[Needles]

Boxing Day is right around the corner, I've perused the Canadian fliers and discovered three subs that potentially rock my world (to be paired up with a set of Audioengine A5s for gaming and music). What are your thoughts?

Polk Audio DSW MicroPro 1000 8" for $398
Velodyne VDR12 12" for $300
Polk Audio PW111 8" for $150

So yeah. The MicroPro ... I've heard mixed reviews. Some claim it's amazing, others are utterly disappointed. Hard to get a read on it. The Velodyne ... not a single review online for this thing, but Velodyne is a trusted name. The PW111 seems to be generally well regarded but would likely be the weakest of the bunch in terms of punch, not that I'm looking to rattle the windows. Time is of the essence! Any input would be much appreciated. If you've had personal experience with any of the products, great! If not, opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: After a closer look at the specs, the PSW111 loses some of it's luster. 38Hz-250Hz. Not really low enough for my taste. The DSW and the Velodyne list a low end of 22hz and 25hz respectively.

 

[Duperman]

heyy I was going to open a related thread but then I saw yours, you saw the psw111 for 150 @ futureshop too? this one right?

Future Shop: Audio: Home Speakers: Polk Audio 8" Subwoofer (PSW111)

I think I'm just going to order it, I don't have a fantastic setup and it's just to give my bx5a a little more oomph, but you're right it's range isn't that much better, though the other two are double its prices well.

Anyway what I was going to ask is how to connect these subs to the computer...my bx5as are TRS jacks, I use a dual 1/4 to single 1/8 y cable to plug the speakers into my soundcards minijack. But how do these subs enter the equation, they use speaker cable?

 

[Bojamijams]

nvm

 

[Operandi]

The Polk Micro looks pretty nice, I like the small size and the passive radiator, it's also probably using a ton of EQ to extend the response given how power they are putting into it. I'm sure the Velodyne is also decent too, but I'm not sure about the lower end Polk.

You may want to consider DIY too, subs are relatively simplistic to model. You just have to decide on your design goals and limitations and go from there.

Dayton sells some really nice high quality pre-fabbed boxes, here is the 1.0 CuF box in Cherry. Pair it with a good driver like this Dayton RS 8" and plate amp like this 300 watt BASH and you would have a sub that is worth far more than the sum of it's parts.

 

[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

I got the S8 Sub for christmas

 

[Dan Millheim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really don't think a sub is needed for the A5's. Especially now that I've put two OPA2137P's in the I/V slots,

I have the A5's with the S8 and love it. Can you explain what you mean in the above quote? I'm not a DIY'er and was trying to figure out if you did a mod on your A5's with your comment. Thanks.

 

[somestranger26]

ENERGY ESWV8 Subwoofer at World Wide Stereo goes down to 26hz for $225. Just got one for Christmas to complement my RC-10s and it's nice for the money

.

 

[Bojamijams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Millheim /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the A5's with the S8 and love it. Can you explain what you mean in the above quote? I'm not a DIY'er and was trying to figure out if you did a mod on your A5's with your comment. Thanks.

sorry my mistake... I assumed the OP used the same source as I did

 

[Needles]

Yeah, Duperman. The Future Shop Boxing Day Sale is always good fun, and the MircoPRO 1000 was available at Visions Electronics.

Well, I went with the 12" Velodyne powered sub and it's awesome. Woke myself up at 6am and managed to score one of the three left in stock at FS. $299 for what is basically the $799 DLS-4000 with a small "cosmetic" change. It blends really well with the A5s and can really move the room beyond anything I reasonably require. I figured it was too much bass for my needs, but I'd rather have more than less! Either way, it really improves listening, beyond my expectations. I'm actually quite surprised with how much I was missing with my A5s alone (though I still love them). Not sure what the actual low range of the Velodyne is, I've seen it listed at 25hz down to 19hz. Either way, I'm impressed.

Maybe someday I'll be a hero and start DIY'ing, but for now I'm happy with my prefab retail goodness.

I currently have it hooked up with a stereo phono cable from the rear of the A5s to the R/L sub inputs and it's great. BUT, I'm thinking I might someday expand the system to 4.1 or even 5.1 (rear speakers on stands for occasional use in an otherwise surround sound unfriendly environment), which makes me wonder just how feasible it is to run a 12" 400w (dynamic) sub from an X-fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty. Is there enough signal to do the sub justice, or would I require some form of pre-amp? There are plenty of mini-jack to RCA adapters, plugging it into the sound card is no problem ... I simply wonder if the X-fi would supply enough signal to push the bass.

The dude at Future Shop thought I'd need an amp ... but then, he wanted to sell me an amp, not good advice ... and he DID try to sell me not only Monster cables, but the WRONG Monster cables ... so I'm not putting a ton of stock into what he had to say.

 

[Operandi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Needles /img/forum/go_quote.gif I currently have it hooked up with a stereo phono cable from the rear of the A5s to the R/L sub inputs and it's great. BUT, I'm thinking I might someday expand the system to 4.1 or even 5.1 (rear speakers on stands for occasional use in an otherwise surround sound unfriendly environment), which makes me wonder just how feasible it is to run a 12" 400w (dynamic) sub from an X-fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty. Is there enough signal to do the sub justice, or would I require some form of pre-amp? There are plenty of mini-jack to RCA adapters, plugging it into the sound card is no problem ... I simply wonder if the X-fi would supply enough signal to push the bass.

What exactly do you mean?, a subwoofer doesn't need any more "signal" than your stereo speakers. If you are running the sub out of the output of the A5's (they have sub out right?) then the A5s are essentially your preamp, its just all built into the speaker.

 

[Needles]

Apologies, I'm pretty noob to this whole stand alone sub thing. The Velodyne manual mentions that certain sources might not be capable of providing enough "signal" (their word, not mine) when using the line level jacks, resulting in less output than the unit is capable of.

The sub out on the A5 work great, but is it ideal if I someday expand to 4 or 5.1? Would I be better served running the sub from the analog channel on the sound card, or would it make no difference to overall sound quality in a 5.1 environment? Would the sub connected to the A5 output blend with all 5 channels, or would it mesh only with the front left/right it's connected to? I honestly have no idea! I've never dealt with a sub connected directly to satellites, only those connected directly to the source card/receiver.

 

[Operandi]

Yeah, that's pretty vague.

I think what they are saying is if you use a low power source with the line level inputs (stereo) with the crossover on the sub amp it might not be at a high enough level (voltage). Since you are using a subwoofer output from the A5's that doesn't really pertain to you.

You should be fine using the setup you have now if you add surround speakers, there isn't really going to be an real low bass information in the surround channels anyway.

 

[Needles]

Thanks for you help, Operandi. I stumbled across the mini-to-RCA Y cable that came with the A5s and, if only because I'm curious, I plan to test the output of the X-fi. I intend to split at the sub source and run the existing stereo phono cable to the R and L inputs on the Velodyne, just for the sake of comparison.

A couple of helpful chaps on the AVS forum suggested that I'd need only a 1v or maybe 2v signal to power the sub. According to specs, the Xtreme Gamer offers "Audio Performance (Rated Output @ 2Vrms, Typical Value)". So it should be enough.

 

[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Needles /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for you help, Operandi. I stumbled across the mini-to-RCA Y cable that came with the A5s and, if only because I'm curious, I plan to test the output of the X-fi. I intend to split at the sub source and run the existing stereo phono cable to the R and L inputs on the Velodyne, just for the sake of comparison. A couple of helpful chaps on the AVS forum suggested that I'd need only a 1v or maybe 2v signal to power the sub. According to specs, the Xtreme Gamer offers "Audio Performance (Rated Output @ 2Vrms, Typical Value)". So it should be enough.

your sub doesnt have its own power connector?

 

[Duperman]

sorry if I'm hijacking your thread i'm also a bigtime noob and am a little confused on how to hook up these subs to my computer stereo speakers. for example the krk and m-audio subwoofer manuals show them having both 1/4inch inputs/outputs, which means i can connect my bx5as to them and then connect them to my soundcards minijack with a y adapter, seems simple. but then i look at psw111 and other subs i think designed for home theatre systems and it only has one set of rca input, and speaker level inputs/outputs...

http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/m..._WebManual.pdf

does that mean i can only use subs with 1/4 inch inputs and outputs?