Making the Most of a Minimal System (Need Subwoofer Advice)

HumanJHawkins

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Partly due to small space and partly due to conserving dollars, I have a very compact setup. Currently, my signal chain is:
  1. Android Phone to
  2. Aiyima Bluetooth Tube Preamp (Bluetooth in, stereo RCA out) to
  3. Stereo to mono summing cable (w/1k resistors) to
  4. Dayton Audio APA 150 in bridged mono mode (150 watts RMS) to
  5. Single Klipsch Icon KF-28 (Dual 8" tower) speaker
I like the sound and it's great that it takes up way less than 2 square ft. of floor space. But it has two problems I'd like to solve. First, the max volume I can get without distortion is just enough. There is nothing to spare. I'd like to have some more clean volume on tap once in a while.

Second and more importantly, I'm now sharing this with my daughter. And some of the music she likes seems to have been recorded with way too high of record levels (I guess to make it sound better on the little portable stereos people use these days?) Anyway, if I don't adjust the pre-amp down when one of her songs comes on, it distorts the very low bass as my amp/speaker combo can't handle it.

I believe if I add a powered subwoofer (and wire it right) it may solve both of these problems... If the main speakers don't have to use significant wattage making low bass, there will be more power available on the mid/high end. And the sub should be able to reproduce the problematic sub-bass without distortion. Plus, I love heavy bass.

Questions:
  • Does my theory about solving the problems sound reasonable?
  • What is the best way (what equipment to add, etc.) to wire in the subwoofer and maximize volume?
  • What wattage of powered sub would go nicely with 150 total main watts? (Or to future proof this, how many watts sub would be needed to pair with 300 watts RMS, in case I add another amp/speaker to go stereo)
Thanks in advance.
 

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