two pre-outs required for Yamaha sub? (1 Viewer)

[Jamie*M]

Hello.

I recently purchased a powered Yamaha sub (YST-SW015) for my Kenwood VR-309 receiver. The receiver is a few years old, but has all the connections for surround sound, including a pre-out for the sub. However, in the Yamaha manual, it says if the receiver has less than two sets of pre-outs, don't plug it in there. I"m a bit confused by this, can anyone tell me why one pre-out would be a problem?

Help is appreciated!

 

[ScottCHI]

the manual says:

i don't know why it says this exactly. maybe someone else can answer that.

but it's talking about pairs of PRE-OUTS. and it doesn't apply to you anyway because you're going to use the receiver's mono SUB-OUT, and a single cable to the sub's L/Mono input, right?

 

[Jamie*M]

well the designated out from the receiver just says "pre out" and yes, I'm going mono to the sub. I'll look again, but I don't think there's anywhere else to plug the sub in.

edit: whoops you already quoted the manual. sorry.

i'm new to surround sound, so i apoligize if this is something obvious i'm missing.

 

[ScottCHI]

no, you're not missing anything. the manual is probably like most. vague and confusing.

you're going to connect the sub the way that's described at the top left of pg. E-4, not the top right of that page.

your receiver's single PRE-OUT is also labelled SUBWOOFER, is it not?

so, provided you plan to use the receiver to manage your bass (and i assume you do), you just need to connect a single rca cable from the receiver's SUBWOOFER PRE-OUT to the subwoofer's L/MONO INPUT, as pictured in the manual. the subwoofer pre-out is labelled "SUBWOOFER (LOW PASS)" in the manual's diagram, btw.

 

[Jamie*M]

I'll have to double check the receiver when I get home, not sure if it's labelled subwoofer or not. The diagram in the Kenwood online manual says it is, so that's something.

Thanks for your help on this, the vague wording really threw me.

 

[John Garcia]

Use a Y splitter. Some subs need a certain amount of input voltate to remain on during times when there is not a lot of bass activity.

 

[ScottCHI]

:frowning:

please. that is NOT AT ALL what he is asking about.

i took the time to read his entire post and download both the manuals for his receiver and his sub and i know EXACTLY what he is asking about.

please, let's not confuse things for him. you gave an answer to a question that he didn't even ask.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I agree, Scott, but it’s actually not a bad suggestion.

The Yamaha sub may be the rare one that doesn’t internally sum the inputs – i.e., true stereo, perhaps with a DVC driver. If that's the case, it wouldn’t be a problem feeding it a split mono signal.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[ScottCHI]

rtfm



the sub has L+R inputs with the L one clearly also labelled Mono. the manual clearly shows either a single cable run from a receiver/pre/pro's SUB-OUT to the L/MONO input of the sub or a 2-channel cable run from a receiver/pre/pro's L+R pre-outs to the L+R inputs of the sub.

BUT, his kenwood labels the SINGLE mono sub-out as subwoofer "PRE-OUT". AND the yamaha manual has the statement that if you have only one set of PRE-OUTs, to NOT connect the sub to them (why, i still don't know?). hence, the confusion.

the Y-splitter is a whole other question that can be addressed separately if jamie wishes to pursue it. but it has no bearing on what he was initially asking about. if anything, it potentially confuses the question.

 

[John Garcia]

That's pretty much what I was getting at, some subs require the use of both inputs for exactly the reason Wayne mentions, and it is the only reason why I mentioned a Y. I knew what he was talking about because some older Yamaha receivers had stereo sub pre-outs, thus some of their subs were also setup to utilize this functionality.

 

[ScottCHI]

don't mind me. i'm just crabby.