LFE and fidelity should not be used in the same sentence.
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.
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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. |
@blackbird55 Is correct IMO. LFE, Line-Level (XLR/RCA) and High-Level / Speaker Tap are different. So for Hi- Fi Stereo, If your only options are LFE and High-Level, go with High-Level. FWIW I've used both successfully. A pair of REL T/9x using High-Level and now a pair of Arendal 1723 1S using Line-Level XLR. Much prefer the Arendal's for a host of reasons, but that's off-topic. They don't offer a High-Level option and I don't miss it at all. |
I use a Yamaha A6A AVR in my system which is set up for both home theater and two channel listening. It’s geared probably 90% toward music, stereo only, and the rest the occasional home theater. The AVR is only used as a preamp in stereo mode as I have a separate two channel amp that drives my front left and right towers. Per Yamaha‘s instructions I set my speakers to small which keeps the LFE channels engaged in stereo mode and sends the bass to the subwoofers depending on the crossover level that is set in the AVR. The Yamaha’s room correction set that up and I tweaked it a little bit. Currently they are crossed over at 80 Hz. I run dual SVS SB 2000 subs. With this configuration, in my room and my system it is extremely musical. I cannot tell where the subs are at all they blend seamlessly with the primary L/R towers (Focal Aria 926s). Generally I cannot tell where the towers are either unless there are some extreme left and right effects. The speakers just disappear into the soundstage as do the subwoofers and the soundstage extends well to the left and right and above and below the actual speakers. It is very enveloping. Given my experience I feel it’s perfectly acceptable to run the subs through the LFE outputs. Between my manual tweaking and the room correction set up it blends everything very well. I would also think that you should be able to set a system up the same way as there’s nothing super special about my room but it is a matter of experimentation and tweaking.
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I'm not sure you are aware but LFE downmixes stereo sources to mono. If your crossover is below 40Hz it doesn't make a difference because you cannot localize it. But over 40Hz you can start to localize it and you lose the dynamics of stereo if it's downmixed to mono. That's the main con vs high level. |
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