Speakers and One Small Sub Off Same Receiver?

Cpyder

I've considered adding a small sub (6.5" or 8") to my 2-channel/home theater rig for quite some time. I was curious as to whether or not I could add a sub without adding an extra amp. Could I power my two speakers and sub off of my 7 channel receiver? Could I use channel C to power the sub and install a low pass filter inline with it? I'm not looking for room shaking bass, but rather just something to add a little more punchiness and even out the low end of my LSi9s.

concealer404

Cpyder wrote: »

I've considered adding a small sub (6.5" or 8") to my 2-channel/home theater rig for quite some time. I was curious as to whether or not I could add a sub without adding an extra amp. Could I power my two speakers and sub off of my 7 channel receiver? Could I use channel C to power the sub and install a low pass filter inline with it? I'm not looking for room shaking bass, but rather just something to add a little more punchiness and even out the low end of my LSi9s.

Are you powering your LSi9s off the reciever? If so, i'd start with adding an external amp before you worry about anything else.

yepimonfire

don't subs have amps in them?

Cpyder

yepimonfire wrote: »

don't subs have amps in them?

Well I have a JL Audio 6w3v3 6.5" sub sitting around and I wanted to use it in some manner. I know most people will tell me that car audio should not be mixed with home audio, but I thought I'd give it a shot and see if I like it. Besides it would be next to free to try it out.

yepimonfire

whats the impedance of the sub and the sensitivity of the driver

Cpyder

8 ohm 89dB

Cpyder

Excuse me, 80dB

messiah

I would suggest you just get an actual subwoofer. That "sub" you have is meant for a car with no space, which is why it is tiny. It not only needs a special tiny little box, but also uses the interior of the car to make it sound bigger than it really is. Unless the room you will be using it in is the size of a volkswagon's interior, get a real subwoofer. Then there is the amp issue. No, a receiver is not going to power a subwoofer sufficiently. You may even kill your receiver trying. Please don't take this the wrong way, I actually think it's great that you're thinking outside the box (no pun), but this is a recipe for failure.

Cpyder

messiah wrote: »

I would suggest you just get an actual subwoofer. That "sub" you have is meant for a car with no space, which is why it is tiny. It not only needs a special tiny little box, but also uses the interior of the car to make it sound bigger than it really is. Unless the room you will be using it in is the size of a volkswagon's interior, get a real subwoofer. Then there is the amp issue. No, a receiver is not going to power a subwoofer sufficiently. You may even kill your receiver trying. Please don't take this the wrong way, I actually think it's great that you're thinking outside the box (no pun), but this is a recipe for failure.

Thanks for your advice! What would you recommend as far as small subs go. I'm not a huge fan of larger subs as I've not really found one that provides the musicality that I'm after in the price ranges I'm looking.

messiah

Sunfire makes a nice small sub, The Super Junior:

http://www.sunfire.com/productdetail.asp?id=10

That's about as small as you're going to get, and it's still a great performer. It's a 9" cube with dual 8" woofers (1 active, 1 passive) and a 1500 watt amp.

Polk also makes the micropro line of subs, but they are a little bigger.

Here's a 5 year old article on baby subs that features the sunfire:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/tests-reviews/speakers/2005/06/tiny-killer-subs

Then again you could always get buttkickers, but they only really work when seated.

Hope this helps.

nhhiep

or a Def Tech 600 sub with 250W, 1 8" active, 1 8" passive. it's very small too

Ranger0912

Check out REL which targets certain of their subs to 2 ch.