Hi all,
Newbie but Im thinking about getting a subwoofer to complement my fronts and center channel and i have a onkyo 304 that only puts out 65 per channel. Would it make any difference if I got a 180 watt sub compared to a 100 watt sub since it wouldnt be able to put out either wattage? Its the sony sub since I have sony fronts and center. Thanks.

If it's a passive non-powered sub, meaning it doesn't have it's own amplifer, then all else being equal, yes, there'll be no difference between 100 or 180 watt passive sub mated to a 65 watt amplifier.

If you're in the market for a subwoofer, you money is best spent on a active, powered sub, one with it's own amplifer. In that case, yes... for subs, more wattage is always welcomed. Hope this helps.

Your receiver doesn't power the sub at all. A "100-watt sub" means that it includes a 100-watt amp (built into the sub) to power the sub. So, yes, if you buy the 180-watt sub, you'll be getting a more powerful amp with it.

From a consumer's perspective, amp size isn't an important factor to consider. More important is how low the sub can go, and with how much/little distortion.

From a consumer's perspective, amp size isn't an important factor to consider. More important is how low the sub can go, and with how much/little distortion.


I might disagree a bit with some of that.

Amp size is important, but it's not the only consideration - nor is purely how low and distortion.

Doesn't do much good to have a sub that's flat to 15Hz, but only has enough amp to do 60dB of output - if that makes any sense.

Hi all,
Newbie but Im thinking about getting a subwoofer to complement my fronts and center channel and i have a onkyo 304 that only puts out 65 per channel. Would it make any difference if I got a 180 watt sub compared to a 100 watt sub since it wouldnt be able to put out either wattage?

1. The receiver doesn't power the subwoofer

2. The power number is completely meaningless by itself.

A sub-woofer in a one cubic foot box may take 1000W to play as loud with the same frequency extension as a large coffee table sized unit does with 100W. One sitting in the middle of your room will take up to 1600W to play as loud as one with 100W in the corner.

3. The subwoofer needs to play much louder.

LFE channel has 10dB more headroom than the screen channels. If your sub-woofer was operating into the same acoustic space as the main speakers and had the same efficiency you'd need 10X more power; or 650W to keep up with 65W into the main speakers.

I'd like to add that just because you have Sony speakers doesn't mean you have to buy a Sony sub. IMHO, you can do better for the money. What's your budget for your sub?

I didnt want to spend more than 200 on a sub.

I have a small room also and the fronts really do enough justice on the louder scenes to shake pictures off of my walls, its just the quieter scenes that there feels like theres no life in the sound. Is this the typical reason why people get subs?

LFE channel has 10dB more headroom than the screen channels.

What exactly does this mean?

I read this in my Polk manual and I didn't understand it, but I think what you said has something to do with it:

About the level differences in the LFE MIX settings:
The “dts LFE MIX” level is set to +10.0 dB and “LFE MIX” (Dolby
Digital) is set to 0 dB. This is because there is an initial difference
of 10 dB in the overall mix between the Dolby Digital and dts
LFE channel levels. Essentially, with the “dts LFE MIX” level set
to +10 dB and the “LFE MIX (Dolby Digital)” level set to 0 dB,
approximately the same amounts of LFE channel signal are
distributed to the other audio channels in the overall mix.