PASSIVE SUBWOOFER DRIVEN by a 2 CHANNEL PRE-AMP + MONOBLOCK ?

Crown, QSC, Behringer (12k) All work well for bass duty.. I really like Behringer 12Ks, 500.00 each. COOL as can be..
Waves in the neighbors pool!!! :-)

Thanks heaps guys . I’ll have to google what is a QSC amplifier and the other recommendations. Much appreciated

yes my Torus 18 inch subwoofer is completely sealed, no ports

I haven’t put a deposit on a Bryston monoblock yet. I only thought of them because after so many friends had their Chinese plate amps fail I thought I’d go with a brand that has a reputation for longevity. But here in Australia Bryston costs an arm and a leg LOL.

Yes my home theatre processor subwoofer XLR out socket can , in theory , be connected direct to a monoblock and then the Wilson Benesch Torus Sub. But the processor has , as one would expect , a global volume knob that adjusts VOLUME of all the speakers plus Sub. 
Auxinput -I think you mean maybe adjust the Trim level in the processor for the sub for a given movie?

i wanted to add a preamp in the chain between processor and monoblock for the sub because some movies have the Bass/ LFE frequencies mastered too loud , other movies the bass is mastered at normal levels. Like in the video world , mixers and studios don’t always adhere to a standard

thanks again guys . I was just reading that even REL has moved manufacturing to China. Sad days.

I just saw the website for QSC amps

seems they do stereo amps  and 4 channel amps

I don’t want to bridge a stereo amp so if I just use the one channel the thing won’t blow up in time ?

I assume they are made in USA - do QSC class D amps have a reputation for longevity ? ( my old Jeff Rowland amps that used the bang and olufsen ICE class D amps weren’t very reliable )

Yes, you can adjust the "trim" of the subwoofer output in the HT Processor.  I have never had any problems with some movies having bass/LFE mastered too loud, but if you wanted to put a preamp in the middle, it won't hurt anything.

Also, be aware that most those pro amps (Crown, Behringer, QSC) are fan cooled.  The fans can be relatively loud and will be annoying during movies.  Unless you are putting these amps into a closet or separate room, it may be too much fan noise for your movie experience.  I had a couple older Crown CTS amps and the fan noise got to be too much (almost like hiss coming through the speakers).  The CTS2000 I had did a good job for subwoofer, but the older Emotiva monoblocks were a stronger amp for subwoofer (it didn't matter how loud it was).

Using one channel of a stereo amp is just fine if you want to do this.  Some of these amps, such as the Crown XLS, are Class D amps. 

I would like to put forth another suggestion.  Since you are in Australia, availability of amps is going to be difficult.  I would look at the Nord Acoustics website.  They are in Europe, but ship anywhere.  Look at the "Nord One SE NC1200MB Mono Blocks Single" amp.  These output 400 watts into 8 ohms, but will do up to 1200 watts into a 2 ohm load (which is stable).  It is priced at 1,149 Euro (which is 1,780 Australian dollars).  Contact them and request that it is loaded with the previous generation 8-pin Sparkos SS3602 op amps for the input stage (instead of the SS2590 pro op amps).  These are excellent discrete opamps.  While they don't have the best resolution for high frequencies, they have some of the strongest and fullest bass that I have heard from an op amp (this is mostly due to how the slew rate is handled in the opamp).  I think this solution would be significantly better for your subwoofer than any of the pro amps.

Very interesting reading the Nord website. A lot for your money there . Thanks for the recommendation !