Which is the best way to wire a sub?

[ss7380]

I have heard several different answers to this question, but thought I would run it by you guys as you seem more knowledgeable than most. Which wiring method offers the tightest bass output? Using the subwoofer out on the receiver or wiring the speakers through the sub.

Thanks.

[Ray Garrison]

The answer depends on which sub, and which speakers.

With my system, for example, which consists of La Scala speakers and an REL Storm sub, I run the La Scalas full range, and run the sub in parallel, wiring the speaker level inputs to the sub to the same pair of binding posts the speakers are connected to.

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Music is art

Audio is engineering

[Colin]

Which one is best probably depends a lot of your speakers. The subwoofer out on the receiver is a signal limited to the bass regions. The speaker out on the sub-woofer is a signal limited to the upper regions. Which one is better will depend, no doubt, on the speakers.

The output jacks on my two Klipsch subs are not full frequency lines out. They only send a limited signal (above either 40 or 80 Hz on the one, above 50 or 100 Hz on the other) to the speaker on the line out. So the "fit" with your mains or rears depends a lot on the frequency response of your speakers. You are sending less bass to the speakers when you use the line out. How well your speakers reach down to 100, 80, 50 or 40 Hz, will determine how well your sub fits in with the speakers' sound when the line output jacks are used. Monitor and bookshelf models are easily supplemented with the line outs from subs. They do not have the middle and low bass to compete with the sub's bass, so they do not suffer from a limited bass signal.

The EQ setting on the subs will also make a difference. When I originally played around with the subs sending the limited signal to my big old horns, I did not like the "slowness" of the sound. It seemed to be less dynamic somehow. But I am still playing with the connections, looking for the most bass and yet the flattest response. Mine are currently set up with the subs and the mains both getting the full signal from the pre-amp, but I am still playing with the optimal set-up, since I would like to reduce the woofer impedance from the tube amplifier load. The EQ and volume knobs are used to dial them in behind the Cornwalls for flat response. A guilty twist on the volume boosts output for action movies.

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Cornwalls & Klipsch subs; leather couch & feet up; lights out & tubes glowing!

[Stu Pidass]

I currently have my PW2200 wired both ways. I use a simple sub out from my amp for home theatre with all speakers set to small and sub "Yes".

When I want to listen to music, I plug in the speaker wires (banana plugs) which are wired directly to the same binding posts as my Cornwalls. A quick adjustment of the crossover and sub volume (premarked) and Vuala.

I never even tried the outs from the sub to my Cornwalls because Paradigm's out crossover is set at 120 hz and it's not adjustable. Perhaps good for sattelite speakers but certainly way too high for Cornwalls.

Experiment and see what sounds best for your particular setup and don't overlook the importance of speaker placement. Move that sub around and also move your mains. Try corners (if possible) then in towards the center of the room. Then against the back wall and out in the middle of the room (3 to 6 feet). It takes time but it's the only way to get it tweeked to your accoustic environment.

[montigue]

HUH? So say you have Klipsch Kg 5.2 floor speakers and you have say an SVS 16-30 what would be the best hook up?

This message has been edited by montigue on 11-06-2001 at 02:51 PM