Sorry folks, I cannot find a reasonable answer to this quandary and not many people are willing to answer it properly.
Powered subwoofers seem to enjoy having a left and right RCA input, despite the driver being 100% mono. Practically all manuals say the same thing, choose one of the RCA inputs (usually Right) and everything will be fine. I have not found this to be true.
Somewhere, in the annals of the internet(s) I had found an audio discussion where someone explained it. On a basic level, the mono driver requires 2 incoming volts to properly drive. One single RCA output delivers 1 volt of signal. Using that one input will cause the driver to activate and make bass, this is true. But using both RCA inputs doubles the voltage and the driver functions much better.
In my floor standing system I have two subwoofers that both use NHT monoblock amps. They both have left/right input RCAs. When I connected a SINGLE connection to the block, I had to crank the volume to the maximum to get any reasonable bass out of the subwoofers. At that time I bought a splitter so that the single LFE out on the receiver (I have left and right LFE outputs, hence two subs) could split into two to cover both left/right inputs and suddenly there was more bass than could possibly be endured and I had to crank the volume way down. So, that seems to prove the theory that using one single RCA input is not correct.
So, on to my quandary.
In my office reference system I have a powered sub that currently connects via two RCA. The sound quality is pleasant and enjoyable. I wouldn't mind tightening the bass down a bit more. To that end I want to switch to actual Subwoofer cables, that have been specifically tuned to amplify bass. The question is, should I buy two subwoofer cables or buy one cable and two splitters? Yes, buying two cables is more expensive. However, ANYTIME you split a signal, there *WILL* be signal quality loss. That's just the way it is. The more point to point the connection is, the better the signal flow. So...has anyone actually tested whether two sub cables works better or the same as a single sub cable split?
