ELAC SUB1010 Subwoofer Review

[@CinemaDemocratica]

Hey you're a lot of fun as a reviewer and I'm probably the 10,000th person to say this but it really is refreshing to see a woman enjoying the hobby. First time viewer. So, there are a couple of things about subwoofers that I don't want to mansplain too badly about, but there's some indication that your experiences might be enhanced if you make a couple of adjustments: (I'll insert a line break so you can just cruise right on by this comment if you want. Hah,.) First, you said, "I like to have my subwoofer in the general vicinity of my speakers so that the sound is coming from roughly the same place." If you can tell that there is sound coming from your subwoofer, specifically -- meaning, if you can point to it with your eyes closed -- then your low pass is set too high. You should never be able to locate the sound coming from your subwoofer, regardless of where it is in the room. Subwoofers are meant to be sensed more than heard. Second, you said that your main system got muddy when you added the Elac but that says to me that you're not splitting the signal -- which in a system with its own low-end capabilities, is a must. The main benefit of a subwoofer is *not* the subwoofer itself, it's that the main amplifier doesn't have to thumb-wrestle with the main speakers to make the low frequencies. If you're not splitting the signal before it gets to the main speakers (and there are several ways to do this, some of which are cheap and cheerful and others of which are ... not), then you're losing most of the benefit of having a subwoofer. This explains why the Elac sounded so much better in the second system: Neither the second system's amp, nor the second system's speakers, were trying to produce those frequencies to begin with. Anyhoo, bravo for being willing to put yourself out here in the not-always-very-nice KZbin universe. I'm going to have a long browse on your channel now and probably binge a few more vids. :-)

[@mddawson1]

Did you try the subwoofer placement trick by putting the sub in your listening position then walk around the room until you find the place with the loudest/cleanest bass? That is where the sub goes.

[@cbooth2004]

I've been away from audio for a long time. Recently retired, living in a new place, I want to get myself a decent audio system (my old equipment, over the years and moves, did not join me in my current life). I recently discovered your channel, and I am enjoying it. This video, for example, will probably influence me in a purchase decision. I like your delivery/presentation and your real-world point of view, and your practical understanding of electronics and audio. I just wanted to thank you for your work and let you know that I, another stranger out in KZbinLand, appreciate your channel.

[@sheri1983]

I have this sub paired with JBL 530 and Totem Arro in my bedroom and I'm loving it. Cheap price but shines on movies and all kind of music. I'll upgrade to something bigger in the future but for now it's adequate.

[@eigos]

Nice channel, dunno why KZbin didn't recommend this to me sooner! I've got a question - been looking for passive subwoofers that can go as low as possible (we're talking about down to 18hz or even lower), but it seems like they only produce active subs these days. Ive got a pro audio crossover (DBX Driverack PA2) and studio amps Behringer A800 (two of them). I'm currently running two Alpine 10" subs (car audio subs, essentially) and I'm looking to upgrade. I only want PASSIVE subs, maximum quality of sound, no muddiness and as low of a frequency response as possible. Any suggestions?

[@stevelangworthy9553]

Great review...great discussion on use case. Thank you!

[@dtg474]

It's amazing to think that the 6BM8 spud Amp can drive that. Incredible.

[@pnichols6500]

The subwoofer has it's own amp built in, just taking the signal from the tube amp.

[@georgejobin1744]

Are you parrelling the sub off one channel? If so it don't change the impedance because I have been wanting to run a sub off my blueglow kt88 or my lacewood. I run one amp with the 4s preamp and the lacewood with a dyna pas preamp both have no sub outs I'm working on a new preamp with imput select switch and pre out its becoming a real journey

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

The impedance of the high level in is almost nothing. I hook both channels to the sub off the speaker jacks.

[@paulpaulzadeh6172]

Great content, speaker with paper drivers usually have better efficiency like Tannoy speaker.

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

Thanks!

[@Charles12509]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics, I have tried to message you on your site, it’s not working…

[@warp2600]

So you hook up both the bookshelf speakers AND the active sub via the speaker tabs of your tube amp?

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

Yes. This way the volume knob controls both.

[@chinmeysway]

So is it ok to to use a powered sub with an ancient receiver that doesn’t have pre amp output? Seems hard to get clarity on this as I can’t hook up say powered speakers bc amp on amp is a no-no.

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

Does the sub have high level inputs?

[@chinmeysway]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics haven’t bought one yet... is that what I’d want ? Probably yeah that huh

[@johnsimpson8187]

Synergy is spooky

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

It really is!

[@thestreamreader]

Do you have a link to the amp?

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

Here is the playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLtEhh3UpOsiDvbsn1K1Sc1loRlv5xO4Xh Here is some info at my website. www.skunkiedesigns.com/6bm8-amp

[@thestreamreader]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics is there one you can recommend that is already built that would work well with the Elac Sub1010? Not looking to spend a lot just a budget setup for 2nd TV in the house.

[@zefrog7482]

Have you contemplated upgrading your speakers for higher sensitivity? I'm not trashing those Klipsch, so please don't think I'm being 'that guy', but the sensitivity rating for the non heritage line is a bit disingenuous. Only saying this because the stuff you are building I think would show it's greatness even more with higher sensitivity, especially amp's like your 300B and amps with below say 10 watts, not so much for volume levels, more for dynamic scale.

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

My problem is I have what more people today would say is a very small house. Someone gave me a pair of some 1980's vintage Klipsch Chorus speakers and they were just WAY too large for the space and listening to them, clearly were designed to work in a larger room.

[@zefrog7482]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics yeah, good point. Wouldn't think it would be so difficult to find high efficiency decently sized speakers! I know size is kind of tied into it, but companies are missing a trick. Incidentally though, saw your video with the Lii Song driver's, that should be interesting, they seem to manage high sensitivity with decent box size up until the 10" models anyway.🙂

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

"Wouldn't think it would be so difficult to find high efficiency decently sized speakers!" Most of the bookshelf size speakers that suit my living space are much lower efficiency.

[@zefrog7482]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I'm yet to try a tube amplifier in my room, it's quite possible I've become a bit hung up on the efficiency side of things, a bit of a hangover from the forums and despite my best efforts falling foul to a lot of the preconceptions peddled by others. That's why I love your channel so much, it's kind of straightening out a lot of these things.🙂 Your channel has inspired me to DIY an amplifier and see for myself, I'm pretty confident I can rely more on information from you than elsewhere, just a case of casting aside these certain ways of thinking. I personally don't listen very loud anyway really, kind of at the age of parties and party level sound levels being a long way behind me.😂 Could be good idea for a Monday Monologue at some point, dispelling some of the more common things which are probably quite unfounded. Until your channel, didn't really have any understanding of tube amps apart from others opinions, certainly looking forward to actually giving it a try though.

[@MeTuLHeD]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics "Most of the bookshelf size speakers that suit my living space are much lower efficiency." How about the Tekton Mini Lore Monitor? Efficiency is 95dB 1W@1m. And an 8 ohm load! Only $700 without the wiring and capacitor upgrades. A pretty good deal for super high efficiency in a small-ish package.

[@Crmsnraider]

Good to hear of your experience.. as John Simpson below put it well "synergy is spooky" pieces sometime fit into place and at times when unexpected innit Happy Wednesday! catch ya laters

[@AJCoReTV]

I can’t find this sub anywhere. Sold out

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

Yeah, a shame they always seem to end production on a good product like this!

[@AJCoReTV]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I need to add a sub to my R-51pm bookshelves for my computer room. They have a LFE out. I ordered Polk PSW10, which only has Left/Right input. Would I need a Y splitter cable? Better question I can’t find straight answer to.. do I lose any benefit by having the .1 LFE signal go into a left/right input? Or does it make sense to hunt down a sub that has a dedicated/labeled LFE input?

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

A Y splitter will work fine and shouldn't degrade anything. Rule of thumb, you can always use a Y splitter going from one output into two inputs, but never do the reverse of combining two outputs into one.

[@AJCoReTV]

@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics thx for the reply. So to confirm, a sub that doesn’t have a dedicated LFE input, isn’t missing any benefit from receivers with an LFE output? As it pertains to .1 LFE signal from source.

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

I don't believe so but I'm not 100% sure how all that is implemented. Sorry I can't be more definitive. Maybe shoot an email to Polk tech support?