Can I use a subwoofer with just two tower speakers? (1 Viewer)

[99monguse]

I have a Harmon Karden receiver right now and I have just two tower speakers (I think there are three or four speakers in each tower). I'm running the receiver in STEREO mode right now. Eventually I'm getting a newer receiver that has HDMI as mine just has component and I want a quality set of 5.1 speakers but I was thinking about buying the powered subwoofer first. Can I run the sub now with the tower speakers instead of 4 surrounds and a center channel? Do I continue to use STEREO mode or do I have to use another mode in order for the self-amplified subwoofer to work?

 

[Robert_J]

It depends on the receiver you choose but most of the time you can run just 2 speakers and a sub. You leave the receiver set to Stereo and change the mains to "small". Exact details will vary by receiver.

 

[99monguse]

The towers I'm using now are made by FISHER (they're OLD :td: ). There is a 10" speaker at the bottom, one 4" and one 3" speaker towards the top with a couple ports in the middle and I am running two of these.My receiver is a Harmon Karden AVR 520. I have the towers plugged into the FRT SPEAKER connections. The area I have them plugged into says FRT RT, FRT LFT ( the numeral 8 and a small picture of a set of headphones is next to the 8 . I don't know what this means. What do you mean by change the mains to small?

 

[Robert_J]

What do you mean by change the mains to small?

In most surround sound receivers, there is a setting for either all speakers or individually to set them as large or small. When set to large, they play full range and the sub only plays the LFE channel of 5.1 or 7.1 multi-channel audio. When set to small, all bass below the crossover frequency is routed to the sub. This allows the receiver's amps to not be pushed as hard and puts more of the work-load on the sub. Depending on the room, the bass may sound better because it is coming from a single source. I received a pair of Sears (Fisher) speakers for Christmas when I was in the 9th grade. They were stolen during my freshman year in college. I miss those speakers.