How to add a Subwoofer to 2 channel stereo setup?

doesn't look like you have a sub. if you don't, look at the rel's. i used a rel strata III with my totem model 1's. to hook up a rel, you actually hook them up straight from your amp along with your speaker cables to your speakers. in this setup, you run your speakers full range, and you tune the subwoofer to you speakers so there is no hole in your sound. rel is an excellent choice and 1 of the best crossover systems.
as for totem arros, lisen to them before you use a sub. i used a pair in my den without a sub and i was impressed. the room was 11x13 and i put the arros in the corners. wonderful sounding. if you are going to play the arros load or for home theater, than i would use a sub and crossover to the sub around 60 - 80 hz. if you like the arros, a little more $$$ and i would recommend the totem hawks. more full range and will play loud. no need for a subwoofer here.

Thanks for your help guys. I guess I know what all that other "stuff" is for on the back of my sub now. I thought I could just use the speaker-level outputs to hook up some speakers. I tried to set up some rear surrounds from the subwoofer's speaker out terminals and nothing happened. It didn't work very well, needless to say. Also, I do have the manual for my sub and guess I should probably read it before setting everything up next time.

After reading your explanations though, I think I can take from here. Well, hopefully.

Reubent, I think I will try both ways just to practice and see if I can hear a difference. And, I'll probably have some fun with it. Hmmm... running speaker wires to both the speakers and the sub from the same binding post is something I would've never thought of, very interesting and ingenious.

Chashmal, I guess your pretty ingenious too. ;-) As for that sub "hole"... yes, it is a problem posing a noticable and rather pesky disturbance in some of my music. It's also bloated and boomy at times with SUBstantial overhang on many an occasion. At least on my sub, and forgive the pun, LOL!

Rbstehno, your half right. I don't have a good sub for music, but it does work fairly well for movies with the deep tone, boom and rumble. And this setup is half, half now for movies and music. I was running everything on a receiver before, then I upgraded my amp and preamp to separates and just need to upgrade the speakers to full-range to finsh a decent mid-fi/hi-fi audio system. And as for the Totem's, I hear you on the Arros, I was thinking the same thing about maybe not needing the sub. I have a fairly small room and will probably position the Arros close to the walls and corners, thus reinforcing the bass. I have heard the Hawks, and they're a very nice and sensual little speaker, but unfortunately I just missed out on a sale of them here for $1,000 or so, listed mabye only a couple of weeks ago or less, if I remember right. I was getting ready to write my email to the seller, when it showed up sold on the classifieds list... after I had looked at the ad about three times, darn.

Anyway guys, thanks again for all your help.

As always,
the Audio Obsessed Novice - in training. ;-)

Guys, you may be forgetting one thing: To add a mono sub woofer to a 2 channel system be that as it may that with modern recordings most all low frequency content is dead center which means that there are identical signals on both left and right channels, when these 2 channel signals are summed together they will phase cancel. Bag End has an "integrator" which claims to solve this problem. The only other way is to derive the sub from only 1 channel (left or right) but this is less than perfect. Otherwise it is 2 subs, one for left the other for right.

Wrongo bongo...I use a single channel summing REL and there is no phase cancellation at all. None. Zero. Also, I listen to modern recordings all the time (especially acoustic jazz trios lately) and the bass is usually NOT dead center...often it's panned by the engineer more to the left or right of center although it varies (and the lowest notes are not directional but may seem so from aural cues from overtones). Brad Mehldau's stuff is a good example...bass middle to one side, drums middle to the other, piano across the middle.

I would first check your DVD manual to see if there is a configuration setting that downmixes audio tracks to 2.1, with .1 being for the subwoofer output.

If a music dvd or cd has no dedicated .1 track (as most normal cds do NOT), then there is no signal coming out of the subwoofer connection.

There may be a setting on your DVD player that does mix 2 channel audio discs to synthesize the .1 output.

If it doesn't then you would need to ensure that the DVD player is sending downmixed full range audio to the left & right outputs which are then connected to your Class Pre-amp.

From there, if it were me, I'd simply buy some rca splitters so that you can run a set of rca cables to both the sub L/R line level inputs and L/R inputs to your power amp.

Your speakers would get full range audio - so no 'bass management' - but it seems you run them this way now anyway.

I don't think there is any phase cancellation - if there were then your main speakers would see the same effect.

This is how I have my sub set up - get plenty of bass.