Reliable way to connect the sub woofer for the best results

Crusado

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I bought a sub woofer for my KEF 'egg' satellites which are connected to my Denon amp.
My amp has a sub woofer pre-out.
I researched a bit and found that there are two different ways i can connect my sub woofer

1) connect between amp and front speakers using speaker line level inputs.
2) connect to sub woofer pre-out port of amp and use sub woofer cable.

If someone can suggest which would be a more optimal and reliable way to go ahead to get the best out of sub woofer.
 
Hi,

It all depends on what kind of subwoofer you've purchased.

If it is an active one, it is recommended that it be connected to pre-out/sub-out on the receiver.

If it is a passive one (without it's own amp) then it needs to be connected via speaker terminals after confirming that the impedance matches. In the latter case, the sub-woofer would draw power from the AMP.

In the former case, there is no power drawn from the AMP as the SUB has it's own amplifier.

Hope this helps.

BR,
Rajiv
 
Mine is an active one..

A little confusion here..
If the connection via speaker terminals is for the passive subwoofers then why this option is available in mine ?
 
The line level connections on the sub would help connect a stero amp to drive the sub using the speaker cables. In your case you need to connect the sub out on the avr to the lfe in the sub using the sub cable.
 
Could you post the model of your sub-woofer. As our dear friend mshifi pointed out, it could be for use with stereo amplifiers which do not have a dedicated SUB OUT connection. Please check if those connectors you're referring to say "LINE IN" or " HIGH PASS out".

BR,
Rajiv
 
I am using an old but nice M&K sound vx-7 active subwoofer.
 

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You can do bass management (cut off freq etc) in receiver or sub. If you use a receiver/stereo amp that does not have bass management then you connect speaker outs to sub and set cross over there so that the subwoofer decides what freq to pass on to speakers. On the other hand if your receiver/amp does bass management, it might be more convenient to do it there. Most folks here who use a receiver usually employ the receiver to do the bass management (meaning connect receiver sub-out to subwoofer)
 
You can do bass management (cut off freq etc) in receiver or sub. If you use a receiver/stereo amp that does not have bass management then you connect speaker outs to sub and set cross over there so that the subwoofer decides what freq to pass on to speakers. On the other hand if your receiver/amp does bass management, it might be more convenient to do it there. Most folks here who use a receiver usually employ the receiver to do the bass management (meaning connect receiver sub-out to subwoofer)

Thanks a lot sash for clarifying.
I knew how to connect but was not sure when should i use which connectivity option.. Now i am feeling much educated on this :)
 
Posting just as the info for other newcomers like me, who may struggle for the same:

If you are using a Denon amp and want to connect the sub woofer using speaker level inputs then use the below settings to get the best:

1) Set front as "Large".
2) Sub woofer as "Yes".
3) Set sub woofer mode to "Norm".
4) Adjust the crossover on sub woofer to the lower frequency limit of your front speakers. (eg. My Kef front goes down till 80Hz so my sub woofer is set to 80Hz).

I am happy now as now i am getting the missing lows :)
M&K sub woofer rocks. It doesn't give me thump in my chest but it gives me tight, fast and powerful punch. :)
 
Thanks Amrendra..

Just one doubt.. I am using speaker level inputs, so if i set the front channel to Small then it will not receive low frequencies from the amplifier i guess, then how my subwoofer will give me the best result as it is connected to front channel !!!!
 
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
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