Active speakers, can I also use a subwoofer?

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Hi everyone,

I'm close to buying a set of Quad 12L active speakers. I've never used active speakers before, like most people I have only used passive speakers which get connected to the speaker terminals of the amp.

My question is about also using a subwoofer. I would have to connect the Quads to the pre out of my amp. The sub also uses the pre out. The problem is that I have only two pre out jacks on the amp, and if those are taken by the Quads then is it simply not possible to use a sub? I've checked two or three other integrated amps and all seem to have only two pre out jacks.

My amp is a minisystem actually, a Denon UD-M50. My source is an Arcam DV135. The amp is of course not the best, but this is why active speakers are kind of attractive. I can use the Quads for the time being (they have their own amps) and a pretty good source in the Arcam. I figure this will be a pretty decent medium term system. When I'm ready to buy some real nice speakers down the road (hopefully something around $4,000) I will also get a new amp.

The only thing I can figure is to connect the sub and the speakers directly to the Arcam, using the audio out jacks. There are four of them - I could go left to the left speaker, right to the right, and then one of the others to the sub. Would this work, and is there another option? Doing this would mean no remote control, I'd have to get up to change the volume on the back of the speakers. Also, no tuner, as that is within the Denon.

By the way, here is a pic of the back of my amp that I managed to track down online:

image.php
 

Andrew Everard

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Simply connect the subwoofer and the active speakers to the same preout sockets, using splitter adapters which have one phono plug and two sockets. Most decent hi-fi dealers should have them, or you can buy them from the likes of Maplin.
 
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Anonymous

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Is it safe to say that either of these should work?

http://www.futureshop.co.uk/single-phono-to-2-phono-sockets-splitter-black-p-817.html

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=44059&doy=13m4&C=SO&U=strat15
 

Andrew Everard

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Fusion:
Is it safe to say that either of these should work?

http://www.futureshop.co.uk/single-phono-to-2-phono-sockets-splitter-black-p-817.html

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=44059&doy=13m4&C=SO&U=strat15

Yes.
 
A

Anonymous

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Thought I'd post a follow up question in this thread since you can all see the pre amp I'll be using (Denon UD-M50 minisystem).

How much improvement in sound would there be in a preamp upgrade? I sort of always thought that a preamp didn't do a heck of a lot other than switch between components and allow volume control and the like, that it would do these things but not really affect sound quality. After all, it's not amplifying the signal, it's merely letting it pass through. Or so I thought. Reading some reviews on preamps has me questioning my line of thinking.

Should I upgrade, I'm thinking of moving to a NAD C165 or something even slightly nicer (Rega, Cambridge, Naim, Parasound, or perhaps Arcam to match the source) whenever I can save up some cash, and at the same time also adding a tuner. Looking forward to everyone's feedback.
 

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