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Need help separating 3-way speakers..

post #1 of 8
5/31/09 at 9:49pm
Thread Starter 
Hey, I have two Audio Tech Pro Poly Series 250W tower speakers hooked into the sub channel of my 5.1 receiver, and only the woofer is creating sound. I want to know if there is a way to seperate the mid and high speakers from the woofer to hook it into a different channel like the center channel. I looked inside and there are what look like big resistors on some of the speakers, so I thought I'd just stop there and find out for sure what to do. Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Chris
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post #2 of 8
6/1/09 at 3:19am

Re: Need help separating 3-way speakers..

I suppose it's possible to do what you're asking. But a few questions first. How did you hook up the sub out to a speaker? What kind of speaker is it? What receiver do you have? What other speakers do you have, and how many? And what are you trying to accomplish over-all with your system?

Even in 7 Channel Stereo mode hooking up the sub out and center channel to a single speaker (if it can be done) is going to have some strange results.

Please don't be offended by this, but do you know what you're doing? I've never heard anyone try to do what you're asking. Maybe by answering the above questions we can sort things out.
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post #3 of 8
6/1/09 at 8:26am

Re: Need help separating 3-way speakers..

This is one of the strangest requests ever at HTF.

hippz420,

Why exactly are you running your speakers via the subwoofer out? And why would you want to " seperate the mid and high speakers from the woofer to hook it into a different channel like the center channel," when all you have to do is connect the speakers to the left and right front outputs to get the sound you desire? It's not clear at all what you want to accomplish, and why you would go to the extremes you have listed in order to accomplish it, so perhaps listing your goal(s) will clarify your actions.
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post #4 of 8
6/2/09 at 2:21am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need help separating 3-way speakers..

Okay, maybe I should've went a little more in-depth..

I have an RCA RT2770 receiver, with 5.1 surround. I have 12 speakers (connected via spring terminals) in total: 2 in each front channel (right and left), one being the stock RT2770 speaker that came with the receiver, and some 50W 3-way speaker, no idea where from. 2 in each surround channels, one of the stock speakers and an old Toshiba CS-335. One of the stock speakers fills the center channel. The stock sub, plus two Audio Tech Pro Poly Series 250W 3-way seakers. I only did that because this receiver separates the sound so that any speaker connected to the front or surround channels has NO bass. The woofers don't put out any sound. They have good woofers in them that could give tons of bass, so I decided to hook them into the sub channel. The only thing is, now the mids and tweeters don't give out any sound.

After all of that, I wondered if I could maybe change the wiring inside the box of the Audio Tech speakers and separate the mids and tweeters from the woofer and give them their own port in the back of the box. That means if I can hook the woofer to the sub and the mids and tweeters to the front or center channels, I can use the full potential of every speaker and get fuller sound.

I looked inside the 250W's and on some of the wiring there are big metal.. things on the wiring, and I don't have a clue what they are. I didn't know if just following the wires from each speaker to the port in the back and cutting them off there would be a good idea or not, so I'm hoping someone can tell me the right way to do this. It might seem crazy, but it's just something that I want to do.

Whew, that took a while..
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post #5 of 8
6/2/09 at 4:24am

Re: Need help separating 3-way speakers..

Quote:
Originally Posted by hippz420
I have an RCA RT2770 receiver, with 5.1 surround. I have 12 speakers (connected via spring terminals) in total: 2 in each front channel (right and left), one being the stock RT2770 speaker that came with the receiver, and some 50W 3-way speaker, no idea where from. 2 in each surround channels, one of the stock speakers and an old Toshiba CS-335. One of the stock speakers fills the center channel. The stock sub, plus two Audio Tech Pro Poly Series 250W 3-way seakers.
WOW! You do know that connecting speakers like that will show a lower impedance to your receiver. Based on the quality of the receiver I'm surprised the RCA hasn't burst into flames or at least blown an amp channel.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hippz420
I only did that because this receiver separates the sound so that any speaker connected to the front or surround channels has NO bass. The woofers don't put out any sound. They have good woofers in them that could give tons of bass, so I decided to hook them into the sub channel. The only thing is, now the mids and tweeters don't give out any sound.

After all of that, I wondered if I could maybe change the wiring inside the box of the Audio Tech speakers and separate the mids and tweeters from the woofer and give them their own port in the back of the box. That means if I can hook the woofer to the sub and the mids and tweeters to the front or center channels, I can use the full potential of every speaker and get fuller sound.
So you want to bi-amp a speaker that never was designed to be bi-amped with a receiver that wasn't designed to run in this mode? It won't work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hippz420
I looked inside the 250W's and on some of the wiring there are big metal.. things on the wiring, and I don't have a clue what they are.
Those are called passive crossovers. They take the incoming sound and filter out different frequencies only allowing what each driver to play to pass through.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hippz420
I didn't know if just following the wires from each speaker to the port in the back and cutting them off there would be a good idea or not
Not a good idea.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hippz420
I'm hoping someone can tell me the right way to do this.
One speaker connected to each channel of your receiver (as opposed to 2 or more). If this configuration doesn't meet your goals, then a new receiver, new speakers or both should be purchased. Just throwing a bunch of mis-matched speakers at the problem will not get you high quality sound.

-Robert
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post #6 of 8
6/2/09 at 5:26am

Re: Need help separating 3-way speakers..

More speakers does not mean more economical, louder, or better quality sound. It actually means the direct opposite in 99/100 cases. The mix of timbre quality alone would give me a headache after 5 minutes listening time. Add on that your desired configuration is a major fire hazard, and you can see why the manufacturers specify that 5.1 (or 7.1) means 5 speakers for 5 channels (or 7 for 7) and a sub.
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post #7 of 8
1/30/10 at 7:08pm
ok first of all im knew at this stuff.is it possible for to run a plateamp on each of my 15 floorstanding subwoofers so i can connect them to my subwoofer out channel on my reciver with a spliter and to run my highs seprate to the reciver the subs are 8 ohms 10-325 watts and if so how big of a amp would it take thank for your time
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post #8 of 8
1/31/10 at 6:02am
Welcome to the forum Jeremy.

Since you are new to this you need to know that if you have a speaker with a 15" driver on it, it is more than likely a woofer and not a subwoofer.  Both look very similar but their function differs greatly.  Please provide the make and model of the speakers you are wanting to modify so that we can properly answer your question.
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