Wharfedale has introduced the Nova Series, a range of four active subwoofers named for their driver diameters — Nova 8, Nova 10, Nova 12 and Nova 15. The line is pitched to cover everything from a compact stereo or desktop system up to a full home cinema room, with the same connectivity and integration controls carried across all four models rather than reserved for the bigger boxes.
Each model uses a newly developed long-throw driver with a coated paper cone, a die-cast chassis, a high-roll surround and a large voice coil with an aluminium shorting ring in the motor. Rather than a conventional reflex port, all four use a downward-firing, mass-loaded passive Auxiliary Bass Radiator to extend low-frequency output. Amplification is Class D, rated from 200 watts nominal on the Nova 8 up to 360 watts on the Nova 15, and Wharfedale says the amplifier, driver, cabinet loading and DSP were developed as one system rather than assembled from parts. The DSP handles two jobs beyond crossover duties: dynamic EQ, which reshapes the response as listening level changes, and excursion limiting, which protects the driver when you ask for more than it can give.
On the specifications, the Nova 8 reaches 33 Hz at -6 dB with 200W nominal and 500W peak; the Nova 10 goes to 29 Hz with 230W/500W; the Nova 12 reaches 28 Hz with 280W/770W; and the Nova 15 also reaches 28 Hz with 360W/770W. All four share a 40 Hz–160 Hz crossover range plus adjustable phase and level. Connections cover stereo RCA line in with LFE on the right channel, stereo RCA line out, speaker-level input on four binding posts, a 12V trigger and a USB port for firmware updates. UK prices are £799 for the Nova 8, £899 for the Nova 10, £1,099 for the Nova 12 and £1,299 for the Nova 15, with availability from late September 2026 in matt black.
Why it matters for tuning: two things on this spec sheet are worth understanding before you buy on the numbers. The first is the passive radiator. A sealed box rolls off gently below its corner and stays well-behaved when you ask it to go lower; a ported or passive-radiator box gets you more output near the tuning frequency but falls away steeply underneath it, and group delay climbs around that knee. Neither is better — but if you plan to lean on room correction to fill in the bottom end, remember that correction can only boost what the driver is still producing. Below the tuning point there is nothing to boost, and the DSP's own excursion limiter will quietly refuse anyway. The second is dynamic EQ. It is genuinely useful at low volume, where your ears are less sensitive to bass, but it means the subwoofer's response depends on level. If you measure at one volume and listen at another, you are not hearing the curve you measured. Run your sweeps at the level you actually listen at, and if you are comparing before and after, keep that level identical across both runs.
The bigger practical point is that a 33 Hz or 28 Hz extension figure is a spec measured in an anechoic chamber, not a promise about your room. Room gain typically adds output below roughly 60–80 Hz in a normal domestic space, and the first room mode will usually produce a peak and a null far larger than anything separating these four models on paper. Position the sub, measure, then choose the crossover — in that order. We will update this piece if measurements become available.
