So I finally got back to my KEF LS50’s with the Naim nait xs. As I knew before, it’s a great setup with great imaging but unfortunately sometimes it’s missing some bass.
I’m considering buying a SVS SB1000 subwoofer on the second hand market but I never used a sub before and I don’t know how to set it all up.
Naim nait XS has a subwoofer output (copy of the pre out section) and I assume this is the best way to connect with the sub. But… This means connection over RCA, which means I have to place it maximum 2 meters from my naim amp. That’s not the place I want to put it.
The best place would be right after my right speaker, which is about 4 meters away from the naim amplifier (near a power socket). Is there any way to connect it over there?
Can I connect my speaker wire to the sub (high level input) and go from the sub back to my right kef speaker? Or would this mean that the right speaker will receive a filtered signal (less bass?)
Extra question: if I would use the amplifier ‘sub out’ connections, can I use a longer lesser quality rca cable?
Edit: maybe the easiest setup for me would be a parallel output from my right speaker to the subwoofer. Can I do that?
I am not sure why you are concerned about the length of the rca cable for the xs sub output connection? This should work and will be the best solution, even at 4 metres.
If you want to connect via the loudspeaker connections, it will depend on the sub and the way it is set up internally. My Gale sub had both L and R inputs from the amplifier and then L and R outputs to the speakers. A Tannoy sub I had previously had just one speaker input to supply the bass signal to the sub.
Don’t wanna start an interconnects discussion here but i have van de hull interconnects from my dac to amp. they’re expensive, I assume interconnects between naim pre stage and subwoofer shouldn’t be cheap or too long either.
Long RCAs are fine, so long as they are slugged with the 100R resistor as mentioned above. It’s worth checking with Naim as the output may be slugged internally, which means you can use any old RCA cables. If you want to use a high level input, you need to connect to the backs of both speakers.
I’m pretty sure the dedicated sub out on the NAIT XS doesn’t require to be slugged (it’s just the signal pre-outs on the PSUs powering pre-amps that need it to avoid instability when running very long i/cs).