Anyone using active subwoofers? We are currently developing a line level subwoofer isolation adapter. Planning to put it in a discrete power supply chassis size. Just assembled the first test PCB now, will need to test it for results. Big improvements to move the subwoofer off the DAC outputs, that parasitic load comes at too high of a performance cost. Even with our previous gen isolators. This should see great improvements overall!
A work in progress, will post updates as we move the project along. Currently designed to connect with our current speaker lugs. This will allow banana plugs or spades to connect to your speaker or amp end of your system.
I have a subwoofer out of my Cello Audio Suite 2 The Sub-Isolator, to output on 2 Cello Duet and JL AUDIO Fathom 113 V2. Am I a good candidate I would be happy to experiment I am in the South of France.
I have a select with two power supplies and Femto 33
Would the new Sub Adapter Project be better than the Sub-Isolator?
@Erik , yes. This will have a pair of speaker cables as the incoming line, with a single XLR output to the sub. One unit will be needed for each channel if you have two subwoofers.
@Alinous , welcome to the forum! Yes, this will be a great application for your system. We will keep updates going here, but I expect it would help quite noticeably. We think this is a much better approach than our previous design. Will keep you posted.
My most challenging matter is to match sub with main speakers and adding active crossover might destroy the advance of hiend DAC. Would you recommend any possible way to xover to system which uses msb dac? I’m using premier dac and connect 2 sub to line out on integrated amp.
Thank you.
Hello and welcome to the forum! From what you describe, two of these (one attached to each speaker) would do the trick. There is a gain adjustment to help match the subs to the amplifier gain. Since this operates on the line-level side, it will not affect the amplifier or DAC performance as much.
Update: First prototype chassis now completed and ready for testing and revisions. It has been programmed with our new CNC software allowing simultaneous 5-axis work to be done. After a few changes to the design and testing, we will begin a small batch production for early adopters so we can get feedback.
The new Pro Sub Isolator is a tool to solve the problem of adding subwoofers to a high end system without compromising the quality of sound from your main speakers. Subwoofer amplifiers tend to generate excessive interference (because that interference is not detrimental to the subwoofer itself) that often degrades the sound from your main speakers. The Pro Sub Isolator allows you to connect your subwoofer to a point in the audio chain that is very resistant to degradation from this interference, the output of your main amplifier. By drawing a small amount of power from your main amplifier the Pro Sub Isolator attenuates the signal back to line level and isolates that output from the main amplifier with a high quality transformer. If you have a mono subwoofer just connect one Pro Sub isolator to a single channel of your amplifiers output with speaker cables and the other to your subwoofer amplifiers input. For stereo subwoofers you will need two Pro Sub Isolators. You may adjust the gain of the line level output with a three position switch on the Pro Sub Isolator to optimally support your amplifiers gain.
I have a different use case which may not be a good candidate.
I have a Discrete driving a pair of M205’s on one set of the speaker lugs I have a the speakers on the second set I connect a REL Airship II via a speakon connector, the setup is repeated on the second AMP (ie the subs are left/right not stereo). The Airship connects wirelessly to it’s receiver which in turn connects to a pair of REL S/812’s.
From reading the above, it appears the ProSub Isolator works almost the same as the REL Airship II it just lacks the wireless aspect, but the real question is would I benefit from using them in conjunction with each other, as the Airship supports balanced in.
And if the thought is yes I would the next question would be what quality of cable between the 2 components?
what are you using for input connectors, Speaker to RCA is my guess based on the size in the picture, but that will be an interesting cable, custom I am guessing and have you done any testing if the cable makes a difference.
I am curious as I upgraded all my high level connection cables to AQ Angels (also custom spade to Speakon), they are arriving this weekend!
The input will be speaker lugs, similar to our amps, that can accommodate standard spade or banana style speaker cables. The output will be an XLR connector. No custom cabling required just standard speaker cables will work fine. The ideal connection (spade or banana) would be whatever you are not using for your speakers. Example being if you are using spades to connect your amplifiers and speakers you would use banana connectors to attach the Pro Sub Isolator so that you are not stacking two spade connectors under a single speaker lug.
That is great news and perfect (or at least in my mind) now the question has anyone determined (in a lab) if the quality of the jumper speaker cable has any impact on the sound (based on the fact you are driving an active sub).
My experience with Angels vs Red Rivers on my REL’s is a bit contradictory. The notes are the same but the silence is better. ie the decay is faster and the headroom has expanded.
Is the difference large, NOPE but lets be honest small improvements is really all I can ever expect at this level.
