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Troubleshooting Subwoofer and Bookshelf Speaker System (1 Viewer)

Ecclesiastes19

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Brandon Carag
I have a Sony CMT-EX100 bookshelf speaker system I purchased a little over a decade ago. The sounds is very crisp, but it lacks a bit of the low-end. I finally bit the bullet and purchased a powered subwoofer for the system. I've hooked it up and it sounds wonderful when I use the built-in CD player or the radio. However, when I switch the input on the system to auxillary input for my computer speakers, I get no sound from the subwoofer (though I do get sound from the regular speakers). What's even more puzzling is that if I hook up my iPod and try to play it through the system I get the same result.
I'm a bit puzzled why it works fine for my CD player and radio, but it doesn't work for sound I'm piping in from my computer. This is the way it's hooked up:
-I have a 3.5mm to RCA cable running from my computer to the stereo system, and I have a standard RCA cable running from the stereo system to the subwoofer.
In short, I get perfect sound with the subwoofer when I use CD or radio, but no sound from the subwoofer when i use AUX/input.
I've checked to see whether this is perhaps an issue with the EQ on my computer, and i've tried turning the bass way up, but that still has no effect.
Any ideas?
 

schan1269

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Sam
That is because the RCA output in your stereo isn't intended to be used with a subwoofer. It is intended to send CD/Radio out to be recorded. At least that is what it says in your manual.
So, if this sub has "high level"(speaker terminals) run it that way.
And let me guess, you have to control the sub volume independently...
 

Ecclesiastes19

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Correct--the subwoofer is powered not unpowered. The sub does not have speaker terminals--it only has line input and a frequency filter. You could be right about the output being "intended to send CD/Radio out to be recorded". However, on p. 16, the manual says "Listen to the connected optional component".
Am i missing something here?
 

Al.Anderson

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What may be going on is the player is treating the Sony aux in/out as if it were a tape monitor. With that assumption, you couldn't play from, and record to, a tape monitor at the same time, so the Sony just doesn;t allow it. (Old receiver tape monitor connections had the same functionality; they didn't output from the tape monitor when the input was set to tape.) That's a stretch of a rationale, I know. The other option is it's broken.
But Sam's suggestion works fine, most subs also accept a speaker level input (high, as opposed to the line level you're currently trying to use). If your sub does this, just connect the Sony's *speaker* outputs to the sub's high level input, and then connect the Sony speakers to the sub's speaker output.
What sub do you have by the way?
 

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