question about speaker / subwoofer hookup (1 Viewer)

[Jim Tressler]

Hello All,
Thanks to those who responed to my last question. I think I have decided on the Polk RM 6000 for a starter speaker package.. I can get them for $380.. so I think thats a good place to start. Anyway.. I was reading the instuction manual and it says NOT to hook up the sub via the pre out on the reciever, but rather to hook up the subwoofer via the left and right channel from the reciever, then on to the speakers.. is that true, or will either way work well?
thanks!!
jim
here is the weblink where it talks about that..
http://www.polkaudio.com/home/faqad/...cle=bassmanage

 

[Marc Rochkind]

I read the Polk FAQ linked to, and they seem to have a couple of points:

1. Some receivers don't send anything to the subwoofer (preamp) output jack in stereo mode.

2. There can be a discontinuity between where the receiver crosses over and where the subwoofer does, resulting in lack of smoothness, etc.

So, they recommend letting the subwoofer do the switching.

I would say:

--Ignore #1 if your reciever doesn't have this limitation.

--It seems to me the if you have a good receiver, you should let it do the crossing over, connect the subwoofer to the receiver subwoofer output, don't connect any speakers to the subwoofer outputs, and set the subwoofer crossover as high as it will go, freeing it do do whatever the reveiver asks it to do.

--Going through the subwoofer adds extra length and extra noise and other problems to the speaker wires.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

Some more info: I looked at the instructions for my Velodyne 810, and they specifically say that for Dolby Digital receivers the crossover conflict problem exists, and so the lowpass crossover in the subwoofer should be disabled with a bypass switch that is present.

There is also a highpass crossover setting for 80 or 100, but I don't think that is involved in anything unless outputs are connected to the subwoofer, which they are not in my case.

 

[David D. C.]

you have to watch for power drain from the fronts if you run your fronts through the sub (hard wiring)if your sub is a powered sub then this problem will not be a facter most hard wired subs that i no of are for stereo sound and not used for main surround sound i had a hard wired sub and it worked great for music but very poorly for surrond