Buy using a atelite set with an active Sub woofer, Do I have to connect the 2 front satelites to the SUb?

 

Anonymous
Am I not loosing usage of my Receiver this way?
Can the satelites be connected dirrectly to the amp?
 

G.DawG
What subwoofer is it? If it is active it should have pre-ins,so use them, and connect the satelites to the amp.Or is it possibly your receiver does not have pre-outs?
 

Hawk
Anon:

I am assuming that you have a HT (AVR) receiver. If so, you should connect the subwoofer to the receiver with the line level "subwoofer out" connection. This will do two things. First, you will use the subwoofer's internal amplifier which takes some of the load off of your receiver's amp section, allowing the receiver to put out a cleaner signal to the satellites. Second, and more importantly, you have much more control over your subwoofer. Your receiver can seperately set the volume level (and in many cases the subwoofer's crossover point). For HT applications, you are getting all of the bass information from all five (or more) satellites.

If you connect the subwoofer using the speaker leads from the receiver (thus using the high level inputs), you are only getting the same signal that is coming from the receiver to the front main speakers only. In essence, you are losing the use of your receiver's fine electronics by using the high level input rather than the line level connection used when connecting the sub to the subwoofer out connection.
 

John A.
The two ways of connecting the sub are for two different purposes.

1. Connecting the receiver's L and R front speaker outlets to the sub inputs, and then the L and R speakers to the sub speaker outlets. This adds bass extension to the main speakers. Best for stereo. It is a good, neutral way of getting those deep notes, and totally transforms small speakers.

2. Connecting the speakers directly to the receiver speaker terminals, and the sub to the line level ".1" "LFE" or "Sub out" on the receiver. Then it is just as Hawk says. You get the full ".1" channel on the surround sound recording. If your other speakers are small, this arrangement can also let the sub handle the deep sounds the other speakers cannot reproduce, though you also have to select this option in the receiver.

A few sub makers (Rel is one) allow you to switch between 1 and 2. But in most cases you have to decide which you prefer for the listening you do most of the time. Try it and see.
 

Anonymous
If you connect the sub to the amp front pre-outs would this be the same as connecting the L and R front speakers to the sub (first point in John A. message). Would connecting it this way mean you would not get the full .1 channel in surround mode?

Steve
 

John A.
No, you can't do that. At least on any sub I have seen. In point 1 you connect the sub to the two, L and R "speakers out" channels on the amp. Those are the outputs from the power amplifier stage. One of the outputs from the PRE-amplifier stage might drive the power amplifier in the sub but you will only hear bass. Not recommended. Point two is where you connect an active sub to the preamplier ".1" output channel. That is what the amp and sub manufacturers intend for that channel.
 

Anonymous
Thanks John,

The reason I had asked is that I wanted my sub to play in both stereo and surround modes while having my front speakers set to large on the receiver Elite VSX-05. But I guess I'll have to live with setting the fronts to small until I get a new receiver that will allow me to set it up this way. Thanks again.
Steve
 

G.DawG
Steve,
If you decide on a new receiver get the 43TX it has better sound than the 05 and you can use the sub(in my case subs)when in stereo and your old remote(which I wish I had) will work with it,a real plus, which is handy because you have backup remote. Plus you get THX and DTS-ES and DD-EX all for 488$!!!!!!!(780cdn)
 

Anonymous
G.
I'll surely look at getting a new receiver soon. The 43TX sounds like a great choice.
I'll sent you my mailing address.

Steve
 

John A.
Steve,
You are welcome. I have to make the same decision with my receiver (NAD). I think many receivers let you use the LFE-.1 preamp out in stereo, too, applying a crossover. But this introduces more problems and questions. For HT I am currently using "all large" and like the sound better, it all seems balanced, even though I know I am missing something from the bass in the center and surrounds.
 

Anonymous
i have a paradigm pdr8 active subwoofer and a sherwood av reciever i have connected my sub to the reciever but didnt have that much control over my sub so i used the speaker level inputs running to my speakers and feel i have more control over my sub and the sounds when watching movies is a lot better and sounds perfect.what i want to know is why is this a bad thing the sounds perfect and i got loads of control over my sub rather than messing around with my recievers volume level to.i think it boils down to personel preference unless you can tell me im doing it the wrong way and that im going to damage my speakers by doing this?
 

John A.
I think it is preference, and convenience. Most active subs are designed to work either way.
 

Anonymous
i think it is john A.in time i think i might by a sub that does everything automatically with out all the messing around setting it up,if there is such a sub.
 

John A.
Anonymous, the only problem there is, how does the sub know what you prefer? People usually like choice. But sometimes there is too much, I agree, and you want to get on with your life. The hi-fi world has always been full of products claiming to give more choice. Some of it is an illusion, and encourages frauds to claim things they know nothing about. Most honest people are just trying to figure out what the options are, and what makes sense and what doesn't.

A sub is a specialist piece of kit to give you low frequency sound, at much less cost than having all the other speakers do it. In the end the aim is to please you, and give you the sound you like, not blind you with technology and jargon. If the user manual is clear, that is half the battle. Just choose the connection you prefer. The manufacturer gives you the option because he would lose sales if he didn't, and it doesn't cost him much to keep his sub versatile. A rough guide to try on the issue here might be ".1" channel for surround sound (movies), speaker-level for stereo (music). But don't worry if you prefer something different, or it is more convenient the other way. It's your stuff, you are the boss!
 

I've just got myself a sub off ebay and found it to have a pair of phono line-ins and two sets of spring-clip terminals. I used Y adaptor and connected the sub to my amps sub-out with phono interconnects. I have no sound coming from the sub and i don't know why, i know that everything is in working order, please help!
 

Anonymous
i just purchased a JVC pro logic receiver and connected my powered sub woofer to it - i'm getting am radio and a humming feedback through the speaker how can I remedy this problem?
thanks,
jp
 

John A.
SET,

It should work. Check all the obvious, like sub turned on and volume (gain) turned up. If still nothing, check the receiver is actually in a surround-sound mode (Dolby, DTs etc) where it is really giving a signal through the sub output. Some receivers do not give a sub output in stereo.

Anon,

You probably live near a radio transmitter and the co-ax cable to the sub is too long, or less well screened. The radio is RF interference and the cable is acting as an arial or antenna. You might reduce or even solve the problem with a shorter and/or better screened cable. The recommended sub cable is a 75 Ohm co-ax cable, the same as a digital audio interconnect cable.
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