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How Screwed Am I?

Disclaimer: I'm a newb but I am aware I didn't make the best equipment choices when I bought this stuff. My only defense is it was five years ago, I was in a hurry, and I didn't spend much cash.

I've got a Sony STR-DE845 receiver and a Bose Acoustimass 6 Series II satellite system (it's got single cubes, not doubles, and a passive "bass module"). Please, any ranting against Bose will be preaching to the choir at this point. I will indeed upgrade my speakers...later.

I want to get some bass out of my system, and the Bose bass module is godawful. So I'm shopping for an inexpensive (<$300) active subwoofer. The problem is that the satellites run through the bass module, and the super-secret Bose crossover is apparently set around 280 Hz, which is way high. Too high to use an active subwoofer or the receiver as the crossover. The receiver will only crossover up to 180 Hz, and active subwoofers around 120 to 180. So not only would I lose 180-280 Hz, but I might damage the satellites. So it looks like I need to keep the Bose bass module just for its crossover utility.

Finally I figured, hey, I'll just leave the Bose system as is and plug the active subwoofer into the receiver's LFE jack. But I couldn't find any stats on what where the LFE crossover is for the receiver. I've seen reports of 70, 80, 100, and 120 Hz for various receivers, so I assume it's somewhere in that range. My plan had been to buy a subwoofer that went pretty high (some go up to 200Hz) to try and better match the satellites, but it looks like no matter what its range the sub would be limited by whatever the LFE output fed it.

It looks like my only option (assuming I can only afford a subwoofer at this point) is to buy an active subwoofer, plug it into the LFE, and deal with the fact that there'll be a big gap of about 180 Hz between the top of the LFE (around 100) and the bottom of the satellites (around 280).

Oh, and I have one more question. Is my LFE output only going to work as the .1 channel when I'm playing a DVD in 5.1? Or will LFE output work for regular stereo inputs as well?

Any constructive comments would be appreciated. Such as, are my assumptions correct? Are my conclusions correct? Does anyone have any alternate proposals on how to solve this? Is my only option one of sucktitude?

Thanks,

- G
sbrueckn54b7

Showing 2 responses by reubent

reubent
6,935 posts
 
You should be fine if you run the new active sub off of the LFE port and run the bose system (sub and sats) off of the speaker level outputs from the Sony.

The Sony will output to the LFE channel anytime a DSP mode is used. So, unless you specify 2-channel direct or stereo, you will send the low pass information to the LFE line-level output.

Good luck. It seem you have "learned" something about consumer level audio components. It doesn't really cost much more to get a fine sounding system, you just need education. And you can't get that from manufacturers that depend on advertising and the media to push their products. Heck, for what you likely paid for your current setup, you could get a really decent sounding 2-channel system that would smoke it!

My advice is this: Read everything! Look to this site, AudioAsylum, AudioCircle and AudioKarma for information. There are some new technologies like class-T amplifiers that could revolutionize low cost audiophile systems. Add one of the new "giant killer" DVD/CD players and a pair of DIY speakers and you could possibly have a level of sound quality that previously costed thousands of dollars and do it for maybe $5-700 total.

It's a good time to be a budding audiophile!!!!

Enjoy,

TIC
reubent
6,935 posts
 
You have received some good advice above. Even though I previously answered that , yes, what you propose will work, I would also suggest, as some of the previous posters did, that you simply spend your budgeted dollars a a pair of different speakers.

If you want to stay at a budget level, the Athena line of speakers is considered to be an excellent soounding speaker for the $. They are very efficient so they don't require a lot of power, and from what I've read, they are good enough that they could be used in the future when you upgrade.

Athena makes a highly regarded floor standing speaker that list for $499 and gets great reviews. These are often sold at AudioAdvisor for $359-399 and sometime include shipping. They also sell this line at Best Buy, but I've never seen them priced as low as AudioAdvisor. Oh, and AudioAdvisor has a no-risk 30 day return policy.

Anyway, its a journey! Take your time and decide what is most important to you. Do some homework and it will pay huge dividends.....

Enjoy,

TIC
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