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Useless in wall passive sub

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  • Jul 16th, 2018 12:48 pm
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Jan 25, 2008
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Useless in wall passive sub

So I just finished a basement star with an in wall 7.1 setup I ended up putting a passive subwoofer in my wall. I have the onkyo 575 which doesnt support it.

The sub is on the left under the front left channel.

I am trying to figure out what I should do

1. Buy a powered sub, leave the passive dead in the wall
2. Buy a powered sub wire the passive sub with the left and right front channel?
3. Buy an amp for the sub.

I feel like an idiot
17 replies
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Feb 24, 2003
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Toronto
If the existing sub is really good, I would get a power amp; otherwise, I'd get a good powered sub like an SVS, Rythmik, etc.
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Oct 5, 2005
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agreed, if it's a good driver, first choice should be to get a good external amp. having said that, if you haven't already, might want to find a way to test it first. bass is extremely sensitive to location and since you can't move that in-wall around, make sure the response is good in your listening position(s) before you invest in the amp. if not, get a separate sub, so at least you can move it around a bit.
yo!
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From the product description:

This compact, non-powered sub is not for replacing a decent powered LFE subwoofer, but to bridge the frequency gap often found when trying to pair smaller speakers to a high powered subwoofer.

Based on the above statement, I would get a powered sub that can properly reproduce the LFE tracks found in movies and music.
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Sep 23, 2013
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thesubmitter wrote: So I just finished a basement star with an in wall 7.1 setup I ended up putting a passive subwoofer in my wall. I have the onkyo 575 which doesnt support it.
Any woofer on the wall is a bad idea. Low frequency element needs space at the back for low frequency to build up.
Just look at any high grade speaker (say over $3K apiece) compo with woofer, you see space behind with zero exception
Mid range element or tweeter has no such restriction at all
Daniel

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The speaker you have is not a "subwoofer", though it could potentially serve well enough. You could just connect that speaker to your left channel and see what happens. It has its own crossovers, it seems, so you shouldn't have much issue with feeding it a full-range signal.

If you really want it to use the sub-output from your receiver (I would), hit up Kijiji/Craigslist/pawn shop for a random crappy receiver; connect one channel to that speaker, and test it out. If all is good, but that setup is a little too janky, you could just pick up a little amp from Prime Cables, or potentially another "sub" from PrimeCables, if the "connect to left channel" works well enough.

Another option is to get a "real" sub, but then you lose the clean look of in-wall stuff.
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Apr 16, 2001
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thesubmitter wrote: This is the passive sub.
https://www.primecables.ca/p-355361-mon ... er-passive

A friend let me try out his infinity 12" poweres Subwoofer I can buy for 100$, I might do that and test wiring the sub on both front channels
This in-wall bridge speaker transforms your smaller 2-way in-wall or satellite speakers into full range monitors. This compact, non-powered sub is not for replacing a decent powered LFE subwoofer, but to bridge the frequency gap often found when trying to pair smaller speakers to a high powered subwoofer.
Yeah, just rip it out and patch the wall.
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GVA
Ya, it's only rated down to 35hz. You'd want to go down to 20hz ideally for a subwoofer.
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TheGreatGazoo wrote: Ya, it's only rated down to 35hz. You'd want to go down to 20hz ideally for a subwoofer.
Physics wise that is impossible . I guess it is possible to make an element capable of doing that. But without thick thick enclosure, nothing comes out
Daniel

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danieltoronto wrote: Physics wise that is impossible . I guess it is possible to make an element capable of doing that. But without thick thick enclosure, nothing comes out
I'm not understanding your comment. My Paradigm subwoofer goes down to 20Hz easily. It's this one Paradigm Review
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TheGreatGazoo wrote: I'm not understanding your comment. My Paradigm subwoofer goes down to 20Hz easily. It's this one Paradigm Review
Of course. Your subwoofer is of traditional design. The heading is about wall subwoofer. Basically if there is no thick acoustic chamber, no bass. As simple as that.
Daniel

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danieltoronto wrote: Of course. Your subwoofer is of traditional design. The heading is about wall subwoofer. Basically if there is no thick acoustic chamber, no bass. As simple as that.
Ah, that makes sense. :)
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TheGreatGazoo wrote: Ah, that makes sense. :)
If I am correct, a wall subwoofer (even with active power) will sound like fart except of course the smell. I am not kidding. I hope whoever owning one can do an isolated test of the wall subwoofer element
No sound engineering company should ever bother to manufacture one at all.
BTW the subwoofer like what TheGreatGazoo has can be placed almost anywhere in a room. It is the least obstrusive piece of fixture. A lot of time I rest my feet up there . I am sure it sounds 10000x time better than a wall subwoofer
Daniel

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I also think there is actually very little air volume in the wall too. You'd be lucky to have three cubic feet of air with standard 2X4 construction with 16" on center.
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Mar 23, 2004
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I dunno why everyone is telling the OP the in-wall is trash and just get rid of it/forget about it, etc. I think the better idea is to get an amp and try it out. Now this is a $40 USD "sub" he's got there and no it's probably not going to be anything spectacular, but then neither are HTIB/soundbar "subs" and tons of people have those and think they are great. The in-wall might be enough to satisfy OP and he's never even heard it yet. If he bought it and installed it, he might as well give it a shot.

From the reviews on monoprice:
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=4928

It seem lots of people are happy with theirs. Personally I would think OP probably should have gotten 2-4 of them installed, it's still worth a try. OP may not need or want SVS-type subwoofer performance. Give it a try, if it doesn't work out, return the amp and then go in a different direction.
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ES_Revenge wrote: I dunno why everyone is telling the OP the in-wall is trash and just get rid of it/forget about it, etc. .........................It seem lots of people are happy with theirs. ....................................... Give it a try, if it doesn't work out, return the amp and then go in a different direction.
i)Nothing in your message did you ever mention that low frequency needs acoutic chamber to work for any woofer element. That is the limitation (of wall subwoofer) in simple physics.
ii)No high end system has such set up
iii)Tweeter and mid range do not need acoutic chamber though
ES_Revenge wrote: .........It seem lots of people are happy with theirs. ....................................... .
Well those $0 for iPhone 7 are great too. Of course they do not stress the monthly payment
Daniel

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danieltoronto wrote: i)Nothing in your message did you ever mention that low frequency needs acoutic chamber to work for any woofer element. That is the limitation (of wall subwoofer) in simple physics.
ii)No high end system has such set up
iii)Tweeter and mid range do not need acoutic chamber though

Well those $0 for iPhone 7 are great too. Of course they do not stress the monthly payment
:facepalm:

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