Question Help required regarding purchase of a B&W ASW610 Subwoofer

rayolight

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Hello ,I currently have a Kef PSW2010 connected to the line out of my Pioneer M73 Power Amplifier and as it was originally purchased as part of a home cinema system, I was thinking that the B&W subwoofer would be a good upgrade. My speakers are Acoustic Energy AE500, Do you think this addition will
1 Provide a noticeable improvement over my current subwoofer
2 Be cost effective over my current subwoofer
3 Will be best connected via the Line in on the B&W subwoofer
Your comments would be very welcome
Thanks
 

insider9

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Hello ,I currently have a Kef PSW2010 connected to the line out of my Pioneer M73 Power Amplifier and as it was originally purchased as part of a home cinema system, I was thinking that the B&W subwoofer would be a good upgrade. My speakers are Acoustic Energy AE500, Do you think this addition will
1 Provide a noticeable improvement over my current subwoofer
2 Be cost effective over my current subwoofer
3 Will be best connected via the Line in on the B&W subwoofer
Your comments would be very welcome
Thanks
Correct me if I misunderstood what you wrote. Providing line level signal to the sub does not allow for volume adjustments. Assuming you don't only listen at one volume to your system the sub will not be properly integrated. I'd address this before anything else.
 

rayolight

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Correct me if I misunderstood what you wrote. Providing line level signal to the sub does not allow for volume adjustments. Assuming you don't only listen at one volume to your system the sub will not be properly integrated. I'd address this before anything else.
Thanks for your reply, yes it is a problem for me at present, could i connect it to my speaker 2 connectors on my power amp ,it does look as if there are speaker connectors on the B&W subwoofer
 

insider9

Well-known member
Thanks for your reply, yes it is a problem for me at present, could i connect it to my speaker 2 connectors on my power amp ,it does look as if there are speaker connectors on the B&W subwoofer
I'd try conne your sub like that before you spend any money. This should allow you better integration. My guess running it line level would be that your sub is too loud most of the time. I'm only speculating of course.

Are there no spare pre outs available on your pre amp to connect your sub to? Just thinking out loud
 

rayolight

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I'd try conne your sub like that before you spend any money. This should allow you better integration. My guess running it line level would be that your sub is too loud most of the time. I'm only speculating of course.

Are there no spare pre outs available on your pre amp to connect your sub to? Just thinking out loud
I might be up the wrong track ,but most quality subwoofers are active with usually class D amps built-in, and I can't get my head around how you can get a balanced sound where you don't have to keep adjusting the volume on the subwoofer as you mentioned before. I don't use my preamp any more on my system and it appears that is the only way to get around the problem. I currently have my turntable connected to my Arcam phono preamp and then directly to the power amp to reduce the signal flow,but I think from what you have suggested, connecting the preamp back up is the only way to achieve my objective
I really appreciate your help
Thanks
 
D

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@rayolight As your trying to connect to a hi fi and your already using your pre outs for the power amp. You need to look for a subwoofer with high level connections such a rel, mk acoustic or bk.

Forget everything thing else that doesn’t have some sort of high level connection.

May be a nice rel q200 ( think that was the model) very good
 

insider9

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I might be up the wrong track ,but most quality subwoofers are active with usually class D amps built-in, and I can't get my head around how you can get a balanced sound where you don't have to keep adjusting the volume on the subwoofer as you mentioned before. I don't use my preamp any more on my system and it appears that is the only way to get around the problem. I currently have my turntable connected to my Arcam phono preamp and then directly to the power amp to reduce the signal flow,but I think from what you have suggested, connecting the preamp back up is the only way to achieve my objective
I really appreciate your help
Thanks
You're right they mostly are. The preamp would be where volume is controlled. Line level signal is fixed, however using pre outs will send a variable signal to your sub. This means your sub will be going up and down in volume depending on how you set your preamp.

I take it your phono stage has a volume pot? I'm a little confused how you control volume in your setup...
 

insider9

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@rayolight As your trying to connect to a hi fi and your already using your pre outs for the power amp. You need to look for a subwoofer with high level connections such a rel, mk acoustic or bk.

Forget everything thing else that doesn’t have some sort of high level connection.

May be a nice rel q200 ( think that was the model) very good
I believe that's the case. And the existing sub can be used like this although OP isn't using it that way as we speak.
 

rayolight

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You're right they mostly are. The preamp would be where volume is controlled. Line level signal is fixed, however using pre outs will send a variable signal to your sub. This means your sub will be going up and down in volume depending on how you set your preamp.

I take it your phono stage has a volume pot? I'm a little confused how you control volume in your setup...
The arcam r phono preamp doesnt have any controls, just off and on. As i see it the only way to get a balanced signal to both speakers and subwoofer is to get a passive subwoofer and connect it to my second set of speaker connectors, am I right
 

rayolight

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I believe that's the case. And the existing sub can be used like this although OP isn't using it that way as we speak.
Not sure what you mean by high level connection, but none of the manufacturers you mentioned are available here in Southern Spain .I think my only satisfactory solution is to look for a quality passive sub,if there are any.That eliminates the issue with the built in amp on the sub and ensures signal to both my speakers and subwoofer will be balanced
Cheers
 
D

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Not sure what you mean by high level connection, but none of the manufacturers you mentioned are available here in Southern Spain .I think my only satisfactory solution is to look for a quality passive sub,if there are any.That eliminates the issue with the built in amp on the sub and ensures signal to both my speakers and subwoofer will be balanced
Cheers


Hi level connection below (not my pictures or gear just pulled off the net) see the thin wires going into the speaker terminals, that's high-level connecting, the sub will be receiving the exact same signal as the speakers and will go up and down with the volume knob. Its a more elegant solution also than the speaker binding posts you find on some subwoofers eg Velodyne SPL 1000 as you can see it's just one neat connector on the subwoofer side the one with the big blue piece on the back of it.

Here is a link that will explain better than i can, that you can digest at your leisure.

BK will ship to Spain for a fee and im pretty sure REL has distribution all over the world these days

try contacting the below

sarte-audio.com for REL

Not to mention they're all over eBay.




REL-connection.jpgIMG_3236.JPG
 

rayolight

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Got it ,thanks,appreciate your help, am considering getting the Acoustic Energy Ae308 subwoofer, it has a high level connection and will match my AE500's. Its about £900, but will hopefully be a big improvement on the Kef
 

rayolight

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Got it ,thanks,appreciate your help, am considering getting the Acoustic Energy Ae308 subwoofer, it has a high level connection and will match my AE500's. Its about £900, but will hopefully be a big improvement on the Kef
Just another point my amp is Class A,can't find info on rel site as to whether it is suitable, only mentions Class AB,and D
 
We're not sure yet Rick. OP only mentioned line level signal. Unless I missed it somewhere.

OP, how do you control volume in your system? I don't think you've given us an answer to this. It will impact on the advice given. Cheers

On back panel there's a CD/LINE output to which I am guessing and according to the OP the KEF sub is connected to. On the front panel the a CD/LINE input level control. Could the latter alter the gain via CD/LINE output?
 
There is an input level knob, effectively a volume control

Thanks for your reply (y) and I thought so. You are not limited to subs with high level connections. For eg. I am using AE500's with a Naim Audio Uniti Nova (Pre/line out) > (line in) JL Audio Fathom f112 v2 subwoofer.

Btw, it's imperative to effectively align, calibrate and dial in the sub/s. Get it right and the sub/s should make the most profound difference to the overall performance of the system.

A subwoofer is the most important component :)
 

rayolight

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Thanks for your reply (y) and I thought so. You are not limited to subs with high level connections. For eg. I am using AE500's with a Naim Audio Uniti Nova (Pre/line out) > (line in) JL Audio Fathom f112 v2 subwoofer.

Btw, it's imperative to effectively align, calibrate and dial in the sub/s. Get it right and the sub/s should make the most profound difference to the overall performance of the system.

A subwoofer is the most important component :)
Thanks for your comments really appreciated 👍
 
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