Looking for a sub to pair with Swan M200MKII's for ~$200

I am curious what sort of volume control scheme you have devised to control both the sub and the monitors.
 
Yea, I'm curious as well on how you plan to hook this sub up. Active monitors like the M200's (I own them, see sig) don't play well with powered subs. I have already went down that route and decided it wasn't worth the trouble.
 
I was under the impression I could plug the Swans into the "Front" connector on my X-Fi, and the sub into the "Center/Subwoofer." I have also been told a simple splitter would also work.
 
So to adjust the volume, you are going to have to adjust the swans and the sub evenly. Not something I wanted to be doing.
 
criccio said:
So to adjust the volume, you are going to have to adjust the swans and the sub evenly. Not something I wanted to be doing.
Click to expand...

Well with a splitter, that's very easy. I simply adjust the physical volume on the Swans and the sub initially to set the ratio of volume I'd like to maintain. From there, I can raise or lower the volume through Windows, and it will raise/lower both units evenly.
 
If you are willing to raise and lower the volume through Windows then I guess that will work. Again, not something I was willing to do, but to each their own. Good luck.
 
That is the only easy method I've been able to come up with as well, but it is certainly not ideal. I was hoping you had a more elegant solution. Ah well.
 
criccio said:
If you are willing to raise and lower the volume through Windows then I guess that will work. Again, not something I was willing to do, but to each their own. Good luck.
Click to expand...
I don't see anything wrong with that.
 
Yea, the only active monitors I would pair a powered sub with would be ones with a line-out/LFE out such as the Audioengine A5's.

Jospeh said:
I don't see anything wrong with that.
Click to expand...

I want direct control over the volume and I wanted a physical knob to turn. Not to mention, you can't control the volume in Windows when using a proper DAC to feed the speakers.
 
Why exactly is that? If you blend it together well at your normal listening volume you're basically set. Granted if you are going to play it at inaudible level using a hearing aid one second and then full blast in an attempt to blow out the speakers/sub it won't sound right, but if you configure it for normal listening volumes it should be fine... Obv. the ideal is to hook up with a receiver, but those things are massive and not everyone wants to do it. There's nothing wrong with hooking via pc. It just takes a little tweaking to get it exactly how you want it.
 
criccio said:
Yea, the only active monitors I would pair a powered sub with would be ones with a line-out/LFE out such as the Audioengine A5's.



I want direct control over the volume and I wanted a physical knob to turn. Not to mention, you can't control the volume in Windows when using a proper DAC to feed the speakers.
Click to expand...

I am just using my Auzentech X-Fi Prelude, no receiver. Also, I don't want to reach over to the speakers and turn a knob. I would much rather use the volume control on my keyboard, where my hands are at naturally rather than reaching for a control in a completely different location. I'm not talking about clicking the volume button on the taskbar to change volume, I think just about every modern keyboard has volume control.
 
What I was saying is that I'm feeding my M200MKII's via a Fubar II DAC which gets its signal from my computer via S/PDIF. You can't control the volume from within Windows that way.
 
I've heard good things about the bang for one's buck returned by http://www.thespeakercompany.com/T250-Subwoofer-P103C17.aspx though have not actually heard it myself

It's the same price point as the Polk you linked to, and the same frequency, so I figured might as well throw it's name out. Milling through the internet turned up:
"The TS line is indeed a re-branding of the Sapphire line marketed by Tweeter, HiFiBuys, and Sound Advice a few years back. The only difference is the color of the dome tweeter (black, not blue) and the logo. As Sapphire, these speakers reviewed well at 3x the price"

In reference to another product of theirs, so it looks like they're fighting to provide values in their products.


Edit: Oh hey, there's also: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120457946250&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT if you are online in time and if the end of time bid war doesn't get our of hand. Though that's kind of unlikely.
 
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
criccio said:
What I was saying is that I'm feeding my M200MKII's via a Fubar II DAC which gets its signal from my computer via S/PDIF. You can't control the volume from within Windows that way.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much that really matters if you have a decent soundcard. A Fubar DAC will obv. be an improvement, but it's not a prerequisite for using speakers and since OP is on a budget it's worth bearing in mind that a Fubar will cost $140, which probably will get him less benefit than spending a little more on a proper sub for lower bass.

Also if you use your soundcard to control audio, a good quality one (at least my Xonar does) will let you manually adjust the volume level of every speaker through its audio driver, making it easier to blend if you aren't going to use a receiver.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top