The ASW1200 offers inputs for either line- (RCA) or speaker-level (clip-type) inputs, with speaker-level outputs, too, in case you want to run speaker cables from your amplifier or surround receiver to the subwoofer, and then on to your speakers, putting the sub "inline" with 100 percent of your audio listening. Alternately, you can run a dedicated monaural RCA subwoofer cable from your surround receiver's subwoofer preamp output (for authentic ".1" effects from 5.1- or 6.1-channel programs) or from any level-dependent analog audio output.

When used in conjunction with smaller, bookshelf-type speakers, the subwoofer extends system capability to full-range frequency response. With larger, floorstanding speakers, the sub helps shoulder the burden of reproducing low-frequency information, and its variable crossover lets you scale its output to cover only frequencies deeper than those most efficiently reproduced by your floorstanders in your room (rooms have a huge effect on audible bass response).