[crazytasty]

Hello everybody, so I just made an offer for 350 dollars on Audiogon for a Titan subwoofer, I wish you could withdraw offers cause I immediately had second thoughts after I sent it. If I have to buy it I will buy it. This was my first ever experience on Audiogon (charliep127) so I'm a real newbie there. I sent the guy an email asking if he would consider not accepting my offer, I hope this isn't some serious breach of Audiogon ettiquete, I don't know. Not a good way to start out there. :/

Anyways, I wanted to talk with you guys about a subwoofer option for my Sapphire XL speakers. My room is 11 by 15 and is horrible by acoustics standards (this is my bedroom). Do I need a subwoofer, or will I get plenty of bass without one? I mainly listen to jazz, although I have a few hip-hop bumpers I might want to listen to from time to time, as I am just 18.

Your help and advice is very much appreciated.
Thank you!
Charlie

[srb]

Charlie,
 
According to Audiogon's Buyer Guide under Making Offers, "If you make an offer, you should be ready to follow through, if your offer is accepted within 24 hours."  Although making the offer is not legally binding, it is expected that you will follow through, and they ultimately do have the right to terminate membership.
 
That being said, there is certainly nothing wrong with asking a seller if they would consider ignoring the offer.  I know I would rather not do business with a buyer that has second thoughts and would not want to try and bully anyone to make good their offer if they weren't comfortable (especially if they contact me quickly).
 
Even though you are in a relatively small room, there is only so much deep bass you can expect from a monitor with a 5" - 6" driver.  If you are looking to have some weight and realism to your music, a subwoofer is usually a welcome addition to monitors of that size.  I am primarily a jazz listener and find that a subwoofer does add that extra bit of realism and enjoyment.  They can however require some tweaking to find the right crossover frequency, level and room placement.
 
Steve

[bpape]

Even if you end up buying it and don't end up making it work, $350 for a Titan is a great price and something you'd likely easily resell.

Bryan

[JLM]

The professional reviews of the Sapphires always recommended a sub.  Typical comments: takes the "heavy lifting" (deep bass) demands off the Sapphire mid/woofer which allows it handle more power, opens up the midrange, and by the same token takes load off your amp.  A good integration of speaker with a sub is a wonderful thing.

If the Titan is in good shape and the shipping cost is reasonable, I'd say you made a great score in terms of price and getting a quality piece.  Even if it overloads your room, I'd keep it for future use in a bigger room (certainly the Sapphires are good enough to "deserve" it and as the future of the company is still in doubt, there'll be no promise of finding this factory match later on).

Being that it's from ACI, you should be able to use their recommended crossover frequency/etc. for the sub and have no problem blending them together (once you find the best room location).  Just dial in the volume on the sub to the point where you only hear it when you need it.  If it booms all the time, the sub volume is too loud.

[rockadanny]

crazytasty - you are not crazy for purchasing a tasty Titan sub for $350!  Assuming it works properly, you've made a killer deal. I have two and think they were the best subs made (at least for <$2k) and I auditioned several different makes. Sounds like you're new, so I would like you to know one thing about subs: they sound best in a system when you cannot tell they are even on ... until you turn them off to hear what's missing. Caution: Too high frequencies or too much volume from a sub makes it stick out like a sore thumb. A well integrated sub sounds seamless. If you have difficulty integrating the sub please check back to this circle for assistance. Good luck.

[rollo]

  Buy it. The speakers need a sub and the price is very good. You will be happy you did.


charles

[bpape]

Even in a small room, you can cross it at 50 just to take care of the deep bass extension and find a place for it easier. Crossing lower will also help not overload the room as easily if set up properly.

Bryan

[crazytasty]

well i was lucky, he decided to withdraw his offer. btw, guy who withdrew my offer, if you see this thread here, thank you! Won't happen again.

I might get a sub... we'll see. There is an REL Storm III in Seattle so that would be good b/c there is no shipping, but the guy is asking 650 dollars.

If anybody has a sub they want to sell me here I'd be interested btw. If you are local, that's even better so there's no shipping involved. I like in 98122. I guess I'd just like to talk about it one on one, which you can't really do on audiogon.

I'd be connecting it to my vintage MCS 3125 receiver so I don't really know how to do that. Here are some pics of it... http://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/ele/2296472408.html. If somebody could tell me what I need to get and do with the subwoofer to make it work I'd appreciate that.

btw, I think the titan II le is the best looking sub I have ever seen, congrats Mike, that thing is sexy as hell

Thank you guys very much, I'm glad I discovered ACI.

[srb]

Does the receiver have preamp outputs?  Probably not, but if it does you can connect those to the line-level inputs of most subwoofers.
 
Otherwise you have two options:
 
1.  Connect the receiver speaker outputs to a sub that has speaker-level inputs and connect your main speakers to the speaker outputs on the sub.
 
or even better
 
2.  Connect it to a sub that has a special high-impedance connection designed to connect to the amplifier/receiver speaker outputs in parallel with your main speakers, like the REL subs that you mentioned.
 
Steve

[crazytasty]

it has two horseshoe connectors that connect "pre out" and "main in," is that what you are talking about?

Also, what's a line level input? Is it just an rca thing?

Thanks for your help, I know how to connect a sub to a home theater receiver but not much else

[srb]

Yes, the jumpers connect the preamp output to the power amp input.
 
A "line-level" input is a standard analog input such as a CD, DVD, or TV input.  The preamp output and power amp input are also line-level connections in contrast to "low-level" inputs like a phono cartridge or microphone, or "high-level" inputs like speakers and headphones.  They are most often RCA type, but may also be XLR type.
 
If you connect your receiver to a subwoofer that has an RCA line inputs (like the ACI), you will need to remove the jumpers between Pre-out and Main-in and use an RCA Y-connector on each Pre-out, with one side of the Y going back into the Main-in and the other to the subwoofer.
 
Steve

[crazytasty]

Thanks for the picture, so could I just get two of these guys




and two of these guys?




Would that work? Take out both jumpers, plug both rcas in there, then put both rcas through the small rca y cables?

[crazytasty]

thank you very much, that's probably simple to you guys but I'm pretty new to this stuff. I've been saving up (and selling previous audio) for a while to get these, it is very exciting. I've been thinking about it, I think I'll get something smaller like a force or force xl. I'm moving into a college dorm next year, and if I do decide to bring my audio there it will need to be somewhat small.

[srb]

Because you are going "right next door" to get the Pre-out back into the Main-in, you could eliminate extra connections and one set of RCA patch cables by getting 2 X RCA Male to 1 X RCA Female Y-cables like this:
 

 
Steve

[crazytasty]

Steve, thank you very much for your advice, I will look for a force or force XL subwoofer.

Charlie

[Mike Dzurko]

Charlie:

Go to the ACI website http://audioc.com/library1/library.htm
And download one of the sub owner's manuals. Also, read through the sub setup guide, you'll get a lot of "heads up" info. As others have already said, the key is taking the time to setup correctly. Those who most enjoy their subs are the ones who take the time to tweak the setup.

[crazytasty]

i might get a sub... only if it's a really good deal/close to home though. These things are amazing! Tons of bass... I can't believe I'm looking at monitor speakers (although they are a bit bigger and a lot heavier than I thought they would be). You can see why the scanspeaks cost 200 bucks each. They aren't that efficient though, I was feeding them about 100 watts on the meters and they were loud but not deafening.

[kimchee411]

What kind of amp/preamp/integrated and source are you using with your awesome new speakers?  Yes, a subwoofer would certainly help by filling in the bottom notes and improving soundstage, presence, and balance, but I would make sure the following is up to par first, in order:

- Preamp
- Power amp
- DAC and/or CD player

Then look at a sub or two, then really good speaker stands, then cables, then other tweaks like fuses, power line conditioners/filters, etc.

I also suggest you do NOT bring your rig to your dorm, but instead get a good headphone set up complete with amp, DAC, and cables.

[crazytasty]

I have a nice MCS 3125 receiver, sounds AWESOME, and a Fubar III mkii DAC with just standard 12 gauge speaker wire, at this point I'm gonna keep my current setup cause it sounds really really good, I'm sure it could sound better but it's good enough for me at this point. I also have some Sennheiser HD595 headphones which are really really good as well.