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Buying A New Subwoofer <$400


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Hi guys. I am in the market for an active sub to connect to my newly bought pair of Audioengine 5+ speakers & wanted to get some thoughts on what are some of the best in the under $400 price range.

Currently I am trying to decide between the Wharfedale Diamond SW150 (about $380 best price), the JBL Sub10 Venue ($350) & the Audioengine S8 ($399). If anyone has any other suggestions or knows of a better deal I'd really appreciate the input. Thanks.

Edited by Adam-JM
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Whoop congratulations nice speakers. :yes: .. No real idea on which sub to match probably the JBL the Audioengine S8 got a poor revue from What HiFi mag although that was years ago 2008.

http://www.whathifi.com/audioengine/s8/review

Cheers mate, I saw that review for the S8 when looking around. The fact they said the cabinet rattles when pushed loud is a bit of a no go for me since I like to really turn up the volume when it comes to music. That same site gave the Wharfedale Diamond sub a 5 star rating, which is making me lean in that direction at the moment.

I have a used HSU Research STF2 that is (a) much cheaper than the subs you list and (b ) will absolutely blow them out of the room. PM if interested, otherwise just ignore me.

Hi mate, I looked up the STF-2 & it appears the connections may not be compatible with the 5+ speakers. The sub out jack is dual RCA (red & white) so I'm not sure if it could work.

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Hi mate, I looked up the STF-2 & it appears the connections may not be compatible with the 5+ speakers. The sub out jack is dual RCA (red & white) so I'm not sure if it could work.

You could just use one side, or feed it from your source whatever that is - although I didn't realise the 5+ were actives, so they may not play as well together as some other things.

ETA: STF2 has high-level inputs and output, you could use the speaker outputs, Left-->Sub-->Right. But it all depends on what you're using it for whether a sub of this type is any use to you.

Edited by Vagabond
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Finally got the 5+ speakers today & set them up with a D1 DAC via optical. Haven't had a chance to really crank them up yet & I need to go buy another RCA cable before I can hook up the Wharfedale sub, but damn the bass sounds pretty powerful on its own & aesthetically they're a very high quality set of speakers. Can't wait to hear it once I get the sub connected too, really happy so far.

On a side note the built in headphone amp on the Audioengine D1 is phenomenal. I can hook up any set of cans & play at high volume with crystal clarity & not a touch of static or interference. Very impressed.

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Aaaaaaannnnnnnd fail.

Finally decided to give the speakers a workout today. After about a minute or so of playing music at moderately high volume (not ear piercing or distorted levels) the internal amp overheats which causes the sound to fade out until it cuts off completely.

What. The. Actual. F**k.

This is pretty unacceptable for me. Including the cost of the speakers, DAC & separate sub which I have not even plugged in yet, this setup has cost me over a grand. And I can't even play it loud without it cutting out because the self powered amp can't handle it. What a joke.

Edited by Adam-JM
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Sorry to hear they aren't performing as well as expected. Are you sure there aren't any problems internally that could be causing it? Are you able to return them?

I might suggest grabbing a set of second hand bookshelf speakers and a decent power amp, I am sure they will easily perform to moderately high volume and more.

The set of bookshelf speakers I use in my theater as rears perform admirably, its running off a power amp and I am sure they would play more than loud enough for the neighbours to complain. The great thing is that having a bigger amp (not internal to the speaker enclosures) you can provide cleaner less distorted power to the speakers.

Don't loose hope :)

EDIT: On viewing a few reviews people were able to play them very loudly without any hesitation which makes me think there might be an issue with your set. I'd be contacting the place you got them from.

Edited by Rotel_RMB1095
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Yeah I've done some looking into it over the weekend. Seems that some people have this overheating issue & others claim they don't. Some say their speakers take a couple of hours before they overheat. Mine start to crap out after only 1-2 minutes even at fairly moderate volume playing one song. The sound just starts distorting into a static, crackly mess until it completely fades out.

It's hot as hell here on the coast right now, but that's no reason the speakers should just refuse to work. My Q Acoustics BT3s never had any sort of issue like this & they don't even have a big heat sink on the back like the A5+ do. This definitely has to be a fault, there is no way these speakers could receive such rave reviews if they just spontaneously died all the time.

I have contacted the place I bought them from & put in a warranty return claim. They are a very nice set of speakers & I'm going to be a bit sad to pack them up & send them back, but they are totally unusable for me if I can't even enjoy my music.

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Maybe just a faulty amplifier in the set you got. Any chance of getting another pair to test on a return basis. Most of the reviews state they go LOUD so a good pair maybe fine.

Not sure how the warranty claim will work out at this stage. If I could get another pair of the same speakers without the overheating issue I would be perfectly happy.

I previously used the QBT3s which are very good, but I wanted to upgrade to a bigger & more powerful set of bookshelves, hence the A5+. At least the Wharfedale sub I bought should work with the BT3s as well.

Not overly keen on getting passive speakers with a separate amp, I already have too many boxes & cables running everywhere in my setup as it is.

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Hi again guys, I have developed a bit of an issue with the sub if anyone can offer suggestions.

I currently have it connected to my BT3 speakers using a 3.5mm to dual RCA cable, & it emits a constant low frequency humming noise that is very audible even from across the room. I 'fixed' this issue for a while by putting pressure on the cable at the back of the speaker which caused the noise to stop, but now it's just doing it all the time. Is this just a crap cable or is there another issue I should be concerned about?

FFS why does technology hate me so much.

Edited by Adam-JM
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  • 2 weeks later...

So it's been a couple of weeks now & after sending my 5+ speakers back under warranty I have just been informed that I will be getting a replacement pair. Some good news indeed, I'm crossing my fingers that these will not have the same issue as the first ones I received.

As far as the sub, I sort of fixed the issue simply by rotating the cable at the back of the active speaker until the interference stopped. Damn analogue connections.

Edited by Adam-JM
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So I got the new speakers this morning, set them up a little earlier this afternoon & started playing some music. 10 minutes later they began exhibiting the same problem as the first pair & the sound started getting really muffled & cutting out.

I am beyond pissed off at this point. I will be attempting to get a full refund as this is simply unacceptable. These are bigger, more powerful speakers than my BT3s yet can't even handle the same level of volume without crapping themself. I can't believe these things got such good reviews when they have a huge glaring problem such as this.

Edited by Adam-JM
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I feel for you buddy, that really sucks. Hopefully you end up with something eventually that works for you. Really pisses one off when the buzz of newly acquired gear ends up going pear shaped through faults. Puts a dampener on everything. Good luck with it moving forward :(

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Yeah it's not a great feeling when a new piece of gear craps out, especially twice in a row.

At this stage I am going to seek a straight refund. My QBT3s will suffice for the time being, maybe down the line I will look at another bigger pair of speakers for my music/HT needs. The A5+ cannot satisfy my desire to listen to anything above moderate volume levels, which is very unfortunate.

I still can't believe the reviews said these are great for playing loud. Did they not properly test them?

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  • 3 months later...

Reviving an old thread. Did you get sorted out speakerwise or still on QBT3.?

Was just web surfing and found these Kef 300a active speakers which maybe worth a look. Bit expensive at RRP $799.00. http://au.pcmag.com/computer-speaker-reviews/4942/review/kef-x300a

I actually ended up buying a pair of Aktimate Blue speakers a couple of weeks ago. Got them for $880 delivered, certainly not cheap but they feel like they were worth the money. I actually had a look at the KEF speakers too but the fact that they only had a mini jack input & no way to connect a sub was a deal breaker for me.

Been very happy with the Aktimates so far, I got some Isoacoustic stands to pair with them & they absolutely kick ass.

Edited by Adam-JM
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