How to hook up a powered sub to Exposure 2010

Why do you have two stereo amplifiers for a 2.1 system?

Run a pair of rca terminated interconnects from the pre-out connection on the back of your integrated to the low level input on the sub.

Since you're using both an Exposure integrated and the Exposure power amp I'm assuming the pre-out connection on the intrgrated is already in use to connect it to the power amp. Yes?

An alternative, since the Exposure power amp has two sets of speaker outputs and the Totem has high level-inputs, would be to run a pair of speaker cables from the second speaker outputs to those high-level inputs on the Totem.

That second set of cables doesn't need to be of the same gauge or quality as your primary cables since it's sending just the frequency and amplitude information for amplification by the sub.

"An alternative, since the Exposure power amp has two sets of speaker outputs and the Totem has high level-inputs, would be to run a pair of speaker cables from the second speaker outputs to those high-level inputs on the Totem.

That second set of cables doesn't need to be of the same gauge or quality as your primary cables since it's sending just the frequency and amplitude information for amplification by the sub."

Normally, I would agree but if you look at the manual for the sub it tells you to run speaker cables first to the sub, and then from the sub to the speakers. Personally, I wouldn't want to do it that way. However, I did find the manual a bit confusing in its explanation on hook up. Maybe I just didn't read it properly.

Billbartuska - I'm not saying it makes a lot of sense for most people but that's the way Exposure designed this system. The integrated can be used as any other integrated would be but if you want to upgrade to more power and better power supplies you use the integrated as a preamp only and connect it to the power amp. They don't make a stand-along preamp in that series.

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Zd542 - You're right, that is another way to do it, as described in the manual, and both it and the way I suggested should work.

If you do it as the manual suggests the sub circuitry is cutting the low frequencies out of the signal it sends on to the main speakers and the low frequencies are handled only by the sub. If you do it the way I suggested you're simply augmenting the low frequencies in the signal that's going directly to the main speakers and the sub is adding the frequencies below what the main speakers are capable of, down to its own lower limit and up to the higher frequency cutoff you've selected on the sub.

I'm certainly not an expert about subwoofers and I have no experience with the Totem Storm. I owned a couple of HSU subs and spent some time talking with their main technical guy about how to hook them up. The three options were the same as the ones the OP has.

The method I suggested is the one that worked best for me in terms of ease of integration with the main speakers. I absolutely agree with you that I would be reluctant to run the cables to the sub and then on the the main speakers, beyond the consideration of having to buy two pair of equally high-quality cables.