Installing a separate subwoofer?

[gdewald]

Some time ago I got these 2.1 speakers and they were a huge improvement from the 2.0 that I had, but I need more bass!!!! I kind of got addicted to the bass and I was wondering, is it possible to install a separate subwoofer on my pc? I want to get one of those BIG stage subwoofers(dunno, 100-150W maybe, I think they are called active subwoofers) that use a strange dual cable, which is kind of like vcr audio plugs. So I was wondering, is it possible at all to install that kind of subwoofer on my pc and use it together with my 2.1 speakers? I use the integrated audio of my Asus P5Q Deluxe motherboard(It has "8-channel High Definition sound, coaxial and optical S/PDIF ports"), and if it is nesessary I am willing to buy a sound card...

-Thank you-

 

[oscaryu1]

Go get yourself a nice Hifonics or nice car amp, a few Kicker L7's, a nice ported box, hook up a PSU to it, wire it to your computer...

 

[PunterCam]

You don't say what 2.1 system you have, but chances are it won't be a 'plug n play' kind of arrangement - ie, swapping the sub for something else is unlikely to be possible, and certainly not easy.

The sub you have atm is likely to house all the eq/crossover/amps (for the satalite speakers as well as the sub), so you can't realistically just throw that away.

You could buy a 'splitter', send one audio signal to your current 2.1 speakers and the other to a new sub (btw, active simply means the amplifier for the speaker is integrated into the same box as the speaker), but then you would have 2 volume controls (your original 2.1 volume knob and the one for the new sub - you'd have to increase one as you increased the other) plus your original sub would still be playing.

I'd simply recommend buying a new 2.1/5.1 system.

 

[Caminokid]

My set up is to my stereo. I have an old Kenwood. It puts out 1000 watts. I have 2 sets of Pioneers hooked up. I have a 12 band eq and a 12 db bass enhancer. Needless to say...I have bass and sound quality

 

[diduknowthat]

This should be possible, at least the active subwoofer makes life a lot easier. You'll definitely need a RCA to 3.5mm converter. However, I'm pretty sure you can't just plug it into one of the 8 channel jacks and have it work. Maybe you can buy a separate sound card and run it off that?

 

[robina_80]

ive got HIFI seperates ive got a intergrated amp, speakers and a sub trust me no pc speakers will compare to a proper hifi system not even close

 

[Motoxrdude]

Simply adding a new subwoofer would be extremely hard. There is no way the built-in amp could handle anything bigger then you have now. If bass is all you are worried about, you could do what I did and run a car stereo in your room. If you aren't familiar with audio components then it can get overwhelming.

The basic idea is to take the 3.5mm audio jack, run it to RCA and then run that to an amp. You can do either of two things, run an amp for the woofers and tweeters and then run an amp for the subwoofer. Or you could run one amp to 3-way speakers. Most amps have built in high/low/all pass filters so you don't need inline filters.

That or you could just do yourself a favor and buy computer speakers.

O and car audio equipment runs off 12v so you need a power converter of some sort, and depending on the power rating of the amp you may need an upwards of 200A.

 

[MrBucket]

i have an 800 watt half stack that i obviously use to play guitar on and i can just get a simple 1/8 to 1/8 wire from my computer to the stack and on the right settings i can get that thing to BUUUUUMMMMMMP, its 4 12"s so its kinda overkill and i can't ever play it loud cuz of the new baby sleepin all the time. Only reason why i can pull it off rather than just pluggin the speakers alone up to the computer is because my comps sound goes through the amp first so power isnt an issue. Look around for some decent amps and just turn down the treble and mid leavin just the bass and see how that goes.

 

[Hugh9191]

Id reccomend getting a cheap amp and speakers, if you get an amp with a pre-amp out you will be able to add an active subwoofer easily.

I personally have an old QED A240CD amp and 2 speakers and it gives off an amazing natural sound (it doesnt even have an EQ as its designed to give a natural sound) but if you want loads of bass you will defo want a sub.

 

[ronster667]

at my friends house he pulled a old sub from his garage so i just spliced the wire on his current sub and hooked this one in to

like i opend the subwoofer caseing
then i just cut the wire off wraped it around the new sub wire and wraped it back around the old sub it was about as loud as before but it would viberate his floor now!

 

[oscaryu1]

at my friends house he pulled a old sub from his garage so i just spliced the wire on his current sub and hooked this one in to

like i opend the subwoofer caseing
then i just cut the wire off wraped it around the new sub wire and wraped it back around the old sub it was about as loud as before but it would viberate his floor now!

The different in the ohms will eventually destroy his amplifier.

 

[Motoxrdude]

The different in the ohms will eventually destroy his amplifier.

Not necessarily, but could potentially. When you hook up another sub in parellel it rudeces the resistances and lowers the ohm by half. This is assuming both subs are identical or are rated at the same ohms. The less resistance, the more current so the more power your amp is using and if your amp can't handle it then it could fail. Almost all amps can handle about 4 ohms, some can handle 2, very few can handle 1. Running subs in series is the opposite and doubles the resistance.