Sub Hookup Question

RyanTSI · 12-26-2006, 04:31 PM

Hi guys. This is a pretty basic question I know but I just wanted to make sure before I spend any money on cables.

I just got a new sub. Its a polk psw10. I am trying to figure out the best way to hook it up to my sony strde495 receiver. The sub has a left and right audio line in, as well as speaker wire line in and out, but no direct line in for a sub pre out on an amp.

Right now I have a composite cable running from the sub pre out on the amp to one of the line ins on the sub. I know this isn't the best option, but it was the only cable I had at the moment.

Should I just get a digital coax cable and hook it up the same as I have now? Or would it be better to run speaker wire from the front channels to the sub and turn the sub off on the amp?

The manual that came with the sub is less than useless so any help would be appreciated. I will be using the sub for movies %99.9 of the time and I use a pretty low end set of bookshelf speakers for front channels and an infinity center. No surrounds at the moment.

Thanks a lot, Ryan.

Robert_J · 12-26-2006, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanTSI

Right now I have a composite cable running from the sub pre out on the amp to one of the line ins on the sub. I know this isn't the best option, but it was the only cable I had at the moment.

You have connected it using the best option available and you are using a perfectly fine cable. As long as your sub cable is shielded, it is OK. Calibrate it with an SPL meter and you are all set.

-Robert

Bob McElfresh · 12-26-2006, 08:51 PM

I echo Roberts reply.

Any good RCA cable will work great for a subwoofer. I'm using a video cable for the moment myself, and I created a 25' sub cable from CATV coax with "F" connectors and 2 adaptors from Radio Shack one time when I had a long-run to the sub location.

The RCA connection lets your receiver take care of the volume & crossover duties. If you have a crossover-dial on the sub, turn it all the way up.

RyanTSI · 12-26-2006, 09:27 PM

Ok that helps me out a lot. Does it matter which input (left or right) on the sub I put the cable into? And would a digital coaxial cable be better to use? Or just a waste of money for my setup?

Ed Moxley · 12-26-2006, 09:32 PM

My sub's instructions told me to use a "Y" adapter, from the single cable from the pre-out, to both inputs on back of the sub. I don't know if that really makes a difference or not...............

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Jeff Gatie · 12-27-2006, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanTSI

Ok that helps me out a lot. Does it matter which input (left or right) on the sub I put the cable into? And would a digital coaxial cable be better to use? Or just a waste of money for my setup?

Depends on the sub. If there are no specific instructions to use the left for a mono input or to use a y splitter, then either is probably OK.

Bob McElfresh · 12-27-2006, 10:51 PM

Quote:

And would a digital coaxial cable be better to use?

Well - you are already using a "digital coaxial cable". The SPDIF specification calls for a "75 ohm coaxial cable". This is a Video Cable (usually with yellow markings on the RCA plug).

The designers of the spec wanted you to be able to run out and pick up one of these common-as-dirt cables.

Your subwoofer signals are ANALOG. The signals run between 15 - 120 hz (a trival challenge for any coax). Nothing 'digital' about them.

The "Y" splitter at the end is a good idea to fill both inputs unless your sub manual says to run a single cable into the left or right input.

Hope this helps.

RyanTSI · 12-29-2006, 01:42 PM

Ok, thanks guys, i appreciate the input. One of the reasons I asked was that on the Polk website they recommended using speaker wire from the front channels as the best option.

I didn't remember reading that ever on here so I asked. I'll pick up a y splitter cable asap.

Carl333 · 01-04-2007, 03:01 PM

I cut and paste the text below from a rep. from Polk Forums (Ken) concerning hook-up using the PSW10. Not sure if this helps you.

Hello,
There is an error in the PSW10 owner's manual, there isn't an LFE input on that model. However, that shouldn't be a problem. All you would need to do is connect the single sub-woofer output, of the receiver, to either the right or left input on the sub-woofer (the sub-woofer's bass amplifier adds the two channels together so a connection to either one is fine). Or, if you prefer, you may use a "Y" cable to provide a connection to both inputs on the sub-woofer. While this doesn't change the sound quality it will allow the sub-woofer to play louder at each of it's volume control positions.
The second thing you would need to do is set the variable low pass filter, on the sub-woofer, to the highest setting (the variable low pass filter is the dial that has "Hz" labeled). This will set the internal low pass filter above the low pass filter frequency given by your receiver and, in effect, create an LFE input. If you have any questions please telephone us at 1-800-377-7655 and we'll be happy to help.
Regards, Ken, Polk Audio