Old Sub woofer - Need help...
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Bronze Member Post Number: 40 Registered: Jun-08 | Hi Everyone, Some of you may remember me from a few months back when I was setting up two 5.1 systems. Well I am back  My brother just asked me to set up a really old 5.1 system that he has had in the closet for a while. I have everything setup and connected right now except for the Sub woofer. It is a JBL PSW 1200. I was able to find the manual online but I do not quit understand it: http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/HOM/Owner%27s%20Manual/PSW1000%20om.pdf I am not used to that many options on the back of a Sub woofer. The two systems I have setup the Subs were much simpler, only having a Red and Black wire to hook up to the back of the receiver. Can anyone help me out and tell me how exactly this should be hooked up into the receiver? Thanks in advance... Oh FYI the receiver that he has is: Yamaha HTR - 5660 http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200187&CTID=5000400 |
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Silver Member Livonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 420 Registered: Feb-08 | You will need an RCA patch cable from the Pre Subwoofer out on the back of the Yamaha to the Right Low Level Input of the Sub. The wiring is even easier than your HTiB! Make sure to set the Yamaha for a subwoofer in the menu and you should be up and running. |
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Bronze Member Post Number: 41 Registered: Jun-08 | Ok, I think I found the cable you are talking about in his bag of tricks Does it look like regular RCA Cables (only with 2 wires) and than at the end has a wire that takes the 2 wires and puts them into 1 plug? If so do I just put Red into Red and White into White on the low level input on the sub? |
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Silver Member Livonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 421 Registered: Feb-08 | Simply put, the answer is, Yes! The reducer (two to one) goes on the pre sub out on the back of the Yamaha. |
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Bronze Member Post Number: 42 Registered: Jun-08 | Thanks a whole lot, you saved me a bunch of time from going nuts |
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Silver Member Livonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 422 Registered: Feb-08 | Tis nice to be useful. Now then WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS WITH THAT SUBWOOFER!!! |
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Bronze Member Post Number: 43 Registered: Jun-08 | I would, but I seem to be having a problem with the Receiver now  This may be better with its own thread, but I'll post here first lol As of right now I only have the Front Right, Left, Center, and Sub Woofer setup. I am waiting on some wire from www.monoprice.com to be delievered to setup the 2 rear speakers. I went through the menu on the receiver and setup all the speakers as "Small" and only enabled the speakers that I have. So essentially I made it a 3.1 system for now. My problem is that after I back out of the display the front of the receiver only shows R & L. So for some reason I am only able to get Stereo out of it. Any clues on how to fix this? |
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Bronze Member Post Number: 44 Registered: Jun-08 | Oh FYI I used the instructions in the manual on page 25 to set it up. Setting it to only 3 speakers. http://www.yamaha.ca/av/PDFs/Manuals/2003_receivers/HTR5660_U.pdf |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 423 Registered: Feb-08 | What are you trying to play in 3.1? In other words, what source are you using? |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 45 Registered: Jun-08 | I have tried sources through my DVR and my PS3. Playing Games and Movies. But no matter what I try I can not get the front display of the Receiver to show anything but R & L. When I set it up into 3.1 it had me try a test to make sure it all worked. And all of the speakers that were setup worked. |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 46 Registered: Jun-08 | Forgot to mention that both of them are hooked up to the Receiver using a Toslink Optical Cable. |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 424 Registered: Feb-08 | Are trying to play a TV broadcast by chance? |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 47 Registered: Jun-08 | I have through my DVR... But even when I use my Playstation 3 to play Games or Movies I can not get it to change out of R&L only. |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 425 Registered: Feb-08 | What is the STEREO/EFFECT button on the Yamaha set to? |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 48 Registered: Jun-08 | I have tried it on Entertainment, Game, TV, etc... But none of the effects change it out or R & L |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 426 Registered: Feb-08 | Can you hook your PS3 up to the Yamaha with analog (RCA Red/White) audio connectors? I am reading in several places that there might be a digital audio sampling rate issue (cannot be greater than 48 KHz) or the audio will only play in 2 channel. I can not easily find the output spec of the PS3 so the easy way to check is to change connectors. |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 49 Registered: Jun-08 | The PS3 allows you to select a variety of settings when you changed the audio to Digital Out. If I hooked up RCA Red/White into the Receiver wouldn't that only give me Stereo still? |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 427 Registered: Feb-08 | No the surround information rides along with the L/R info. This is just a test to see if all this problem has anything to do with this little bit on page 24 in the Yamaha manual: Notes on digital signals The digital input jacks of this unit can handle 96 kHz sampling digital signals. Note the following when a digital signal with a sampling frequency greater than 48 kHz is input to this unit: • You cannot use any DSP programs. • The unit will output sound as 2-channel stereo from the main left and right speakers only. Therefore, you cannot adjust the level of the effect speakers while listening to such a source. |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 50 Registered: Jun-08 | PS3 has the following options when you switch it to Digital Optical: Dolby Digital 5.1 Ch. DTS 5.1 Ch. AAC Linear PCM 2 Ch. 44.1 kHz (greyed out) Linear PCM 2 Ch. 88.2 kHz Linear PCM 2 Ch. 176.4 kHz Linear PCM 2 Ch. 48 kHz (greyed out) Would it be better if I just reset all of the factory settings on this receiver? It is a few years old and was my step-fathers. So I really have no clue how or what he messed up with the settings. If so... do you know how I can factory reset the settings? I did a google search but came back empty handed |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 51 Registered: Jun-08 | I think I figured out my receiver problem, I called Yamaha. But now I am having some more Sub problems. It almost sounds as if to much sound info is going to the sub. I have all of my speakers set to small, and turned the sub on. The 2 RCA wires that I have going into that 2 to 1 plug... how do I know which wire goes to which on the back of that wire? Or does it not matter? Also on the back of the sub it has an option for Crossover Frequency 90 - 150 Hz, what should that be set to? I have the volume all the way down to 1 because even at one it is really freeking loud. Any help? I know I am prob being a pain right about now... Sorry |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 431 Registered: Feb-08 | So what is the problem with the receiver??? As for the sub, the wires do not matter, they are the same and this should help: http://customconnectionsonline.com/faq5.html |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 52 Registered: Jun-08 | Not sure what the problem was, but Yamaha made me factory reset the unit. And I guess I was not used to this, but the display on the front of the unit that shows the speakers constantly changes depending on the source. The other 2 receivers that I messed with showed the exact speakers that you set it to all of the time and never changed. I just read that article also that you posted, by the sound of it I should stick to the lowest setting. I have a really old set of JBL speakers that are HUGE and this is a small room. A picture is worth a thousand words though, so here you go: http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/487/cimg0925sf9.jpg http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7151/cimg0926cg1.jpg http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5516/cimg0927yv2.jpg http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4427/cimg0928va9.jpg As far as me saying it sounds like to much sound info going to the sub... I am thinking it is because I had the Crossover frequency set to high... Not sure but maybe I have to mess with it some more The 2 rear speakers are kinda big also and I have no real room to put them. So I think I have decided just to place them on the floor on each side of the couch. That way I can just run the wire underneath the couch |
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Silver Member Username: JrbayLivonia [Detroit area], Michigan USA Post Number: 432 Registered: Feb-08 | By the looks of it you may have the option to spread the front l/r speakers apart and away from the TV a bit. That may help and so might this if you haven't read it already: http://customconnectionsonline.com/faq4.html |
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Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 2352 Registered: Feb-04 | "As far as me saying it sounds like to much sound info going to the sub... I am thinking it is because I had the Crossover frequency set to high... Not sure but maybe I have to mess with it some more" Brian, with this receiver, the minute you select "SWFR" in the subwoofer setup menu and "SMALL" for all speakers no frequency below 90 Hz gets sent to any speaker. Most AVRs today have adjustable crossover settings, but not this one. 90 Hz is it. This means that it doesn't matter where the crossover setting is on the sub itself. It is getting everything below 90 Hz regardless of source. This seems a shame to me, since those big JBLs -- SVA 2100s I believe and very good in their day -- have two 10 inch woofers in each tower and are rated by JBL at 30 Hz, which seems reasonable to me. Cutting off the low end on these speakers seems counterproductive. A 90 Hz crossover is fine if you have small speakers that are going to struggle with low bass, but that certainly isn't the case here. That said, here is what I would do if this were my system: Set the main speakers to "LARGE". This will absolutely not affect a discrete LFE signal the receiver gets on any Dolby Digital/DTS bitstream. That's going to be sent to the sub regardless of the speaker settings. But it will permit any bass material on the RF and LF channels to go to the main speakers. It will send bass to the mains on other audio signals, be it digital (such as a CD in the DVD player) or analog (such as VCR or radio), instead of the sub taking on the entire burden. You should keep the center and surrounds set to "SMALL". Next, I would set the sub to "BOTH" in the "1E BASS SETTING" on page 40. Again, this will not affect the LFE signal, but it does permit some bass to be sent to the mains. The real key here is where the two sub volumes are set. The two I am referring to are the subwoofer speaker level in the Yamaha and the volume control on the sub itself. My approach on this would be to set the sub volume on the receiver at its mid-point (minus 10) and then adjust the volume on the sub until it sounds right in most of the time. That way, you can adjust the sub's volume up or down "on the fly" as needed with the receiver's remote control (page 48). I do agree with Jim -- the main spealers need to be spread out. Maybe a foot each way and toed in towards the couch. Just my  |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 53 Registered: Jun-08 | Very close John, these are the SVA 1800's ;) http://www.adrian-kingston.com/JBL.htm Great post, I am going to go and mess with the Receiver right now and see what I can do. |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 54 Registered: Jun-08 | "My approach on this would be to set the sub volume on the receiver at its mid-point (minus 10) and then adjust the volume on the sub until it sounds right in most of the time. That way, you can adjust the sub's volume up or down "on the fly" as needed with the receiver's remote control (page 48)." I have 2 options for this: 3 LFE Level: 3 SP LFE... 3 HP LFE... Do I make the SP & HP levels both -10? I'm not sure of the difference between the two.} |
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Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 2354 Registered: Feb-04 | SP stands for "speaker" and HP stands for "headphone", so you can ignore the HP unless there's going to be regular headphone use. Look Brian, my suggestion on this setup is exactly that. It could be that you might be better off with the mains set to small. All I'm saying that this is worth a try. If your brother is serious about getting the best sound from this gear, he's going to have to be willing to play with the subwoofer level for a while, and that includes listening to the system with the mains on both thee "large" and "small" settings. It's been my experience that integrating a sub takes time, and one shouldn't be hesitant to make adjustments until the best compromise settings are achieved. Ultimately the ear has to be the guide to what's best. |
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Bronze Member Username: SpopsPost Number: 55 Registered: Jun-08 | "Look Brian, my suggestion on this setup is exactly that." I will take every suggestion that I can. That is why I came to this forum. So far since I set the main's to Large, I do think that it sounds much better. Going to play the main fighting scene from Pearl Harbor in a little while. I think that scene will really put the speakers to the test. Thank's again for all the help. |
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