Looking to buy a subwoofer

[Tux]

I recently purchased the Swans D1080Mkii 2.0 desktop monitors, along with an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card for my PC. I'm really happy with the speakers, and in purchasing the speakers I knew I wouldn't be getting much, if any lower frequencies from them. Therefore, I am now looking to buy a subwoofer to go with the speaker set.

I mostly listen to lossless hip-hop, and the sub will be used primarily with my PC through the STX sound card. My budget is around $100-$150 USD. My room is about 11' by 11' (not sure if this is considered a large room by subwoofer standards). I don't really need a sub that will shake my entire house, but I would like to hear and feel the bass when listening to music and watching movies. I do play games, but stick to my ATH-A700s for that, so my speaker setup will be used primarily for music and videos.

The only sub I've looked into at all is the Dayton 10", which is what I am looking at in my price range. I recently sold my Logitech G51 speakers in order to upgrade to a better 2.0/2.1 system rather than a decent 5.1 system. Would I notice a distinct difference in lower frequencies between the sub on the G51s and the Dayton 10"? Or would I have to shell out more money to get a quality subwoofer?

Also, I'm not really sure how I would connect everything together on a subwoofer like the Dayton 10". I currently run my Swans via RCA directly to my sound card. Would I just connect the Swans to the sub with RCA, then connect the sub to the sound card with another RCA cable? Or would I need to get a separate receiver or something to get everything connected? I'm just trying to look for optimal SQ for my setup and budget.

Thanks for the help. Sorry if I left anything out, or left anything unclear. I'm fairly new to the audio scene, but would be very happy to any new information. Feel free to ask any questions about my setup if need be.

 

[njedpx3]

The Dayton is a very good inexpensive sub. The one usually recommended is the 12 " for $155.23, but it the 10" fits your budget it should good also!

Just for reference Dayton SUB-120 HT for $155.23 from Parts Express
http://www.partexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-635

Does your PC card have a sub out ? You mentioned 2.1 and the .1 impies a sub out . If so connect a mini audio to RCA cable to the sub out ( or LFE) port.

Good Luck !

NJ

 

[Tux]

I didn't notice that the 12" was only $20 more than the 10" sub, thanks!

As for my sound card; it has the left and right RCA outputs which I currently have my Swans plugged into, a 6.30mm headphone output jack (for my ATH-A700 headphones), a 6.30mm mic/line-in input (for a mic I have plugged in), and an S/PDIF digital output (which isn't being used).

The only reason I question how I would connect everything is that I fear that I might lose sound quality, or at least not be getting the most out of my speakers, if the speakers were connected to the sound card through the subwoofer, rather than directly to the sound card via RCA.

 

[njedpx3]

I didn't notice that the 12" was only $20 more than the 10" sub, thanks!

As for my sound card; it has the left and right RCA outputs which I currently have my Swans plugged into, a 6.30mm headphone output jack (for my ATH-A700 headphones), a 6.30mm mic/line-in input (for a mic I have plugged in), and an S/PDIF digital output (which isn't being used).

The only reason I question how I would connect everything is that I fear that I might lose sound quality, or at least not be getting the most out of my speakers, if the speakers were connected to the sound card through the subwoofer, rather than directly to the sound card via RCA.

Unless your sound card has a separate line level output for the sub/center channel (color coded orange) you need to connect your left/right RCA outputs to the low level input plugs on the back of your Dayton sub and then connect your Swans via the output high-level speaker connectors on the back of the Dayton sub. Then adjust the crossover frequency to your liking.

Good Luck!

NJ

 

[Tux]

That's the problem. My Swans don't have high level speaker connectors. The master speaker has the L/R RCA audio in, and a 4-pin connector thing that connects to the other speaker (it won't let me post a picture or URL yet due to my post count). There is no high level speaker connectors that match the ones on the back of the Dayton sub. The older version of the D1080Mkii had normal speaker cable connectors, but they upgraded to the 4-pin connector for obvious reasons (1 cable instead of 2, and no worries about polarity).
Not quite sure how I could get you the links to the pictures of what they have until I get 5 posts down.

 

[lsiberian]

This reminds me a lot of my first thread here.

 

[Tux]

This reminds me a lot of my first thread here.

Would you mind referring me to that link? Again, due to my low post count, I can't see people's private profiles.

@NJ: This is what the back of the master speaker looks like:

and this is what the 4-pin female connector looks like:

Hope it helps.

 

[fredk]

You need to learn how to trim and resize pictures.

Do you have a digital out on your computer or only left/right? I'm guessing it only left/right out.

You can't run from the speakers to the sub, but there are several things you could do. Get a used/refurb receiver to run your audio through so it can handle bass management. Get a soundcard that can handle the bass management. Upgrade your motherboard to something HTPC oriented that has the appropriate audio outs.

A used receiver with bass management might well be your least expensive option if you have the space for it.

 

[TriMe]

try the RT350 from Theater Solutions... It has a Hi Level input and Low level, that might solve your issue regarding hooking it up. Price: $149.99

check it out:
http://www.onlyfactorydirect.net/servlet/Detail?no=94

 

[Tux]

You need to learn how to trim and resize pictures.

Do you have a digital out on your computer or only left/right? I'm guessing it only left/right out.

You can't run from the speakers to the sub, but there are several things you could do. Get a used/refurb receiver to run your audio through so it can handle bass management. Get a soundcard that can handle the bass management. Upgrade your motherboard to something HTPC oriented that has the appropriate audio outs.

A used receiver with bass management might well be your least expensive option if you have the space for it.

Yeah, sorry about the picture sizes. I was in a hurry this morning and didn't have time to resize them.

I just bought my sound card, and it does everything I need it to do, so getting a new sound card or upgrading my motherboard isn't an option at this stage.

I was wondering about receivers, but I don't have any clue what to look for in a good receiver. Would my best option at this point be to get the 12" Dayton sub and a cheap stereo receiver?

 

[lsiberian]

Pictures fixed

 

[Tux]

Looking further into it, I found this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/sub-match-my-swan-d1080mkiis-437694/
They make it sound like that because the Swans are active, as is the Dayton 12" subwoofer, allowing me to go from D1080Mkii =RCA=> SUB-120 =RCA=> Sound card. Am I incorrect in thinking this?