2. speakers
  3. 1213531093

adding a sub

i recently purchased paradigm studio 40 v4's. I feel i'll need a sub, possibly 2 small ones. My question is this: my amp has only binding post for right and left channels. My pre only has 1 pre-out. Where do I hook up a sub? If I hook it to 1 channel on either side how does that affect the speakers?amp? I may get 2 small subs just because all of my stuuf has to be symmetrical or I freak out a bit.
sprink

Showing 2 responses by nrenter

nrenter's avatar
nrenter
765 posts
 
What you will find is there are many ways to connect a sub (or a pair of subs). My perfered way is different than Kal's.

I prefer to use subs with speaker level connections - you connect the subs to the same binding posts on the back of your amps (or even the binding posts on the back of the speakers). Just double up the connections.

I prefer subs with variable crossovers that give you crossover frequency options of 30 Hz at a minimum. You'll probably get advice to cross your subs over around 80 Hz. IMHO, that's the best way to hate the sound of subs. For a starting point, multiply that -3 dB down point on your speakers by 0.70 to establish your base crossover frequency of your subs. As always, YMMV.

Also, I prefer subs that give you 0-degrees, 90-degrees and 180-degrees of phase control. IMHO, 2 subs are better than one.
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
765 posts
 
There's rationale behind that choice, not mysticism.

You are right, there is rationale...it's called THX specifications.

If I may quote:

It is the product of much development, and, when used in concert with THX speakers (or others which exhibit the correct roll-off), represents the best overall compromise of minimizing localization, extending dynamic range, and as it turns out, minimizing LFE truncation. When Dolby Digital was coming to the consumer marketplace, THX looked at an inordinate number of modern 5.1 soundtracks and guess what they found in the LFE channel: not much at all in the region of 80 Hz - 120 Hz, making their original choice of 80Hz rather fortuitous. Dolby Digital's LFE channel has a digital brick wall at 120 Hz, not a roll-off, so content creators almost always roll-off their stuff, usually somewhere around 80 Hz. Therefore, chucking the top band of the LFE is no big deal but the argument here is that a standard SSP crossover set much lower than 80Hz or so may actually be costing you bass content.

http://www.micasamm.com/pages/info/florian_0103.htm

However, if you are getting great 2-channel sound with a sub crossed over at 80 Hz, the more power to you.
More to discover