There was actually a post I read with this exact question but I'd like to make it specific to my situation. The HT will be in the optional media niche in the living rooms. Ceilings range from about 12-20 feet high (estimate). Below is a floorplan and an actual picture. I'll be moving the sofa up a few feet and placing some sort of wall unit behind the couch along with the rear speakers.

http://w0.khov.com/NR/rdonlyres/ejneymh6sjeubbo6q4xczxbh5dxcaivowov7mkesgwk3xsno2y6kfhfedcey f3ab6a3hawwgbi6rn2m7qmro7xnulfb/SandriftIVF.gif

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v825/154/31/595896879/n595896879_1042426_8822.jpg


So my goal is to get a nice low sound that can fill up the whole room. I'll be running off an Onkyo 606 or 706. Will a simple Y splitter work w.o a problem? Has anyone done this before?

I also called up ED today and they said the wait is about 4-5 weeks, so I already know this. I need to figure this out ASAP because I'll be in FL in about 5 weeks for about a week to get things situated before I move down there later in the year.

Again, the choice is between an A3-300 or two BIC H-100 subs. This would be 350w RMS vs a total of 300 RMS.

Thank in advance for the advice.

I'm also interested in hearing what actually goes into hooking up two subs when there is only one pre-out for it...

I'm also interested in hearing what actually goes into hooking up two subs when there is only one pre-out for it...

Use a Y-splitter RCA cable on your subwoofer pre-out and voila! You can hook up two subwoofers. :)

Keep this in mind. As a rule, corner placement will give you the most output.

Think of it this way. In a corner, the sub gets to bounce its sound off of 3 boundaries, the floor, and two walls. This reinforces the volume of the subs output.

In the middle of a room, the sub gets to bounce its sound only off the floor due to no side walls.

I believe that you will get more output even if the walls do not reach the ceiling.

I can't tell from your parents floor plan if the wall between the living room and the cafe is a divider type wall that may be only ~3 feet high. I would still start with the second sub in that "corner".

If you go with duals, to the extent that you can place the subs in corners, the better.

Of course, there are exceptions, and corner placement may not produce the smoothest response. But, considering that output is almost certainly your first objective, try corner placement.

Use a Y-splitter RCA cable on your subwoofer pre-out and voila! You can hook up two subwoofers. :)

This has no effect an the quality of each sub? What about impedence mismatching? What about the amount of current drawn by the subs with this setup?

This has no effect an the quality of each sub? What about impedence mismatching? What about the amount of current drawn by the subs with this setup?

No, it has no effect on the quality of each sub. There are no impedance issues to think about.

Powered subwoofers have their amps built in and do not need much at all in the way of current.

Receivers have more than sufficient voltage output to drive one, two, and more subwoofers from the one sub output.

It seems you might be confusing the way front, center and surround speakers are driven, compared to how a powered subwoofer is driven.

Long story short, the sub has its own amp and needs at most a couple volts.

This entire line of inquiry is simply a non-issue.

I think the real question is how easy/hard is it to set up 2 subs, matching or not?

This isn't like hooking up another pair of speakers. Subs are omni-directional and you will have low frequency sound bouncing off the walls in an unpredictable manner, matched or not. If you really must use two subs, place them one on top of the other, or just get one that has the power requirements for your sized room.

Just my opinion. YMMV.

I think the real question is how easy/hard is it to set up 2 subs, matching or not?

This isn't like hooking up another pair of speakers. Subs are omni-directional and you will have low frequency sound bouncing off the walls in an unpredictable manner, matched or not. If you really must use two subs, place them one on top of the other, or just get one that has the power requirements for your sized room.

Just my opinion. YMMV.

Yeah, I figured this could be the most difficult part so I just went with the one more powerful speaker, the ed A3-300. If it doesn't fill the room enough maybe someday I'll go with two of them.

I have used dual subs for many years with my stereo system. These are driven with speaker lines. My vac tube pre-amp does not have any suitable buffered line level connectors and attaching long RCA cables to pre-amp output will introduce capacitance and signal degradation. This creates stereo subs instead of two mono subs. Also, never run the speaker cable from the amp to the sub[s] and then to the main speakers.

With some recordings, you can hear waves of base notes rolling around a concert hall like water sloshing in a container.

With an AV receiver, there is one mono sub output. Using that, you can connect two subs that are mono driven. If you want two stereo subs, you need to make speaker line connects.

A 7.1 or 5.1 system with two woofers is 7.2 or 5.2.

I think, from what little I was able to google, that a 7.2 system would gave two stereo woofers, not two mono woofers. As the numbers are a channel count.

If your main speakers are more box like than towers, you need speaker stands for those speakers. Using sub-woofers as speaker stands for your front speakers solves that problem and also addresses some phase alignment issues too.

I just set up my old bic h-100 and a mfw-15 with a y splitter they are both on opposite sides of the room and I very much like the way they sound together. Before you could still kind of tell where the sub was, thats all gone away when I have both running. I think your best value would be the two bics. To me the mfw was a upgrade over the bic, but not nearlly as much as I was hopeing for (my overblown expectations). I know I will upset alot of people with this, but I think dual bics would give more output than a single mfw, and would fill the room nicer, particularily if you can get them on opposite sides of the room. Note, I use my setup 90% for HT and gameing rarely to listen to music.