Hi Art,

I just added a pair of sealed subs with my Triton Ones, primarily for two channel listening. My two channel sources connect to an 8 channel analog preamp, so no digital processing there. I then route the front left and right channel outputs to an external active (analog) crossover. This crossover allows me to send bass frequencies to the two external subs, but also provides the option to recombine the bass back into the "high pass" outputs and on to a pair of monoblock amps and then to the T1s. This gives me full range audio for the T1s, along with bass (at whatever crossover frequency is set) to the external subs. Really happy with this setup! Helped be minimize cancellation suckouts in the room and evened the bass response for multiple listening locations. Happy camper!!!

Thx,

Mark

Hi Again, Rick,

Quick update: I am now listing to All Channel Stereo with all speakers set for 100 Hz cutoff and subs set to 100 Hz cutoff. You were correct - bass is being re-directed to subs and I like the results. Thanks for the suggestion.

Art

Hi Mark,

Thanks for adding your "two cents worth". You have an interesting approach -- and I'm glad you shared it. My overwhelming interest is in listening to music. I have all my music converted to lossless FLAC files and saved into an external hard drive, then fed via a custom FLAC player into an external Peachtree DAC. The DAC's analog output is currently fed into my Onkyo NR 3009, so I presume that there is no digital processing going on. But, your use of a multi-channel analog pre-amp is intriguing.

There are so many different ways to approach the search for audio Nirvana.

Best,

Art

Hi Art,

Sounds like we have a similar setup in regards to how we access our music. I have an external drive connected to an Oppo bluray player and use its internal DAC to convert and play lossless music files. I use the XLR stereo outputs from the Oppo to the front left and right XLR inputs on my preamp, so all analog after the DAC. There are not many 8 channel preamps on the market, the Parasound P7 is the most popular and it is a wonderful product, IMO. I bought a used Nuforce 8 channel preamp after they were discontinued when the company was sold a couple of years ago. In regards to your system, I would guess that your Onkyo has a "direct" mode, like my Onkyo prepro, which does not go through A/D > D/A conversions. However, without an analog crossover in the Onkyo, there would not be a way to extract the bass from the analog signal using the direct mode, so no subwoofer output. If you want to keep the audio in the analog domain, there are external crossovers available from various sources, but most tend to be pricey! I have the discontinued Outlaw Audio ICBM, which was a steal at $250, when I bought it. I still see them offered occasionaly on eBay, for around $350. Happy listening!!!


Mark

Hi Mark,

Yes, my Onkyo has a Direct option and a Pure Direct mode option. I can re-direct bass in either of these modes by turning ON the Analog Direct Bass option. In the past, I have used this feature extensively to operate my Onkyo with minimal active circuitry, while still being able to send bass signals to the sub-woofer outputs.

Currently, I am listening in All Channel Stereo mode. I have recently re-configured my system to connect all of my speakers to my Onkyo. I enjoy hearing all of my speakers around the room, but I don't particularly like any of the surround-sound modes for listening to music, so I listen in All Channel Stereo and adjust the sound levels of each speaker pair to balance the sound at my PLP.

All of my music is stored in FLAC files in an external hard drive, connected to a dedicated laptop. On that music laptop, I have installed "Musichi", a suite of software programs which includes a custom player and a library creator and file manager. The laptop is connected to my Peachtree DAC via a USB cable. The DAC's analog output is connected to my Onkyo via an analog cable.

My dedicated music laptop and my business laptop are both running Windows 10 and I use Remote Desktop to control the dedicated music laptop from my business laptop. This capability allows me to use the Musichi software to play music and to edit music files from my PLP. So, I have complete access and control of all of my music while sitting in my PLP.

Even though the Onkyo is operating in the All Channel Stereo Mode, I presume that, after the DAC conversion, my music path is all analog, since I am sending analog signals from the DAC to the Onkyo.

Finally, with the Onkyo set to 100 Hz cutoff for all speakers and subs, I am re-directing bass to the sub outputs.

With this setup, when we watch a movie, I still have all my speakers in play for surround sound.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Best,

Art

Thanks Art, nice setup! You've inspired me to investigate the options in my older Onkyo PR-SC5507 prepro!!!

Mark