sub ? (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Moore]

I have a car sub as my sub for my HT. Its not powered but my receiver has an amp in it already for the sub (100 X 6). But I want to upgrade to the Denon 3300, and I dont think I can hook a non-powered car sub into it. The sub has a normal speaker hookup (the regular 2 wires, positive and ground), not RCA.
Can I buy an amp to run the sub on the Denon? Also, how can I hook the non-powered car sub into the receiver with those connections? Is it possible? Id like to keep this sub so I dont have to spend a lot of $$ on a powered sub.
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[Tyler]

Anthony this is what you can do.
When you buy your new receiver get a mono subwoofer cable($15) hook it up to your new denon receiver's subout then connect the other end into your old receiver's vcr, tv, or cd input on the back then get some speaker cable hook it up to your old receiver's left stereo speaker output then hook it up to your sub.
Make sure the mono subwoofer cable leading out from the subout on the denon goes to a left hookup to your old receiver.
It does not matter if you use the left side it would work just the same as the right side.
Good luck

 

[Mike_Ped]

Why do you have a car sub as your home theater sub? Just wondering.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I would STRONGLY recommend that you upgrade to a powered sub. By using a passive sub, all your getting is low end that's meant for your front channels, your missing the very intense .1 LFE channel, that's where the REALLY strong low end resides on a DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 dvd.
And I believe that car subs are rated dfferently than home subs are, I think a car sub is rated at 4 ohms, whereas a home sub is rated at 8 ohms. If you continue to use the car sub, you might end up damaging your reciever. Because your reciever is designed for speakers rated at 8 ohms, not 4.
Believe me, if you decide to go with a powered, the $$$ you spend will be more than worth it when you here what that .1 LFE channel will do for your system!
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No Soup For You!

 

[Robert_J]

Anthony,
Tyler's suggestion will work but it becomes a pain having to turn on the "subwoofer amp" every time. Sell the receiver and buy a plate amp designed for subwoofers. Most are designed to drive a four ohm load and have automatic turn on/off. You can modify you box by cutting a square hole in it to mount your amp or build a simple box to hold the amp. If you have any more questions about how to do this, the guys in the DIY section are very helpful.
Sources for amps:www.apexjr.com Link Removed www.stryke.com www.adireaudio.com
Mike and John,
Some car subs work great as home subs. The Audiomobile MASS 12 was designed for the car market but works even better in a large vented enclosure. It's very similar in design to the sub used in the new SVS Ultra. Also, most home subs are now four ohms.
-Robert

 

[Anthony Moore]

Is it true that Im not getting the true .1 sub sound with it hooked up like this?
I thought that since it was DD decoded that the .1 would goto the sub.
If this isnt the case, then I will change.
Anyone know for sure?
It sounds like im getting pretty good sound from my sub right now.
Thanks

 

[Dan Hine]

Anthony,
I would say that if your receiver has a dedicated channel for the subwoofer (you said it was 100x6) then you are in fact getting the LFE (.1) channel. I've seen several lower end receivers set up this way. If you still have your manual look through it and see. If you don't have it, it might be downloadable online. Best of luck.
Dan Hine

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Dan Hine, I beg to differ. Anthony, if you have your car sub hooked to you reciever through the normal speaker cable, and the sub isn't powered, than you indeed are NOT getting the .1 channel, that's just how it works.
Yes your reciever does have a built in amp for the sub, but it doesn't mean what you think it means, ALL recievers have amps to drive the speaker array.
Am I right to assume that you have the car sub connected to the back of the reciever through the recievers front speaker terminals, and then out from the sub to your front speakers? If this is the case, than you definatly need to upgrade the sub to a powered model because without an amp inside your sub, it's just a plain old passive subwoofer. The reciever doesn't send the .1 LFE signal through the main speaker terminals, it only sends this .1 LFE information through it's subwoofer output jack.
If your sub is connected in this manner, the bass your hearing isn't the .1 LFE bass, it's the bass intended for the front speakers, it just happens to be coming from a sub.
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No Soup For You!
[Edited last by John Williamson on July 18, 2001 at 03:01 PM]
[Edited last by John Williamson on July 18, 2001 at 03:05 PM]

 

[Anthony Moore]

No, theres an actual seperate connection for the sub. Its not going through the front speakers at all. And the fronts arent connected to the sub at all...
Still feel the same way?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Anthony, as detailed as you can, describe the way your speakers and sub are connected to the reciever. This sounds like a very unusual reciever.
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No Soup For You!

 

[Anthony Moore]

Yah, ive never seen a receiver with this kind of hookup.
It has connections just like regular speakers. A ground and a positive. Two wires, thats all. Just like you hook in all the rest of the speakers. A red and a black wire. And it sounds great.

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

Technics used to make receivers like that. Built in amplifiers for 5 main speakers plus a built in amp for the sub. So there's actually a speaker level output dedicated to the subwoofer. No pass-through on the main channels is needed.
Yes, you're getting the .1 LFE channel. And even if you were using the standard passive sub connected between the main speaker outs and the main speakers, then you'd still get the .1 LFE signal so long as you set "Sub = No" and "Main = Large". That's the magic of bass redirection!

 

[Dan Hine]

Anthony,
So what receiver are you using? That could help us clear up some of the confusion. Some receivers do include a seperate amplifier specifically for the subwoofer. The receiver simply sends the LFE signal to this internal amp and then connects to an unpowered amp.
John, I respect your input on this issue and am always willing to read someone elses views. But what exactly would be the difference in routing the LFE channel to this "internal" amp verses an outboard amp? Many of the SVS subs are passive but no one claims that they do not play the .1 channel. The receiver sends a line signal to an outboard amp which then connects to the subwoofer through speaker wire. Some receivers internally send the .1 channel to a seperate amp and then out to a passive sub. Same flow of events, just placed a little differently. Some manufactures do not advertise correctly however. These passive subs are called "powered" b/c they have their own amp. Specifically the RCA receivers at Radioshack. I have bothered RCA and Radioshack a few times about re-wording this b/c it adds to confusion for J6P, but to no avail.
Anyway, so what it comes down to is Anthony's receiver could very well be outputting the LFE channel. That's certainly the way it sounds to me. Any luck finding a manual for that receiver Anthony?
Dan Hine

 

[Anthony Moore]

No manual, but its a Technics SA-AX920