Can I add a subwoofer to a 5 channel system? (1 Viewer)

I have an early generation home theater receiver which has only 5 speaker outputs (Front L&R, Rear L&R, Center). The receiver has no connection for a subwoofer.

Is there an effective way that I can wire the system to add a subwoofer. I would like to get a lot more ooomph to the sound system.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

- Steven

Welcome to the forum, Bro!

I believe you can do it and I'll let someone else answer how, which I think depends on whether you are using a powered or unpowered sub. The question is why? My guess is your receiver probably doesn't have a whole lot of the modern bells and whistles or power either. Why not just replace it with a $100 used or refurbished 5.1 receiver? Does your receiver even have a digital input and can it decode Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS? You will be losing a lot of the experience by not having the separate .1 LFE channel. If you are going to spend even $100 on a sub, you might as well spend the money to get an updated receiver. Now that 6.1 is the minimum and 7.1 receivers are almost standard, you can find a used 5.1 on the cheap that will solve your problem and give you the punch you want.

Thanks Charlie,

I wanted to try and minimize cost. I will keep your advice in mind and search the web for deals, while I wait for instructions on how to make that connection to my current receiver.

Thanks again and appreciate your welcome.

- Steven

You just need to use the speaker level inputs to a subwoofer using your front L/R.....

You should consider changing your AVR for sure though.

Thanks John,

I will definitely consider the receiver but meanwhile ...

Just to be clear, ... Do you mean that I would connect two wires each to both the subwoofer and (let's say, for example) the Front-Left speaker from the same speaker output? (Of course, I would do same for Front-Right, resulting in four wires into the subwoofer.

Is it really that simple?

- Steven

Yes, it is that simple. There is a good article on the Polk website about connecting a subwoofer.

Thanks a million Chris!

Your artice link was a great education and somewhat of a relief.

I will try that suggestion before purchasing a new receiver.

For others who have the same question but may not have the time to browse the article. the meat of the article is quoted below.

Thanks everyone!

"For the most people, the easiest and best sounding thing to do is connect the subwoofer to the Front Left and Right speaker outputs. You can either connect your front main speakers to the subwoofer's speaker output terminals or you can "parallel wire" them to the same terminals."

You got it.......

Best of luck with your subwoofering...

FYI, since you probably decode a stereo signal into DPLII (or whatever), you're not "missing" the LFE info; it's in there. Whether your front speakers can reproduce it well is another question altogether, which is, of course, I presume, why you want to add a sub.

Additionally, when connecting a sub to the speaker level outputs, you have the choice of "crossing-over" your front speakers with the sub's high-pass filter, by connecting them to the sub's speaker outputs (provided it has them) or not; it's up to you.

i know you said your amp doesn't have a connection for a subwoofer but...

you might have a pre-out that you could connect a sub to it.