How to add woofers to Wadia, Classe, Wilson setup?


I recently purchased a pair of Entec SW-5s to supplement my system.

I'm not happy with the bass I'm getting from my Wilson Watt Puppy 3/2's

My front end is a Wadia 860 connected via balanced outputs to a Classe CA-2200 Amplifier--no preamp. I'm using volume control via my Wadia. My dip switches on the Wadia are set to output very low voltage so I can keep my volume control in the upper range.

Now for the problem. I hooked up the Entec crossover to the unbalanced output of the Wadia. The Entec's didn't put out much sound since the voltage was far below line level.

So I think I'm going to have to hook up my pre-amp (an adcom 750) for volume control and set the Wadia switches to output true line level outputs.

Should I continue to feed the Entec crossover with my Wadia or should I hook it up to one of the sets of unbalanced outputs from the pre-amp?

I hope this makes sense.
vhuang
Johngault,

Did you set the Watchdog sub up i the same fashion you did the Entec. I mean did you run "a second preamp output" to the mains?

I own Watt Puppies/5.1 and just purchased a Watchdog.
John,

Thanks for the reply. I've got the setup up and running now and am enjoying the sound. It's tempting to turn up the bass but I know that what I really want is just to fill it in a little and not overemphasize things.

Which Entec's did you use? Did you find placement of the woofers crucial or not as important as the Watt units? I'm constrained right now as I don't have any really long balanced interconnects to go to the Entec SW5's. Don't know if I need to invest in high quality long balanced cables or if something economical will do.

Right now the woofers are about a meter away from the center of my soundstage and the Wilsons are about 5-6 feet off center.
I used Entec's with Wilson Watts and Watt/Puppies for many years. I found it relatively easy to feed a preamp output to the Entec crossover. A second preamp output went to the main amp. This worked well and did not get in the way of the Wilson products. The Entec’s just filled in the bass missing form the Wilson’s. I used this set up for about 15 years until the Wilson Watchdog sub was available. I listened extensively to the WHOW and found it lacking in bass and speed compared to the Entec’s. The Watchdog was the first sub that I thought was better suited to the Watt’s or WP’s than the Entec’s.