LFE vs High-level subwoofer connection, for FIDELITY


Simple as it sounds. What subwoofer connection method offers higher fidelity, and why? The LFE, 75 ohm unbalanced RCA cable. Or high-level, speaker wire to the binding posts of the amp. I am running 2 KEF KC92 subwoofers to a Soul Note A-2 Ver. 1 amplifier.
 

Grok Ai states it matches your speakers tonal balance, timing cues, and sonic signature, because it shares the same signal path through the amplifier that your speakers sound travels through. It’s also a great way to get tube or amp sound into your bass region. My LFE outputs from my Khozmo Acoustics pre-amp, bypassing the amplifiers elite and favorable sound.  The PS audio subwoofer had not been released yet or I’d have swoope those up, instead of the KEFs.

Also, has anyone heard that it is straining or damaging to a truly balanced, direct coupled amplifier to use high level inputs? This was mentioned to me and I can’t recall how reliable a source it came from. 

jbuddha882

No I am not using the Onkyo for music, I just tested it against my reference 2 way system. My system is, AfterDark NetONE SFP network switch, externally clocked. Fiber fed, so galvanically isolated from the wall. The NetONE -> Holo Audio Red -> Gustard S26 -> Khozmo Acoustics flagship balanced Vishay Zfoil r2r volume control preamp -> Soul Note A-2 amplifier. Conditioned by Furman, externally clocked by a TEAC CG-10m-X clock. 

Side note. The largest sound improvements were: upscaling Roon to DSD 512 with a Mac mini m4, and adding a clocked SFP network switch with good S/FTP Ethernet cables

All I can say is that the technical folks at Rhythmik subwoofers strongly prefer the low-level input to the high-level input. They say that the low level provides better fidelity. At least with their amplifiers.

I’ve tried both, high level and rca inputs. I only have one sub, so a bit of a challenge to blend for sure. I also have Maggie’s, so running both sub and mains on speaker level was difficult to blend the crossover point for the sub to disappear. On the other hand, taking a bit of a loss running through an avr, i have the benefit of using the built in crossover before it goes to the sub and the main amplifier. Well it may not Be perfect, my mains are not stressed, and it seems to blend pretty well especially using dsp and the callebrating room mic.