Subwoofer question

Anarchist420

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Feb 13, 2010
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Do any subwoofers exist that speakers plug in to and then the subwoofer plugs into the receivers left and right speaker terminals?

I can only seem to find subs that either have their own amps or that plug in via an RCA cable and I want neither of those. If I buy a subwoofer, then I want to plug my left and right speakers into it and then plug the subwoofer into my HK3490s L/R speaker terminals with speaker wire.
 

Durvelle27

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Jun 3, 2012
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why don't you want a passive subwoofer its the best choice ? but yes they have them because i have one with a 8" inch sub in it ?
 
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Feb 10, 2000
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Many/most subwoofers have terminals that will allow you to do exactly what you're suggesting. I know my Hsu Research does (as does the entire Hsu Research line), despite the fact that they are active subwoofers.

I'm not sure why you are objecting to active (i.e., powered) subwoofers - your receiver really isn't powerful enough to optimally power both a passive subwoofer and speakers, so you'd end up wanting a separate amp for the sub if you got a passive one.
 
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SithSolo1

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Primergy

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Built-in amplifiers, RCA connectors, speaker inputs only... all those subs are often meant for surround sound setups.

What you are looking for is a sub for a stereo (2.1) setup.
A potential problem: Many of those subs are designed for the specific sats they were sold with, do not have an adjustable crossover frequency
which would be ideal to tune your system. You may even miss a bit in the low-Hz spectrum in a worst case scenario,
or st least suffer from weak bass from the satellites before the sub takes over some more.

What speakers do you intend to hook up to the sub? Might help to find a fitting sub.
And what is the budget?!
 

Anarchist420

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Thanks everyone. I guess there just isn't what I'm looking for. I think the closest thing will be 3 way speakers with a higher SPL and lower frequency capability. I think the Infinity P162s I have are only 90 SPL and I know they don't do frequency below 50 Hz (although bass is still not bad and highs/mids are excellent). I was thinking about going to speakers that had at least a 104 SPL and went down to 22 Hz, but I'm sure they would be costly. I saw some really nice looking JBL 3 way bookshelf speakers, but they were like 4.5k/pair.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
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nht classic four is 2k$ and digs into the 20hz range. Any speaker that is affordable and 3-way or 4-way will generally have lower efficiency (less than 90 db sensitivity) due to the more complex crossover networks. Otherwise, if you are careful in setting up the speakers and subwoofers you do not "need" a crossover/bass management system. Just run the subwoofer beneath the speaker's in-room frequency response (at the listening position). That is unless your electronics lacks a pre-out or main-out.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
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Oct 28, 1999
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I'm still not sure I understand the goal here. I'm not sure the OP does either :p
 

SithSolo1

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Mar 19, 2001
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Thanks everyone. I guess there just isn't what I'm looking for. I think the closest thing will be 3 way speakers with a higher SPL and lower frequency capability. I think the Infinity P162s I have are only 90 SPL and I know they don't do frequency below 50 Hz (although bass is still not bad and highs/mids are excellent). I was thinking about going to speakers that had at least a 104 SPL and went down to 22 Hz, but I'm sure they would be costly. I saw some really nice looking JBL 3 way bookshelf speakers, but they were like 4.5k/pair.

You can add any of the subs I listed to your current setup with just speaker wire. You could even do one sub per speaker. There are other subs out there but you didn't list a budget.

Take a look at the Klipsch RF-7s. 102 db@ 1w down to 32hz -3db. Pair on E bay right now for $1500 shipped.
 

glen

Lifer
Apr 28, 2000
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Maybe the OP is trying to make some full range speakers.
The problem is that you are almost always better off with a separate sub, and typically will get destructive interference if you have a sub at each main speaker.