Just got yourself a new subwoofer and want to start enjoying an exhilarating home cinematic experience? Then you are at the right place as we will be introducing some of the best movies either to show off or test your subwoofers. Do remember the subwoofer will need some time to break in first before it could start performing optimally. We also advise you to recalibrate your sound system before and after your subwoofers have break-in if you are using room correction technology such as Audyssey.
You should also gradually increase the bass level and volume even if you are using subwoofer beasts like the SVS PB16 Ultra and JL Audio Gotham g213 which have immensely high amplifier power output. If your AV receiver is capable of connecting up to 2 subwoofers, we highly suggest you go for dual subs, especially for home theater enthusiasts who like to push their subs and wake their neighbors. This will give you more headroom and a more even bass distribution inside your HT room. Okay, without further ado, let us show you the best movies to play/test your subwoofer.
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Table of Contents
Movies to Show Off your Subwoofers
What better way to show off your subwoofers than with some sci-fi actions and musical electronic bass from the new Tron movie, Tron: Legacy. There are a few scenes in this movie that not only display how authoritative your sub can dish out the sub-bass but also how articulate it could deliver the LFE. One such scene will be the Lightcycle battle and along with the top-notch visuals, it will sure captivate your guests.
The Avengers: Endgame final battle is a stunning visual spectacle that will also test your subwoofer’s bass quality and output. This intense action scene will show off how fast your subwoofer is able to cope with this large-scale battle, giving the right punch and impact when is needed. Producing the sub-bass details cleanly is important as this will allow us to hear what’s going on and support the visualizations while feeling the explosive energy of the amazingly choreographed “The Battle of Earth” scene.
Another excellent Marvel movie to show off your subwoofer will be Spider-Man: Far from Home. One of the more intense moments both visually and sonically will be the flood scene where Spidey faces off the Water Element. The Fire Elemental fight scene is bass-heavy as well. My personal favorite will be the final battle with Mysterio and this will require body-pounding midbass. Spider-Man: Far from Home will sure entertain your friends while showing off the performance of your subwoofer.
Flight of the Phoenix is a classic movie to display the might of your subwoofer. This is also one of the movies that were played to me while I was testing the Ken Kreisel DXD 808. The sandstorm scene was the most memorable, the pressure and intensity of the subterranean bass frequencies were immense. When the plane has crashed landed and the battle is over, you can feel the presence inside your room change back to normal, is like your listening room was really ‘hit’ by a sandstorm. What a rush of excitement that will be for yourself and your guests.
Is it me or is it just Tom Cruise likes to star in movies with room-shaking LFEs. In the War of the Worlds, the start of the aliens’ invasion was the most memorable for me. The lightning striking multiple times immediately glued me to my seat and the build-up to the rising of the ‘Pod’ is just perfect. From the lightning strikes to the point where Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) and his family manages to escape, would be enough to display how powerful your subwoofer is while everyone is enjoying watching the movie. Another Sci-Fi flick starring Tom Cruise will be the Edge of Tomorrow, this is an exhilarating movie to watch with friends and certainly one of the best movies to show off your subwoofer. The level of intensity can be overwhelming for a low-powered subwoofer and this is why some HT enthusiasts use this movie to test out their subs.
Best Movies to Test your Subwoofers
Godzilla: King of Monster is most definitely one of the best movies for you to use to test your subwoofer’s sonic prowess. At the climax of the movie, the scenes are so bass-heavy which will really evaluate your subwoofers at reference levels. We suggest turning down the volume and bass level when you start hearing distortions from your active sub.
Mad Max: Fury Road is another great movie to test your subwoofer and it is also one of my favorites. The sandstorm scene was beautiful and terrifying at the same time and would be ideal to use it to evaluate your powered subs. The constant barrage of LFEs as they entered the sandstorm will examine how much pressure and intensity your subwoofer can muster without sounding bloated and/or losing subsonic details.
If you prefer older movies, we suggest going with Saving Private Ryan as it will be an amazing choice for your subwoofer testing. You can simply use the D-Day scene to push your subwoofer to the limits as there are plenty of mid, deep, and subterranean LFEs. Since the scene is so chaotic, you can also take this opportunity to see how accurate and detailed your subwoofer can deliver these low frequencies.
The Magnificent Seven is a really good movie to test your subwoofer even if you are not into old western cowboy movies. The epic final shootout scene at the climax of the movie will dish out plenty of subsonic low frequencies which might be too much for some subs if you push them too hard. This is very tough for underpowered subwoofers to play at high or reference levels. It will be a cool film to try out your midbass module too if you are planning to own one.
Another ‘Kaiju’ level monster flick to evaluate your subwoofer will be the classic Cloverfield. As the monster ravage through the city, its weight can be felt with every stomp and the subwoofer needs to bring out that intensity and destruction at reference level or at least at the volume level that you want. You can use this movie to check the precision of your active sub as well.
Interstellar will be the Sci-Fi movie to test your subwoofer’s sonic prowess. The difficulty in handling this movie’s LFE is partly due to the music OST. The OST in this movie is no joke as it could sustain a low 20Hz note for quite some time and overall the Interstellar movie LFE would rock your whole HT room. The blackhole scene is notorious for blowing out some speakers and so please gradually increase the volume.
DC movies like The Dark Knight were popular among HT enthusiasts as one of the live-action comic flicks to test out their powered subs but only recently Zack Snyder’s Justice League has taken up the mantle. Transformers movies directed by Michael Bay would also be awesome choices and we can certainly expect high-octane explosive action scenes to make our subwoofers sweat.
To Sum It Up
The movies listed here are great choices for you to either show off to your guests or just simply use them to see how far your subwoofer can go. We highly recommend not to push the subs too hard as there is a chance they would be damaged. During the testing, you should also check for noises coming from the bass ports. You can go for sealed cabinet subwoofers to avoid this issue. The SVS SB16 Ultra will be a fantastic sealed sub to go for as it is extremely powerful, with up to 5000+ Watts of peak power.
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Sealed subwoofers do lose out to ported models when it comes to bass outputs and high SPL but they tend to have higher low-end accuracy and a tighter delivery. If watching movies is your main entertainment, you should stick to ported subwoofers instead. Going with dual subwoofers can be a good idea, especially for bass fanatics who like to watch movies at reference volume levels.
