Passive Subwoofers?

[diddy]

Alright, I've been on the hunt for a good passive (unpowered) subwoofer for my system. Where are these things? I was told this stuff is high end, but where the heck do you find them, and where can you find their reviews (or am I just blind?)?

I need suggestions, advice, and opinions on good passive subs. Your help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Diddy

[bjornb17]

Alright, I've been on the hunt for a good passive (unpowered) subwoofer for my system. Where are these things? I was told this stuff is high end, but where the heck do you find them, and where can you find their reviews (or am I just blind?)?

I need suggestions, advice, and opinions on good passive subs. Your help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Diddy

Well, if you're just talking about a passive subwoofer to connect to your receiver, that's a bad idea.

A passive subwoofer is just a normal subwoofer but without its own amplier, meaning you have to have a separate amplifier for it (and using your receiver is a very bad idea for it, it puts too much strain on it).

An example of a passive sub would be the Klipsch THX Ultra 2 subwoofer:
http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=742
You have to buy an amplifier for that one, such as the 1000W amp that klipsch sells for it.

There is nothing really high or low end about a sub being passive. In most cases, an active (or self-powered) sub will be more convinient.

[texlle]

Sunfire offers a subwoofer line that incorporates one active (powered) and one passive subwoofer mounted away from one another.

[diddy]

I was told that my Denon AVR4802r had more than enough power to support a good passive sub...is this wrong?

Thanks

Diddy

[zepman1]

why would you want a passive sub anyhow? Just curious as to what the advantage would be and why you would want to drive one with only 100 watts from your receiver.

[bfalls]

Texlle, you are talking aout two different types of passive subwoofers. The passive the thread is talking about pertains to a subwoofer which doesn't have an amplifier incorporated in its cabinet requiring a external amp. "High-end" passive subs have higher quality drivers and allow you to select the degree/quality of amplification (Class A, AB instead of D, H, etc) also allows you to select how much power you want to drive it with. It may also allow selection of xover.

The "passive" sub you are talking about in the Sunfire is a passive radiator which has no electrical connection to an amp. It uses a sealed cabinet and replaces the port used in a bass reflex design. The back pressure from the active woofer pushes the passive woofer reinforcing its output. It increases efficiency and allows deeper bass from a smaller cabinet.

Diddy, many factors determine if your receiver can handle the load such as main speaker and sub impedance and efficiency, loudness, size of the room, source material, etc... In your situation, the sub's speaker level connections are connected to the main speaker outputs on the receiver. The main speakers are then connected to the sub's "speaker outputs". If your speaker and sub are efficient, your room isn't too large and you don't playback at extreme levels, you're probably OK.

[diddy]

Texlle, you are talking aout two different types of passive subwoofers. The passive the thread is talking about pertains to a subwoofer which doesn't have an amplifier incorporated in its cabinet requiring a external amp. "High-end" passive subs have higher quality drivers and allow you to select the degree/quality of amplification (Class A, AB instead of D, H, etc) also allows you to select how much power you want to drive it with. It may also allow selection of xover.
......

Diddy, many factors determine if your receiver can handle the load such as main speaker and sub impedance and efficiency, loudness, size of the room, source material, etc... In your situation, the sub's speaker level connections are connected to the main speaker outputs on the receiver. The main speakers are then connected to the sub's "speaker outputs". If your speaker and sub are efficient, your room isn't too large and you don't playback at extreme levels, you're probably OK.

Ok, now we're talking. This is how it was explained to me before. Now, where do I start looking? I know these questions sound pretty newbish in nature, however, my problem at the moment is that the CBC sound tech I get advice from doesn't really know where to start looking for home audio passive subs (as he works with studio equipment), apart from the fact that he doesn't have time to look for me at the moment. So, I figured I'd ask all of you audiopiliacs to give me suggestions on where to find the goods hehe

So that being said, do any of you know of any brands, websites, and reviews on some good passive subs?

Thanks fellas!

Diddy