# velodyne sub dilemma



## yelis300 (Nov 9, 2010)

hello all, i have a velo sub right now and im wondering if i should use the onboard amp or use the line level inputs and use an external amp. the velo built in amp has 200w rms but since i have acquired 3 xpa-3's ive got a few extra channels left and the xpa would give me an additional 100w rms to the sub. then just use the x-over in the pre/pro. what would u guys do?
thanks


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## jackfish (Dec 27, 2006)

I don't think you can use an external amplifier feeding the line level inputs of a subwoofer. I'd just use the subwoofer onboard amp for which it was designed for.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I am with Jackfish on this one. While Passive Subwoofers are available and are Designed to be powered by Outboard Amplification, the Subwoofer you have is Active like the vast majority of Commercially available HT Subwoofers are.

When talking about Active Subwoofers, they are Designed with the Amplifier that is attached to it in mind for best results. Moreover, I am not sure of any/many which you can use an Outboard Amplifier with.
Cheers,
JJ


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## yelis300 (Nov 9, 2010)

ok, thanks fellas :T


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The inboard amp is designed specifically for that driver and enclosure. Most subwoofers are _systems_, you take away one of those components and the remaining will not perform as intended.


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## yelis300 (Nov 9, 2010)

i should have said "speaker level inputs" instead of line level inputs. but i found out that will not benefit me either because ill loose the lfe soundtracks in movies and can also create alot of distortion if using a diff amp so ill just leave it alone.

so if the sub was built around the amp and box its in then what is the purpose of the other connection options?


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

yelis300 said:


> i should have said "speaker level inputs" instead of line level inputs. but i found out that will not benefit me either because ill loose the lfe soundtracks in movies and can also create alot of distortion if using a diff amp so ill just leave it alone.
> 
> so if the sub was built around the amp and box its in then what is the purpose of the other connection options?


Hello,
Line Level Connections are present for those who are using older Integrated Amplifiers and older AVR's that lack Preamp Outputs for the Subwoofer. It is pretty rare to find ones without at least a Subwoofer Output, but they are out there. 

There are also there for those who run 2 Channel Setups where there are not Subwoofer Outputs and choose to use a single or dual Subwoofers combined with Speakers that do not come close to being Full Range (the overwhelming majority of Speakers out there) and wish to have Full Range Reproduction.

All that being said, some do prefer to use the Line Levels and attach Subwoofers to every Speaker in their HT.
I am pretty sure that most AVR's will route the LFE Information to the Front Channel Speakers when they are set to Large and no Subwoofer is selected in Setup as well. 

There is also the advantage of having control of the Low Pass Filter on your Subwoofer for fine tuning the Bass. This is defeated when using the LFE Input where the AVR/SSP/Integrated Amplifier handles all Bass Management.

All of this being said, I personally prefer to use the LFE Outputs of my Onkyo so that Audysssey can do its magic on both Subwoofers. However, that is just a preference. Whatever sounds best to you is the best call. Trust your Ears. I will say that using Line Level Connections and doing fine tuning does require a bit more tweaking, but the results can be great. Bass Management can be a bit overwhelming with all of the different ways which you can configure your Subwoofer/Subwoofers.
Cheers,
JJ


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