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These days when you see a gamer in action, either in person or on your favorite streaming site, chances are they’re wearing giant, over-the-entire-ear headphones. And while headphones have their own benefits and offer an encapsulating experience, speakers still provide an entire immersion that headphones can’t quite compete with. Add in a powerful subwoofer, and your gameplay becomes a true sonic experience.
Gaming Speakers vs. Headphones
There are a number of reasons why gaming speakers could be better than headphones. First off, speakers have larger drivers and subwoofers, which can be a total game changer when it comes to accurately noticing every nuance and hearing your game the way the designers intended. Instead of (literally) just getting your head in the game, a set of speakers is way more immersive, surrounding you with the experience and letting you physically feel the booming lows of every gunshot and crackling highs of explosions. Speakers expand the area of sound exponentially, allowing your entire room to be enveloped into the game, not just a tight little sound-box that stops at the end of your ears.
What Are the Best Speakers and Subwoofers for Gaming?
There are many different speaker sets out there, but it’s preferable to go with one that’s got a woofer. A dedicated separate subwoofer is what brings the bass, while the speakers have tweeters that handle the highs. It’s possible to get a subwoofer-less set and save some cash, but you’ll also find that it lacks some serious low-end. While some speakers have a small built-in woofer inside, and it’ll save a bit of space at your setup, it’s just not the same as a standalone sub unit.
Plus if you like to crank it up to 11, pay attention to the mean power, or root mean square (RMS). It’s a measure of audio quality, and lets you know the limit of how much your speaker can handle before the sound starts to distort. RMS doesn’t necessarily mean better sound quality though, it’s simply a measure of how much output the speaker can handle without cracking up. Power is measured more in watts, and audio systems for gaming like these will typically be under 100w.
Bluetooth capability is available on some units as well, and even though wire-free is the most convenient and least messy, the sound quality suffers a bit compared to the old-school optical and RCA setup. Some models even have a wired separate control unit too, which is super handy, and not only lets you adjust the basics like volume and bass without feeling around for knobs in back, but also features an AUX input to play music from your favorite mobile device.
We’ve selected our four favorite gaming speaker systems with subwoofers that can help bring not just bass, but more overall enjoyment and immersion to your next gaming session.
