new sub sounds week...do I need an amp?
I recently bought speakers for a home theater system. Here’s my current setup:
Sony STR-DE835 5.1 receiver - 100W per channel
Polk RC85I in-wall surround speakers (5) – 8 ohms 100W per channel
JBL HTI88 in-wall passive subwoofer – 250W max
I finally installed the in-wall sub this weekend and it sounds like it’s not getting enough juice. Per the instructions I hooked it up by running the front outs of the receiver to the inputs on the sub, then ran the outputs of the sub to the front speakers. The front speakers sound great, no difference. However the sub sounds very quiet. Is there some setting I might be not doing in the receiver setup? It sounds weak whether I’m listening to the radio, TV, or DVDs. I think I have the speaker size set to small, and using the 5.1 audio output selections. Or do I need to buy an amp to power the sub? If so what are your opinions on the ONKYO M-282 2x100W amp ($200) versus the AudioSource Amp 100 2x50W amp, bridgeable to 150W RMS mono power ($95). I know these are both pretty low end, but I have a small budget to work with due to moving into a new house and the WAF.