Help with Speaker Level Inputs

[dougdrake]

Hi - This is not a Klipsch subwoofer question but I need the help of the trusted souls on this board. I have an old Mirage subwoofer that does not have an owner's manual (bought it cheap as part of another bunch of speakers). Here's the scenario:

Denon 1601

Klipsch Quintets

Mirage Sub

The Mirage sub has speaker level inputs (with no outputs) and line level in/out. It also has a low-pass filter that goes up to 150hz.

The Quintets are only rated down to 100hz. When set to small, freqs below 80hz will be sent to the sub out on the Denon.

How can I best hook these up so I don't lose the range between the bottom of the Quints (100hz) and where the Denon cuts off (80hz)? If I hook the sub and the Quints via speaker level, I'd have to set the fronts to large which would put too much low-end strain on the Quints. Since there is no speaker level output on the sub I can't use the sub's x-over (and a low-pass filter isn't really a crossover, right?).

Color me perplexed! TIA -

Doug

[BLOOMIS914]

Doug, I own the Quintets with the KSW-100 sub. Here's what I would do if I were you....First I would set all of your speakers to large, I would do this so you would be utilizing the internal crossover in the Quintets....I thought they only played down to 120hz but if you say 100 that's fine. This will allow you to get the max available freq. range out of the Quintets.

Now the sub:

Option 1: Run speaker level inputs in parallel from your Denon 1601 to the sub spkr inputs R & L. Translation; run a second set of speaker wires from your mains to the sub.....This will not hurt anything as long as it is a powered sub....it will only be drawing minimal current/signal.

Option 2: Run sub out cable from denon to Y-splitter and then to R and L RCA inputs on sub.

Experiment with each and maybe even try both together (I am running my Quintets with Monster cable with y-splitter AND using Speaker level inputs) for whatever reason having both hooked up at the same time works best.

Good luck and be sure to post results for all of us, as sub hookup options are about as confusing as it gets.

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My main Klipsch system:

KLF-30's Bi-wired

KLF-C7

KSP-S6's

KSW-15 Front Sub

KSW-100 Rear Sub

Monster cable 14 gauge in-wall cable

Niles wall plates

Marantz SR-8000

Toshiba SD-4205 5 DVD changer

Pioneer PDF-1007 301-CD changer

Mitsubishi 35"

Mitsubishi VCR

Pioneer VSX-608 Multi-room amp for Outdoor deck

Polk All-weather AW2's deck speakers

Niles in-wall volume controls

Fridge full of beer and plenty of Don Julio, Jagermeister and Jim Beam

[BLOOMIS914]

Doug- PS, then set crossover and volume on Mirage sub to taste.

------------------

My main Klipsch system:

KLF-30's Bi-wired

KLF-C7

KSP-S6's

KSW-15 Front Sub

KSW-100 Rear Sub

Monster cable 14 gauge in-wall cable

Niles wall plates

Marantz SR-8000

Toshiba SD-4205 5 DVD changer

Pioneer PDF-1007 301-CD changer

Mitsubishi 35"

Mitsubishi VCR

Pioneer VSX-608 Multi-room amp for Outdoor deck

Polk All-weather AW2's deck speakers

Niles in-wall volume controls

Fridge full of beer and plenty of Don Julio, Jagermeister and Jim Beam

[dougdrake]

Thanks for the reply! I think the Quint center goes to 120 hz, and the satellites go to 100hz.

I could be wrong, but I figured that setting all the speakers to large (or the fronts at least) would cause the Quints to struggle with the freq's below 100hz. Is there actually a crossover in there that will act as a filter to stop anything below 100hz from going to the speakers? PhilH? BobG? I am concerned about them getting muddy from trying to handle the bass.

If my sub had a speaker level output and a crossover (rather than a low-pass filter), I guess this would all be moot. However, since it doesn't, I'm perplexed. Might have to find a different sub.

Doug

P. S. These are for an upcoming birthday gift for my Dad (don't tell him!!), and I'm trying to work the kinks out ahead of time.

[Guest BobG]

dougdrake,

The Quintets do indeed have built in high-pass filtering. Thus, you can set your receiver to "speakers large" for all five channels. The filter is not extremely steep in slope so if you feed humungous quantities of 80 Hz bass, the midbass drivers in the satellites may strain momentarily. Probably not how you father will use them...then again, big fun music listening may run in the dougdrake family. If so, great.

Now, to hook up the system. You can run a variety of ways including running the front L&R speaker level into the sub and connecting the satellites in parallel at the sub if that is more convenient than running the leads all the way back to the amp.

Set bass management to route bass from the center and rears to the front main speakers. This way, the sub will deliver all the bass content in the signal.

[dougdrake]

A debt of gratitude to B & B! I just took a look at the owner's manual and indeed it does say there is a high-pass filter in the Quints. Very cool! (Don't you just hate it when people don't read the manual?)

Thanks for the confirmation on wiring the speakers in parallel at the sub, Bob. There IS a diagram on the back of the Mirage sub which depicts the speakers and the speaker-level connections from the receiver both going into the speaker level connection on the sub, but I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do.

This message has been edited by dougdrake on 05-29-2001 at 07:12 PM