "[b]ass-heavy dance music" that we "do not 'hear' with our ears but with our entire body".<ref name="Lawrence, Tim 2009. p. 204" /> At the club, Long used four Levan bass horns, one in each corner of the dancefloor, to create a "haptic and tactile quality" in the sub-bass that you could feel in your body.<ref name="Papenburg2016" /> To overcome the lack of sub-bass frequencies on 1970s disco records (sub-bass frequencies below 60&nbsp;Hz were removed during mastering), Long added a DBX 100 "Boom Box" [[Subharmonic synthesizer|subharmonic pitch generator]] into his system to synthesize 25 to 50&nbsp;Hz sub-bass from the 50 to 100&nbsp;Hz bass on the records.<ref name="Papenburg2016" />

By the later 1970s, disco club sound engineers were using the same large Cerwin-Vega Sensurround-style folded horn subwoofers that were used in ''Earthquake'' and similar movies in dance club system installations.<ref name="Hill2010" /> In the early 1980s, Long designed a sound system for the [[Warehouse (nightclub)|Warehouse]] dance club, with "huge stacks of subwoofers" which created "deep and intense" bass frequencies that "pound[ed] through your system" and "entire body", enabling clubgoers to "viscerally experience" the DJs' [[house music]] mixes.<ref name=Salkind2018 />

[[File:Sound System.jpg|thumb|A crew sets up a sound system, including large bass bins, in Jamaica in 2009.]]

In Jamaica in the 1970s and 1980s, sound engineers for [[reggae]] [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound systems]] began creating "heavily customized" subwoofer enclosures by adding foam and tuning the cabinets to achieve "rich and articulate speaker output below 100&nbsp;Hz".<ref name="Fink" /> The sound engineers who developed the "bass-heavy signature sound" of sound reinforcement systems have been called "deserving as much credit for the sound of Jamaican music as their better-known music producer cousins".<ref name=Henriques2011 /> The sound engineers for [[Stone Love Movement]] (a sound system crew), for example, modified folded horn subwoofers they imported from the US to get more of a bass reflex sound that suited local tone preferences for [[dancehall]] audiences, as the unmodified folded horn was found to be "too aggressive" sounding and "not deep enough for Jamaican listeners".<ref name="Fink" />

In sound system culture, there are both "low and high bass bins" in "towering piles" that are "delivered in large trucks" and set up by a crew of "box boys", and then positioned and adjusted by the sound engineer in a process known as "stringing up", all to create the "sound of reggae music you can literally feel as it comes off these big speakers".<ref name=Burrell2012 /> Sound system crews hold '[[sound clash]]' competitions, where each sound system is set up and then the two crews try to outdo each other,<ref name="Stanley" /> both in terms of loudness and the "bass it produced".<ref name=Rasool2018 />

[[File:Bose Acoustimass 5 Series 1.jpg|left|thumb|The 1987 Bose Acoustimass 5 stereo bass driver contained one six-inch (152 mm) driver per channel and provided crossover filtering for its two cube speaker arrays.<ref name=AcoustimassUserManual />]]
In the 1980s, the Bose Acoustimass AM-5 became a popular subwoofer and small high-range satellite speaker system for home listening.<ref name="Feinstein" /> Steve Feinstein stated that with the AM-5, the system's "appearance mattered as much as, if not more than, great sound" to consumers of this era, as it was considered to be a "cool" look.<ref name="Feinstein" /> The success of the AM-5 led to other makers launching subwoofer-satellite speaker systems, including Boston Acoustics Sub Sat 6 and 7, and the Cambridge SoundWorks Ensemble systems (by Kloss).<ref name="Feinstein" /> Claims that these sub-satellite systems showed manufacturers and designers that home-cinema systems with a hidden subwoofer could be "feasible and workable in a normal living room" for mainstream consumers. Despite criticism of the AM-5 from audio experts, regarding a lack of bass range below 60&nbsp;Hz, an "acoustic hole" in the 120 to 200&nbsp;Hz range and a lack of upper range above 13&nbsp;kHz for the satellites, the AM-5 system represented 30% of the US speaker market in the early 1990s.<ref name="Feinstein" />

In the 1980s, Origin Acoustics developed the first residential in-wall subwoofer named Composer. It used an aluminum 10-inch (25.4&nbsp;cm) driver and a foam-lined enclosure designed to be mounted directly into wall studs during the construction of a new home.<ref name=ComposerInWallSubwoofers /> The frequency response for the Composer is 30 to 250&nbsp;Hz.<ref name=CSUB10NCE />