I can buy either Edifier R1700BTs or Alesis Elevate 5 MKII speakers at the same price (RM600 ~ US$130). I'm using an FiiO K5 Pro as a DAC from my desktop and I've got an Edifier T5 subwoofer.

Only the R1700BTs speakers have a dedicated sub-out port, while the T5 has both audio input and output RCA ports. Is there a noticeable difference between using a dedicated sub-out to connect to a subwoofer via RCA cables versus using the RCA audio input and output ports on the subwoofer?

Which setup would be better:

K5 Pro --> R1700BTs --> T5 subwoofer; or

K5 Pro --> T5 subwoofer --> Elevate 5 MKII?

I realize I might be trying to compare apples to oranges with these two particular models of speakers, but my main question is whether a set of speakers with a dedicated sub-out option is better, or whether any decent set of powered speakers would be fine, if connected using the RCA input/output on the T5s.

Sorry for the noob question; I'm trying to dip my toes into the audiophile world while being on a tight budget. Also open to other brands/models of powered speakers you could recommend.