Sherwood RD-6513, help with connecting 1) sub 2) active speaker (1 Viewer)

[dafonin]

Hi everybody! As a disclaimer, I must admit that my knowledge of AVRs and pertinent inputs/outputs/connections is extremely limited, so, as Michael Scott put it - "why don't you explain this to me like I'm 5." That said, my goal is to learn, and I would appreciate any links to posts/videos that do a good job of catching you up to speed on the basics. Now, let's dive in:

I recently moved into my own apartment and brought with me the entire home theater setup that my roommates and I once shared. I took pictures of how everything was connected beforehand ( I was not involved in initial setup), and just replicated everything in my new place. It works. I currently have 5 passive speakers (2 front, 1 mid, 2 back) as well as a sub connected to a Sherwood RD-6513 AVR. However, I noticed a few things and would really appreciate some clarification. There are two separate issues:

1) Subwoofer connection

Subwoofer panel (left), AVR panel (right)

View attachment 52670 View attachment 52671

The way my sub is currently connected is below, this configuration works (even though I realize this probably isn't the right way to connect it):

View attachment 52672 View attachment 52673

I noticed that the AVR has a sub pre-out and I tried connecting it via that, however, got no sound:

View attachment 52674 View attachment 52675

My question is - how come connecting it via what I perceive to be the correct way doesn't work?

2) Substituting 2 back passive speakers with 1 active speaker + 1 passive speaker

I own a pair of M-Audio AV 40 monitor speakers (1 active, 1 passive) and wanted to use them instead of my current 2 back passive speakers. From what I've read, you need pre-out to connect an active speaker to an AVR, and my Sherwood just has the one sub pre-out. Is my idea feasible or no?

Thank you in advance and please keep things simple!

Sincerely,
Daniel

 

[JohnRice]

Do you realize the images you linked are all from Super Girl?

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

As John noted, your images aren't showing.

2) Substituting 2 back passive speakers with 1 active speaker + 1 passive speaker

I own a pair of M-Audio AV 40 monitor speakers (1 active, 1 passive) and wanted to use them instead of my current 2 back passive speakers. From what I've read, you need pre-out to connect an active speaker to an AVR, and my Sherwood just has the one sub pre-out. Is my idea feasible or no?

You would need a pre-out for the surround to connect an active speaker set to it.

 

[dafonin]

For some reason none of my original images posted... here they are! Thanks to John and Peter for pointing it out.

Subwoofer panel (left), AVR panel (right):



The way my sub is currently connected is below, this configuration works (even though I realize this probably isn't the right way to connect it):



I noticed that the AVR has a sub pre-out and I tried connecting it via that, however, got no sound:

 

[dafonin]

Do you realize the images you linked are all from Super Girl?

No idea how that happened, I've never even seen that show lol. Thanks for pointing it out, I reposted the images!

 

[dafonin]

As John noted, your images aren't showing.


You would need a pre-out for the surround to connect an active speaker set to it.

A shame about the active speakers... thanks for the response though! I reposted the images below

 

[JohnRice]

The sub doesn't work because it's connected the the left channel input for the "Video" source. The Sub output is two connections to the right. You also need to tell the receiver there is a sub in use and configure the crossovers.

 

[Al.Anderson]

A few things to try for the sub.
0) use the Auto set-up if you have the mic and haven't done that yet.

1) Make sure the sub is 'On' in the receiver set-up menu.
2) Try connecting the single line-out from the receiver to both the right and left jack. (In the 1st picture it's going into the Right channel; maybe the sub looks for a single connection on the Left channel.)
3) Check the crossover setting on the receiver, if it's too high you might not be getting anything (usually 60-80 is good).
4) Make sure the audio source has an LFE track, or at least has plenty of bass.
5) Make sure you don't have the receiver on some sort of pure stereo mode (I couldn't find a manual, so I could check if the Sherwood has a mode like that).