Hey guys. I want to ask a question about subwoofer wiring in a non-5.1 system.

I have an older, Pro-Logic receiver (no "sub out"). And, I am getting a new powered subwoofer. The way I wired this in the past was to run a set of left and right wires from the "B" speaker-level outputs to the left and right speaker-level inputs on the sub. This way, if I didn't want the sub on, I could just turn off the "B" output.

I know that there are several ways to hook up a sub, and I'd like to hear some opinions on the subject. Pros & cons on different options.

Thanks,
Nick

For what it's worth to you: my firstd Kenwood pro logic had no sub out, but came with a separate "block" which had 4 wires - 2 reds 2 blacks which hooked to the L&R mains + to +, - to-, that created a mono output to go to the sub. It eliminated frequencies above 90Hz. Before I got it, I tried the B channel hookup & the sub sounded terrible with it trying to handle the full sound spectrum.
Dougofthenorth

Well, hooking it up that way does work, and shouldn't overlead your receivers amps. But, you still have the problem Doug stated above. Plus you will have some crossover frequencies to muddy up the bass definition also.

I would think that your sub would have a speaker level in and out, thus crossing over the frequencies for you, you would select the crossover point on the subwoofer's amp. Make sure to read the manual to see what the main left and right out's are high passed at...that may help you select your crossover frequency better.

Check this out
[Link: audioholics.com]
Dougofthenorth

Thanks guys,

Oops, I'll try again:

It sounds like I have two good options. Let me try to regurgitate what I have learned:

I could hook the sub up parallell to the fronts like the audioholics site explains, or I could go from the amp to the sub, and from the sub to the fronts like Matt suggests.

If I wire in parallell, then I have to be very accurate when setting the sub crossover point so that I don't have any overlap.

If I use the sub to HPF the fronts, then it will take care of that for me.


I would assume that in either case I would need to set the sub's crossover >= the low end of the bandwidth for the fronts.

Thanks for the help.
-Nick

Go with the sub's speaker level inputs, you'll be happier in the long run. But yes, look and see what your sub's high pass is and your crossover will want to be set near that.