Subwoofers have been the MVPs of 2025; here are three examples of subs that wowed us this year

As we reach the end of 2025, we're looking back at the home cinema highlights that defined the year.

And what a year it's been. We had a showstopping quintet of flagship OLED TVs from Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG and Philips, a handful of five-star projectors from Epson, Hisense and BenQ, and it's been an especially good year for home theatre audio.

I'd like to stick with that last shoutout, as today's Adventure in AV is all about celebrating a specific type of audio product that's wowed us in the AV testing room this year; that being subwoofers.

The humble sub, often overlooked in 5.1 systems when compared to impressive floorstanding speakers, or tucked away in Dolby Atmos soundbar systems while the soundbar itself sits proudly beneath the TV, has finally had its time to shine this year.

There are three instances in particular in which subwoofers have been the highlight of a respective audio product, and I'll start with the most prominent one.

The Samsung HW-Q990F was my personal product of the year, and it also took home an official Product of the Year trophy at the 2025 What Hi-Fi? Awards. While the soundbar is superb, and the surround speakers are no slouch either, the main draw of this package, and what made it stand head and shoulders above its predecessor, was the included wireless subwoofer.

Samsung shrunk the sub down to a cutesy cubic form, with dual 8-inch drivers, and while a smaller sub might denote smaller bass, that's far from the case based on our testing.

In our full review, we beamed about the sub's ability to deliver "rich, controlled and tonally varied bass". In fact, we had this to say in our full review regarding the sonic capabilities of the Q990F's subwoofer:

"There is a much greater sense of tonal variation from this sub, which unearths a new layer to the bass. The Q990F’s bass feels more organic, balanced, and seamlessly integrated into the system as a result.

"Dune: Part Two’s Harkonnen Arena sequence has a range of bass-heavy alien chanting and a bone-rattling score, and we are immediately immersed thanks to the Q990F’s encompassing sound and rich, textured bass."

While our full review divulges more, what you can probably tell from this is that we were seriously impressed by how well the subwoofer ties the whole system together.

While it fulfils its role in firing out hefty low-end sound for the odd explosion, we felt that it exceeded this to become a genuine companion and asset to the soundbar itself, which isn't always the case. Occasionally, we test soundbars that come bundled with subwoofers that underperform, which is sometimes worse than having no subwoofer at all.

Back to the positives, and I couldn't continue this love letter to 2025 subwoofers without mentioning the Yamaha True X Surround 90A's sub. In many ways, it reminded us of the subwoofer included with the Samsung package; however, it provided even more tonally rich and controlled bass.

Yamaha deployed a new design for this subwoofer called the "Symmetrical Flare Port". As the name suggests, this sub features a port with symmetrical flared openings, which Yamaha says can ensure that air is released smoothly from the enclosure, resulting in less bass distortion. In our full Yamaha True X Surround 90A review, we had this to say:

"The subwoofer produces tightly controlled yet powerful bass that underpins the thunderous soundtrack. We have no trouble believing Yamaha’s claims regarding the benefits of the new port design, as bass refuses to distort or falter in even the trickiest scenarios – including Blade Runner 2049’s infamous Chapter 2 sequence."

While the overall package wasn't perfect, we couldn't fault the subwoofer, as it backed up the equally impressive soundbar with the necessary low-end oomph it required.

Rounding out our subwoofer praise, we'll end on the KEF Kube 12 MIE subwoofer. This sturdy sub dwarfs the other two mentioned above, but it is designed for serious home cinema usage, so we understand why.

While this isn't technically a 2025 product – it actually launched in 2024 – it only landed in our home cinema testing room late this year as part of the excellent KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 surround sound speaker package.

We found it very hard to pick faults in this system, and we were especially pleased with how it handled bass. Here's what we said in our full review of the Award-winning system:

"The explosion towards the start of this sequence is delivered with a hefty dose of low-end punch, and the subwoofer delivers its gut-punch of low end while remaining in total control.

"There’s no flabby or waffly bass here, and while the Bowers & Wilkins 606/607 S3’s subwoofer is a touch more tuneful, the KEF Kube 12 MIE delivers a powerful and dynamic low-end kick."

Controlled, dynamic and punchy, the Kube 12 MIE underpinned this agile and detailed system with a much-needed dose of weighty bass.

These three subwoofers proved that you don't have to live with warbly, distorted or boring bass, and I hope to see many other companies follow in Samsung, Yamaha and KEF's footsteps.

I've already listened to the exciting JBL Bar 1300 MK2 in action outside of our AV testing room, and I'm looking forward to putting it through its paces in the near future. The LG W7, which it has announced alongside its new Sound Suite wireless home theatre system, is also a subwoofer I'm keeping a keen eye on.

But as we reach the end of 2025, I'd like to recognise subwoofers as this year's MVP (most valuable player) for all they have done in elevating some of the best home cinema sound systems that we've tested this year.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best surround sound systems

As well as the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

And read our full Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package review