subwoofer TO reciever ( really stupid question) (1 Viewer)

[Marie]

hooking a powered subwoofer to a reciever.there is a place for a connector on the back of the reciver(black) to go TO the subwoofer.. & a similar one on the back of the subwoofer for input(which is in YELLOW).
what kind of cord do you use?? just a regular RCA plug? or some specialty type? ( like a digital??)

 

[GrahamT]

You're right, that is a really stupid question! Just kiddin, any sheilded RCA cable will suffice. You can use a video cable whatever, anything.
You just want to look for quality connectors and durable construction.

 

[Marie]

ok, next question.
is it better to use the ONE cable??(to the in & outs I mentioned above)

or use a "Y" cable & connect to the left & right input on the subwoofer??

which gives better sound etc??

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Using the "Y" connector to the subwoofer's amplifier will result in about a 3dB gain - which means you might need to reduce the gain on the amplifier just a bit. However, the 3dB gain isn't totally free, it provides you with the 3dB up front, but also takes it off the top end.

As far as sound quality goes, flip a coin. Using the "Y" adapter will just mean that you'll spend a bit more on your cables at the time of purchase (approx. $4.00 for the "Y" adapter.) If you just connect one RCA cable to one of the inputs for the subwoofer amp, you'll just need to bump up the gain a little to provide sufficient volume.

Also, keep in mind that you'll probably want to get an SPL meter to properly calibrate the sub in relation to your other speakers.

 

[GrahamT]

You dont need it, if you have a sleepy auto on switch the Y splitter seems to help. Also, you apparently get a 3dB signal increase but I have never measured it. Better sound is a result of calibration and location. What kind of sub did you get?

Edit: Wayne beat me to it

 

[Marie]

its a cerwin-vega lw-15
its several years old,, my receiver just bit the dust & I purchased a new one.....(pioneer vsx-D812) & am checking to see if everything is hooked up properly.

btw,, the old receiver...could not get it to stop blowing fuses, had gone into protected mode.. & we just didn't think it was worth it to send it OUT ( we didn't want to mess with finding values etc, as was recommended),, do ya think anyone would be interested in paying *something* for it ( maybe ebay) to mess around with it for parts?? ( Ok can't remember the make....different part of house)