Where Can I Find Basic Info On Subwoofer Systems?

[mulluysavage]

Starting to explore separate subwoofer cabinets in my home systems. What's a good source for learning about incorporating subs into systems, active vs. passive, where and how to incorporate them in the signal path?

[qguy]

You may want to add a few more info

Audio only or HT or both
How big is your room
What do you have now in terms of amplifiers and speakers
What kind of woodworking skill do you have

etc

[mulluysavage]

I have made several sets of 2- way speakers, as small home systems, out of gourds, yes gourds, and would like to try to add the subwoofer to the mix. So I'm looking for a way to figure out how they are handled in the signal path, etc.

Do I pass the signal through a stereo pot, pre-amp the signal up to line level, then send it to a 25-watt Sure amp, and to a separate sub amp? Or do I go passive and just run dual voice coils in parallel to the L and R speakers with a low-pass filter? Yes, I'm figuring out the basics!

What's HT?

[qguy]

HT = Home Theater

The 2 simplest way is

1. To use sub pre-out from your AVR (HT amp) to your Subwoofer plate amplifier
2. In an 2 channel audio system is to pass the speaker level signals to the subwoofers plate amplifier speaker level inputs

In number 1, the AVR removes the high frequency signals from going to your sub.
In number 2, the subwoofer would have a filter to remove the high frequency from the subwoofer.