2. amps-preamps
  3. 1407207774

Ways to connect subwoofer?

I have a Velodyne Minivee powered subwoofer I'd like to add to my stereo. It consists of a Benchmark DAC2 and a pair of Nuforce Ref 9 V2 SE amplifiers powering Focal Micro Utopia Be speakers.

The subwoofer has RCA inputs with high pass RCA outputs. The Nuforce amplifiers have both RCA and XLR inputs. The DAC2 has RCA and XLR outputs.

My question is whether I should use the high pass outputs of the subwoofer or wire the subwoofer in parallel with the amps? The Focal speakers are good to 50Hz, but the sub only has 80Hz high pass. Will running the speakers full range with the sub muddy the sound?

There are three ways to wire it up:

1. XLR to amps and RCA to sub from DAC2.
2. RCA to sub, high pass RCA to amps.

I'm not sure if this way will work but...
3. XLR to amplfiers, RCA out of amp (parallel with Pin 2 on XLR) to subwoofer.

Option three just makes it easier to manage the wiring, but I'm not sure if adding another load to the hot side of the XLR signal will cause issues with the DAC2 output driver.
gherrera1
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Probably the easiest way would be to run a cheap pair of speakers cables from the binding posts on your speakers to the binding posts on the sub. Its a very common way to connect a sub.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
I'd go with option #1. I had the same sub and ran it that way with a Bel Canto Pre3. It worked fine.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"1. XLR to amps and RCA to sub from DAC2."

That should work, but will the DAC let you run both Balanced and SE outputs at the same time?
More to discover