Bass Managment for stereo system? (1 Viewer)

[Garrett Lundy]

I'm sorry. I'm a little clueless here.

My Understanding:

*If I connect a subwoofer to the inegrated amp using the speaker cables, then the Integrated amp will power the subwoofer and "lose" that power en route to the speakers.

*If I connect the Integrated to the subwoofer with the RCA cables, then the bass material is filtered-out before it is sent back to the amp for powering the speakers. However neither the Outlaw or HSU have RCA outputs.

Isn't this why the the integrated has a "preamp-out, power amp in" set of hookups on the back?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I'm sorry. I'm a little clueless here.

My Understanding:

*If I connect a subwoofer to the inegrated amp using the speaker cables, then the Integrated amp will power the subwoofer and "lose" that power en route to the speakers.

*If I connect the Integrated to the subwoofer with the RCA cables, then the bass material is filtered-out before it is sent back to the amp for powering the speakers. However neither the Outlaw or HSU have RCA outputs.

Isn't this why the the integrated has a "preamp-out, power amp in" set of hookups on the back?

 

[RobWil]

Those are typically for connecting either A) an external amplifier or B)an external pre-amp.
If you use the speaker line inputs on the sub, the sub amp still powers the sub and the integrated still powers the speakers, same as using the RCA line inputs.

 

[RobWil]

Those are typically for connecting either A) an external amplifier or B)an external pre-amp.
If you use the speaker line inputs on the sub, the sub amp still powers the sub and the integrated still powers the speakers, same as using the RCA line inputs.

 

[ScottCHI]

garrett, yes, no offense, i'm sorry, but you really are a little clueless, here, just as i've suspected.

NO! nothing is EVER sent "back to the amp" from the sub! they both have rca INPUTS, which is what you might need, not outputs.

your integrated amp will power your speakers no matter how you connect the subwoofer. if you want to use the sub's built-in crossover (really a high-pass filter) and cross your speakers, then you connect the amp's speaker output terminals to the sub's speaker input terminals and you connect the sub's speaker output terminals to the speakers' input terminals. the sub will be powered by the sub's amp and the speakers by the integrated amp. if you don't want to crossover your speakers, then you'd just connect them to your integrated amp, normally, and you would use an rca line-level (aka pre-amp level) connection for the subwoofer. the sub's rca inputs, whether mono or l+r are inconsequential as you're probably going to crossover your speakers and use speaker-level connection to the sub, anyway.

read my posts in your thread carefully. i already answered many of your questions.

btw, i don't mean to sound harsh in this thread, but firm. DO NOT BUY AN EXTERNAL CROSSOVER. YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED IT FOR WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO. don't make this more difficult than it is. what you are trying to do is not that difficult nor uncommon. it's the whole reason subs have speaker-level connections in the first place.

 

[ScottCHI]

garrett, yes, no offense, i'm sorry, but you really are a little clueless, here, just as i've suspected.

NO! nothing is EVER sent "back to the amp" from the sub! they both have rca INPUTS, which is what you might need, not outputs.

your integrated amp will power your speakers no matter how you connect the subwoofer. if you want to use the sub's built-in crossover (really a high-pass filter) and cross your speakers, then you connect the amp's speaker output terminals to the sub's speaker input terminals and you connect the sub's speaker output terminals to the speakers' input terminals. the sub will be powered by the sub's amp and the speakers by the integrated amp. if you don't want to crossover your speakers, then you'd just connect them to your integrated amp, normally, and you would use an rca line-level (aka pre-amp level) connection for the subwoofer. the sub's rca inputs, whether mono or l+r are inconsequential as you're probably going to crossover your speakers and use speaker-level connection to the sub, anyway.

read my posts in your thread carefully. i already answered many of your questions.

btw, i don't mean to sound harsh in this thread, but firm. DO NOT BUY AN EXTERNAL CROSSOVER. YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED IT FOR WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO. don't make this more difficult than it is. what you are trying to do is not that difficult nor uncommon. it's the whole reason subs have speaker-level connections in the first place.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

OK, thanks...


Now why would i not want to crossover my speakers using the sub? Is this if I'm using towers and want double the bass, because I was going to use the crossover to keep from sending the deep bass to my small bokkshelf speakers.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

OK, thanks...


Now why would i not want to crossover my speakers using the sub? Is this if I'm using towers and want double the bass, because I was going to use the crossover to keep from sending the deep bass to my small bokkshelf speakers.

 

[ScottCHI]

in many instances someone may want to run their speakers completely "uncrossed", full-range, for whatever reasons, regardless of the speaker size. in this case, since the sub's speaker-level crossover isn't being utilized, speaker-level connection to it isn't necessary, and the sub's rca input(s) can simply be connected to the pre-amp level outputs on an amplifier. the sub's own crossover is then adjusted to overlap the natural rolloff of the speakers that are running full range. this is actually the way many non-ht audiophiles will run their speakers with a subwoofer; "uncrossed", full-range.

but since you DO want to cross your speakers, you will want to use the speaker-level connections, unless you just want to spend the money for the external crossover. but judging from your goal - that being a modest 2-channel system with a sub - i think using the subwoofer's crossover would be the most logical route. like i said, that's why these sub's have speaker-level inputs/outputs with a crossover (actually a high pass filter) in the first place. use 'em. the only foreseeable problem with doing it this way this is that these subwoofers' crossovers usually have a fixed high-pass filter in the 80 to 100Hz range, and in some cases, like very small satellites, that's not an appropriate crossover point. otherwise it's around the same crossover point most of us use on our av receivers.

that's easy. these subwoofers have a speaker-level crossover built into them for bass management in your exact situation - when you don't have a bass managing pre/pro/processor/amp/receiver. this is the way mid-fi subwoofers were almost always connected prior to the advent of the "lfe output channel" and "bass managing av receivers".

 

[ScottCHI]

in many instances someone may want to run their speakers completely "uncrossed", full-range, for whatever reasons, regardless of the speaker size. in this case, since the sub's speaker-level crossover isn't being utilized, speaker-level connection to it isn't necessary, and the sub's rca input(s) can simply be connected to the pre-amp level outputs on an amplifier. the sub's own crossover is then adjusted to overlap the natural rolloff of the speakers that are running full range. this is actually the way many non-ht audiophiles will run their speakers with a subwoofer; "uncrossed", full-range.

but since you DO want to cross your speakers, you will want to use the speaker-level connections, unless you just want to spend the money for the external crossover. but judging from your goal - that being a modest 2-channel system with a sub - i think using the subwoofer's crossover would be the most logical route. like i said, that's why these sub's have speaker-level inputs/outputs with a crossover (actually a high pass filter) in the first place. use 'em. the only foreseeable problem with doing it this way this is that these subwoofers' crossovers usually have a fixed high-pass filter in the 80 to 100Hz range, and in some cases, like very small satellites, that's not an appropriate crossover point. otherwise it's around the same crossover point most of us use on our av receivers.

that's easy. these subwoofers have a speaker-level crossover built into them for bass management in your exact situation - when you don't have a bass managing pre/pro/processor/amp/receiver. this is the way mid-fi subwoofers were almost always connected prior to the advent of the "lfe output channel" and "bass managing av receivers".

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Ah, I see.

OK. Thank you very much for the info. Now I'm off to purchase an Integrated Amp before the $200 off open-box model gets sold.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Ah, I see.

OK. Thank you very much for the info. Now I'm off to purchase an Integrated Amp before the $200 off open-box model gets sold.