High-value high end?
February 27, 2007
You guys write about equipment that offers a lot of bang
for the buck, but don’t hit the higher price points. Is there good value in the high
end? Would you write about it if there were?
Frank Keener
GoodSound! is part of the larger SoundStage! Network, which is
made up of a number of publications and resource sites. Each publication covers a specific
area of consumer electronics. GoodSound! does focus on relatively inexpensive gear, but as
you point out these products also have to perform at a high level. As you go up in price,
there is equipment that offers good value, although the prices do increase. You can find
those reviews on Home
Theater & Sound, Ultra
Audio, SoundStage! A/V
and SoundStage! We
aim to cover it all, you just have to look around our sites a bit to find it all.
Passive versus active subwoofer
February 22, 2007
I have an opportunity to buy an older Snell subwoofer. The
only issue is that it is passive, so I would have to power it with my receiver. I know
that most subs these days are powered. Should I take a chance? And how would I hook it up
to my receiver? I would use it for home theater mainly.
Robert
The problem, and I’ve run into this before, is
that sometimes it is impossible to route the LFE through a speaker-level output on a
receiver. If you are using your receiver to process your home-theater signals, as most
people do, the only access you have to the LFE channel would be through the subwoofer
output on an RCA jack -- that won’t help you since you are trying to use a spare
receiver channel to power the sub. The work-around would be to drive the subwoofer from a
second-zone left and right signal from your receiver and turn the subwoofer off in your
menu system. This would effectively route the sub to your mains and thereby to the sub.
The problem is that you lose any control functionality over the sub. So I’d say if
you’re in the boat as I describe it, pass up the passive and get a powered unit.
|
