subwoofer... passive or powered?

[pixelthis]

Would you rather drive cross country with a tire that has a can of fix-o-flat in it or on 4 new tires? Sure, you may never have a problem with that tire, but if you had a choice, which would you pick?

Spoken like a true middle class person who only has to open a
checkbook to buy anything.
If you use a can of "fix flat" you can get that tire plugged for fifteen
bucks or less. QUITE often the price of four new tires is out of reach,
so its not even an issue.
As much as I ENJOY THIS HOBBY, there is always something
more pressing. In an age when gas for work is 160 a month,[I]plus[/I
the gas to get around, with groceries costing a small fortune,
if something is working I tend to not mess with it.
THERE are targets of opportunity, like 29 bucks for a hundred dollar tuner, an EMO AMP FOR 250 BUCKS(haven't seen it that
cheap again).
RUNNING my sub on a receiver channel worked fine, didn't bother
me at all, didn't hurt the sub, not the first time I have done it.
And if I had not had a plate amp fall into my lap, I would be probably still be set up that way.
BEING type two diabetic I need pills just to protect my kidneys.
Pills and test strips, hundreds of dollars a month, visits to the
doctor every three months. You can't get kidneys at RADIO
SHACK.
I DO HAVE a meager HT "budget" but you have to prioritize,
and if something works you don't mess with it.
I SEE where the non technical minded might be more nervous
than someone who built his own stereo for a class project once,
but it didn't bother me a bit.

[GMichael]

Spoken like a true middle class person who only has to open a
checkbook to buy anything.
If you use a can of "fix flat" you can get that tire plugged for fifteen
bucks or less. QUITE often the price of four new tires is out of reach,
so its not even an issue.
As much as I ENJOY THIS HOBBY, there is always something
more pressing. In an age when gas for work is 160 a month,[I]plus[/I
the gas to get around, with groceries costing a small fortune,
if something is working I tend to not mess with it.
THERE are targets of opportunity, like 29 bucks for a hundred dollar tuner, an EMO AMP FOR 250 BUCKS(haven't seen it that
cheap again).
RUNNING my sub on a receiver channel worked fine, didn't bother
me at all, didn't hurt the sub, not the first time I have done it.
And if I had not had a plate amp fall into my lap, I would be probably still be set up that way.
BEING type two diabetic I need pills just to protect my kidneys.
Pills and test strips, hundreds of dollars a month, visits to the
doctor every three months. You can't get kidneys at RADIO
SHACK.
I DO HAVE a meager HT "budget" but you have to prioritize,
and if something works you don't mess with it.
I SEE where the non technical minded might be more nervous
than someone who built his own stereo for a class project once,
but it didn't bother me a bit.

Don't assume that my budget is any better than yours. The OP asked what was better, not what was cheapest.

By the way, I am also type two. I also spent the last 6 weeks in and out of hospitals for my kidneys. None of which has anything to do with the fact that a receiver amp should be the very LAST option taken unless you have no options.

As for non technical, I do have a degree in Science and worked 12 years in the T.J. Watson Research Center.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Don't assume that my budget is any better than yours. The OP asked what was better, not what was cheapest.

By the way, I am also type two. I also spent the last 6 weeks in and out of hospitals for my kidneys. None of which has anything to do with the fact that a receiver amp should be the very LAST option taken unless you have no options.

As for non technical, I do have a degree in Science and worked 12 years in the T.J. Watson Research Center.

I cannot believe he says you are non technical, but yet he makes this statement

THE truth is that a sub is probably never going to need even
the paltry 125watts put out by my receiver channel

Is this person out of his mind? Yep. In a VERY small room, 125 watts MIGHT be enough. In a larger room, no way in hell is that enough. The lower you go in bass frequencies, the more power you need. The larger the room, the more power you need. When you combine these two facts together, you need a lot of power so you don't end up over driving the amp - or even pushing the driver into compression.

In a small 12X15x10ft room I use a single H-PAS sub with a 300 watt amp. On several movies(The Haunted, War of the Worlds, and Saving Private Ryan comes to mind) the red lamp on the amp has lit up signaling that the amp is approaching its maximum power. This is with a 70db average dialog level which will produce 100db peaks at the maximum digital level of 0db. So you see, a 125 watt amp would be overloaded at that level easily.

[GMichael]

I cannot believe he says you are non technical, but yet he makes this statement

THE truth is that a sub is probably never going to need even
the paltry 125watts put out by my receiver channel

Is this person out of his mind? Yep. In a VERY small room, 125 watts MIGHT be enough. In a larger room, no way in hell is that enough. The lower you go in bass frequencies, the more power you need. The larger the room, the more power you need. When you combine these two facts together, you need a lot of power so you don't end up over driving the amp - or even pushing the driver into compression.

In a small 12X15x10ft room I use a single H-PAS sub with a 300 watt amp. On several movies(The Haunted, War of the Worlds, and Saving Private Ryan comes to mind) the red lamp on the amp has lit up signaling that the amp is approaching its maximum power. This is with a 70db average dialog level which will produce 100db peaks at the maximum digital level of 0db. So you see, a 125 watt amp would be overloaded at that level easily.

I think he just says stuff like that to stir people up. I should have known better.

[pixelthis]

I cannot believe he says you are non technical, but yet he makes this statement

THE truth is that a sub is probably never going to need even
the paltry 125watts put out by my receiver channel

Is this person out of his mind? Yep. In a VERY small room, 125 watts MIGHT be enough. In a larger room, no way in hell is that enough. The lower you go in bass frequencies, the more power you need. The larger the room, the more power you need. When you combine these two facts together, you need a lot of power so you don't end up over driving the amp - or even pushing the driver into compression.

In a small 12X15x10ft room I use a single H-PAS sub with a 300 watt amp. On several movies(The Haunted, War of the Worlds, and Saving Private Ryan comes to mind) the red lamp on the amp has lit up signaling that the amp is approaching its maximum power. This is with a 70db average dialog level which will produce 100db peaks at the maximum digital level of 0db. So you see, a 125 watt amp would be overloaded at that level easily.

ACTUALLY the lower the freq the less power is required.
THE REASON subs require so much power is some formula,
forgot its name, but you need 17 times the normal power
just to get the sound outta the box.
SO YOU have the natural hardheadedness of the deaf.
Explains a lot.
WHEN I had the 600w BASH plate amp it was nice, excepting
the few times the cops paid me a visit, but the current 130w
plate amp works fine in my limited environment.
My neighbors are certainly happier.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

ACTUALLY the lower the freq the less power is required.
THE REASON subs require so much power is some formula,
forgot its name, but you need 17 times the normal power
just to get the sound outta the box.

Do you realize idiot you just contradicted yourself? The longer the acoustical wavelength, the more power it takes to get it in the room. They need more power because long wavelengths require a lot of power to push low frequencies through the air. That is why small bookshelf speakers can get away with 100 watts a channel, and most subwoofer require 200 watts at the minimum. And you know more than me? LOLOLOL

SO YOU have the natural hardheadedness of the deaf.
Explains a lot.
WHEN I had the 600w BASH plate amp it was nice, excepting
the few times the cops paid me a visit, but the current 130w
plate amp works fine in my limited environment.
My neighbors are certainly happier.

Here are some links that point out what an idiot you are.

http://www.beoworld.org/article_view.asp?id=44

http://15subwoofer.info/2010/subwoof...ers-explained/

Note these words in the second link

Subwoofers require more power than the main speakers because they have to push more air, which explains why subwoofers frequently have their own power source.

So much for you less power statement. The more you say you know more than I do, the more stupid you look.

[pixelthis]

Don't assume that my budget is any better than yours. The OP asked what was better, not what was cheapest.

By the way, I am also type two. I also spent the last 6 weeks in and out of hospitals for my kidneys. None of which has anything to do with the fact that a receiver amp should be the very LAST option taken unless you have no options.

As for non technical, I do have a degree in Science and worked 12 years in the T.J. Watson Research Center.

So you oughta know that it is no big deal.
AND that is not the "last" option, a clock radio is.

[GMichael]

So you oughta know that it is no big deal.
AND that is not the "last" option, a clock radio is.

I don't think that a clock radio will make a very good sub amp, but go for it.
I have a baby monitor you could try if you like.

[pixelthis]

I don't think that a clock radio will make a very good sub amp, but go for it.
I have a baby monitor you could try if you like.

It takes four or five in parallel for those to work, and sleeping
with four single moms wasn't worth it.

[GMichael]

It takes four or five in parallel for those to work, and sleeping
with four single moms wasn't worth it.

Sleeping? You were sleeping? That's not the way to do it.