Considering adding a sub

[PHC1]

I've posted this before but here is how I used to use my Bryston with the monitor Sonus Faber speakers. Notice that I was able to control just how much bass the monitors were responsible for through the Bryston. Advantages were huge, the monitors did not struggle with bass, intermodulation was much lower since the midbass driver did not have to reproduce bass and mids at the same time.

[US Blues]

Thanks gents, now I am clear as to the capabilities of the gear.

[KingRT]

Plus, if you know some here on AA the price can becomes very affordable!

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by PHC1

You can run a Bryston in mono if you want but it is a completely stereo unit with two channels and settings that are independent and adjustable.

Here is a pic of mine.

This looks like a nice unit. Balanced connections yet.....

Pete

[salmtpa]

Originally Posted by wpines

Hello Chuck! Thanks for leading me here. Call me when you can meet me with those tubes (no hurry, no worry).
Sub question..... Are 2 subs neccesary? Does a single sub sound "bad" or "boomy" or does it not integrate well for 2.1 music listening?

Not at all. I use a single sub in a 2.1 setting. The most important thing is matching the sub (and your speakers) to the room. How big is your room?

[wpines]

My room is 14x24x10. Wooden walls and carpeting, stuffed furniture.

[wpines]

Some newbie to sub questions.
Which way should I wire?
Should I wire out of the preamp, into the sub inputs, thru the sub and out of the high pass outputs, into the amp?
or
Put a wye splitter at the two preamp outputs and run R/L into the sub inputs?

Do the R/L inputs get combined into a mono signal at the sub?

[jetblack]

You may want to acquire a single sub, and enjoy it, while you're contemplating whether to get a 2nd sub, and how to wire it.

[PHC1]

One sub properly dialed in is great. Two subs properly dialed in are fantastic!

[salmtpa]

Originally Posted by wpines

Some newbie to sub questions.
Which way should I wire?
Should I wire out of the preamp, into the sub inputs, thru the sub and out of the high pass outputs, into the amp?
or
Put a wye splitter at the two preamp outputs and run R/L into the sub inputs?

Do the R/L inputs get combined into a mono signal at the sub?

There are different schools of thought on this. The ideal way is to use an external crossover a la Bryston or Pass between the pre and power amp, with the lowest passband going to the sub and the remaining going to your mains via the power amp. Obviously this adds considerably more cost (external xover, more cables, possibly more amps if you decide to bi or tri-amp), but allows your main speakers and amps to coast along by not having to support the lowest freqs. The other alternative is to run your main speakers full range and do low bass augmentation with the sub. This is easily accomplished if your preamp has multiple main outputs or a separate sub woofer out, like the C45. If that's not the case then you could use y-adapters on the output of the preamp. Whether or not the input gets summed to mono at the sub is dependent on the particular sub, I believe most do sum. Others like the JL's I think take a discrete audio channel based on how they are configured, master/slave? Some of the JL users here should be able to fill in that blank.