I have a 10x11 room with tile floor and area rug. I'm considering the HSU STF-1 to use with Energy C-3s and a Marantz SR4320 @ 80Wpc. I'll be just listening to music. Will it be adequate? Also, this receiver does not have a sub-out jack. I'm a sub-newbie, not really familiar with a sub hook up. It seems that the speakers wires go to the sub first then out from the sub to the speakers, correct? Thanks!
You can run the cabling in that fashion, if you wish to roll off the bottom end from your main speakers. If you prefer to run your main speakers full range, just run the speaker lines to the speakers and to the subwoofer. Which connection you prefer is not much more than a matter of choice.
If I remember, the HSU has an extension to 32 HZ. I could be incorrect. Whether you find that adequate is up to you and your musical tastes. I mean that sincerely. Also, kinda wondering at what volume you listen?
I have two reasons to bring this up, and they go in opposite directions; First, the wave length of bass frequencies are physically long. SO it could be actually difficult to get adequate bass in a small ENCLOSED room. It will likely be loud/boomy in. say an opposite corner, but dead/nonexistent in the middle. These are called nulls and peaks and are typical in many rooms, but quite exagerated in the space you describe ( if enclosed.)
AS a sidenote, I do think small rooms can be wonderful for audio listening, just a little tricky for subwoofer set ups. You could turn up the gain on the sub, but this tends to introduce distortion ( maybe) and less articulation in the bass ( overhang or prolonged decay times)-definetly. A sealed sub is usually best for music listening in smaller rooms for exactly this reason.
I actually have an Energy subwoofer that I dont use that goes to 32 hz- if you lived in Houston I'd just give it to you for a tryout for awhile so you could experiemtn with external crossovers on the sub and positioning.
In any case, when you purchase, come on back and lets talk about figuring out placement a bit for the best result.
The reason I'm considering the 8 inch sub is that I'm concerned that in the small room the bass extension while welcome may be overpowering in presentation. I think there is typically a volume control on the sub that, once set can be left alone. It acting as a balance control between the sub and main speakers.
I listen at moderate volume mainly to rock and easy listening with a little dance thrown in. I think 32hz would be adequate since I'm satisfied with the bass I get out of Athena floorstanders I have in other rooms of the house.
I suppose too that it's better to roll off the bass extension of the mains to release them from the burden of trying to produce the lowest frequencies to the detriment of midrange clarity.
...and downward firing subs as oppossed to front firing. Sealed subs? What manufacturers would those be?
OH...one more question. If I choose to wire to the high level sub inputs then out through the sub speaker out jacks rolling off the low end on the mains, what kind of impedence does that present to the receiver? The Energy C-3s are rated at 8 ohms with a minumum of 4 ohms.
By the way, I could use my Rotel RX-1052 instead of the Marantz if one could handle the load better than the other.