# What subwoofer together with my active monitors in a 5.1 home cinema?



## lee (May 17, 2010)

I´ve got these KRK Rokit RP-6s that I wanna start using in a 5.1 system. I´m curious if any of you use your active studio monitors that way, and what subwoofer you would advise me to buy. I´ve read good things about the XTZ 99 W10.16 sub which is in the right price range. My room is about 6 x 4,5 meters.





Links:
http://www.testseek.com/home_electronics/hifi/loudspeakers/xtz_99_w10.16-p-d168c816-7121-c557-03c5-dc45a93b0f7e.html (http://www.testseek.com/home_electronic ... b0f7e.html)

http://www.zzounds.com/item--KRKRP6


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## Brian Ralston (May 17, 2010)

WITHOUT A DOUBT...these below are some of the best subwoofers anywhere. Seriously. 

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub.cfm

They also now sell regular home theater mid-range speakers too...but started as a subwoofer only company a few years ago. They have received many accolades from high end home theater reviewers.

Disclosure...I kind of know the guys who own the company. They are not friends...but I just know them from the hometheaterforum.com and have met them a few times. They know what they are doing. produce high quality stuff. And have a passion for this stuff. 

They developed their company out of a passion for wanting home theater gear to get better and yet for the price to be affordable. 

Their cylindrical subwoofer designs are the most efficient for subwoofer performance...and a lot of their subs can produce good clean bass lower than human ears can even hear. They also have square designed cabinets as well...for those who do not want to have a cylinder tube sitting in the corner of the room.


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## midphase (May 17, 2010)

I want to say something that doesn't get mentioned enough:

There are 2 uses for a Sub, 1 is to be run as a "bass management" augmentation to what are normally not truly full range main speakers, in that case the sub is helping the viewer hear a more bassy and full bodied sound. The second usage as an an LFE speaker, which means that during non-5.1 programs, the sub will not be heard, and during 5.1 programs the sub will only be heard when that .1 channel is accessed by the mix.


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## lee (May 18, 2010)

midphase: True, so true! What I intend to use the sub for, is LFE.

Another question has popped up: How on earth do I connect the KRK monitors to my amplifier? I should need some kind of converter between the high level speaker cable from my amp to the unbalanced rca inputs on my krks?

/Johnny


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 18, 2010)

You definitely don't connect them to another amplifier, because they have amplifiers built in!

Does your receiver have "tape outs" or something similar that bypasses its amplifier circuitry?


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## lee (May 18, 2010)

Nick Batzdorf: No, not using the 5.1 rca inputs. (If I connect something to the regular tape/video1,2,3 inputs, yes, then I have outputs from them aswell.)

But I think I read somewhere you can connect a high level signal (speaker outputs) to a low level input (rca on my monitors)... Hmm, maybe the audio quality would suck, since the signal would be amplified, then reduced, then amplified again..?

/Johnny


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 18, 2010)

Then your 5.1 amp is the wrong piece of equipment to use with those speakers or v.v.


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## synergy543 (May 19, 2010)

If the "alt outputs" are pre-amp outputs, this should work (but start with low levels to be sure).

Just can't hook an amp's speaker outputs into active speaker inputs (but you knew this right?). The amps speaker outputs are at a much higher voltage than the typical balanced/unbalanced audio line levels (which the active speakers want to see).


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## Ethos (May 19, 2010)

My all-time favorite sub is the Rythmik/Ascend D15SE:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/subs/d15se.html (http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/pr ... d15se.html)

I have one in my studio and one in my home theater. It is the most accurate and musical sub I've ever used. Pricey though. If it's in your budget, I highly recommend!


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## lee (May 19, 2010)

synergy543 @ Wed May 19 said:


> If the "alt outputs" are pre-amp outputs, this should work (but start with low levels to be sure).
> 
> Just can't hook an amp's speaker outputs into active speaker inputs (but you knew this right?). The amps speaker outputs are at a much higher voltage than the typical balanced/unbalanced audio line levels (which the active speakers want to see).



Yup, that´s what I have figured out, and the krks probably wouldnt stay healthy if I plugged high voltage speaker signals into them.

The alt outputs are balanced xlr low level audio outputs, so they should work.

/Johnny


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## lee (May 19, 2010)

Logicology @ Wed May 19 said:


> My all-time favorite sub is the Rythmik/Ascend D15SE:
> http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/subs/d15se.html (http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/pr ... d15se.html)
> 
> I have one in my studio and one in my home theater. It is the most accurate and musical sub I've ever used. Pricey though. If it's in your budget, I highly recommend!



Thanx for your suggestion. Seems to be a really great sub!! $999 is.. well, a bit too expensive for me I`m afraid.

/Johnny


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 19, 2010)

Yes, you'll almost certainly be able to use the alt outputs with a simple plug adapter if you lower the input level controls on the KRKs. The vast majority of equipment today is designed to take +4dBU signals (such as these if they're XLR) or -10dBV ones.


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## lee (May 21, 2010)

Great, thanx Nick!

/Johnny


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## rJames (May 21, 2010)

Can I add my question about subs to this discussion?

I have Mackie 624 powered speakers but didn't buy the sub when I bought them.

Can just add a sub? Any suggestions?

Then how do you balance it for accuracy? By ears? (I don't trust mine knowing what the reference should be)

thanks.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 21, 2010)

You've probably read me post before that I'm a big fan of big speakers. After hearing Mike Greene's UREI 813s, I picked up a pair of the smaller 809As on ebay for very little. It's great having a big speaker reference as well as the NFMs even though my NFMs (Blue Sky System One) came as a set with the sub.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 21, 2010)

I also don't agree that you need a big room for the sub to be worthwhile. Well, he's not wrong of course - the wavelength of 30Hz is between 30 and 40 feet - but by that thinking you wouldn't be able to hear bass in headphones. If you want to hear, say, vocal pops or piano hammer thuds at 55 Hz then you want a sub to go with your NFMs even if you're working in a closet.

(Have I just set myself up for gay jokes?)


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## lee (May 22, 2010)

NFM = Near field monitors, right? Or something else?

/Johnny


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