Subwoofer + 2 channel stereo

WizMerlyn

I was led to believe that you can add a subwoofer to a 2 channel stereo.

Without really researching the above, I jumped on a NewEgg clearence sale of the Polk Audio PSW10 subwoofer for $79.

My present systen:
Pioneer SX-3600 stereo reciever
a pair of Polk Audio R-50s
Teac GX-230D reel to reel
My computer sound out is routed to the SX-3600 stereo reciever

2 questions:
1) Have I waisted my money?

2) If not, how do I wire this setup?


Thanks in advance,
WizMerlyn

rooftop59

Welcome to CP!

You will need two pairs of speaker wire. Connect the first pair out of the receiver and into the speaker line inputs on the subwoofer. Connect the second pair from the speaker outs on the subwoofer to the inputs on your speakers. Adjust your crossover to you liking in the sub (I would suggest starting at 80 and adjusting from there), set the volume on the sub to match the speakers, and you should be good to go!

Peace,
Paul

jimbo1421

The PSW10 has speaker level input and output. So, SX-3600 L & R speaker output > PSW10 speaker level input, then PSW10 speaker level output > L & R R-50s. The manual has a diagram labeled "Hookup Option 1" except you would ignore the center and rear connections.

Jim

coldmark

I have a 2-channel Yamaha RX-770 receiver and used the above method to hookup my PSW10 sub and Boston Acoustic CR-8 bookshelf speakers. My Yamaha also has PRE OUT/MAIN IN. Could the PRE OUT be used to hook up the PSW10? By chance if I could hook it up this way, it wouldn't be doing any filtering so I would be sending everything to my bookshelf speakers, correct?

sm88

coldmark wrote: »

I have a 2-channel Yamaha RX-770 receiver and used the above method to hookup my PSW10 sub and Boston Acoustic CR-8 bookshelf speakers. My Yamaha also has PRE OUT/MAIN IN. Could the PRE OUT be used to hook up the PSW10? By chance if I could hook it up this way, it wouldn't be doing any filtering so I would be sending everything to my bookshelf speakers, correct?

It's probably better to cross over your bookshelf speakers, you'll lose quality in the mids if you force feed a 2 way speaker all of the low information. It will try to reproduce it and maybe it can dip low but not as clearly or effectively as a sub woofer. Crossing over will improve your sound quality.

Stick with how it is set up, if you don't feel the boston acoustics are going as low as they should then you can adjust your crossover frequency to a lower point.

coldmark

Thanks sm, you are correct. I did some research and I would need line level outputs on the subwoofer in order to do any filtering that way. This budget PSW10 only has line level inputs (not outputs), so filtering is possible only with this speaker wire hookup option:

receiver ---> subwoofer ---> bookshelf speakers

sm88

Better receivers can crossover before sending the signal, setting your speakers to "Small" crosses them over and sends the lows to the LFE and rest to the speakers, and setting them to "Large" sends a copy of the lows to the LFE and EVERYTHING to the speakers. So even if you have floorstanding speakers that go deep, I set them to small and set the electronic crossover as high as the subwoofer can handle cleanly. 80 to 100 is good in a lot of cases.

But make due with what you can and look to upgrade your speakers before you upgrade your subwoofer. Better mids and highs will do wonders for your overall sound, i'm less noticing of a lack of bass when silky mids and highs are carrying me away

Erik Tracy

For my hybrid rig that has HT bypass - when I listen just 2-channel, naturally, the speakers get full bass and I use the xover on the sub to get better granularity in adjusting the freq cutoff to my sub to blend it in with my fronts.

I think it sounds better that way to me for music - and I sleep well at night cuz there is no scary dangerous LFE to tax my amp and hurt my po' lil bookshelves.

But - that's just me cuz I'm wild and live on the edge.

coldmark

I do have a Denon in my home system that I set exactly as you describe and it sounds great.

The Yamaha/Bostons/PSW10 setup is for my large ice fishing shack and I'm not planning to upgrade it any time soon. I got the whole setup for under $200 but you wouldn't know it by the sound. Those CR-8's are impressive alone with decent bass but adding the sub adds a lot of fullness.

A couple of my fishing partners are musicians so I'm trying to get the best low-budget sound that I can. Thanks!

sm88

My general school of thought is if you're trying to produce the best sound on a certain budget, dump 80% of your budget into two good speakers and then fill in the rest with a decent brand of stereo receiver and a comparable source, used off of clist. Wire it with zip cord, but pay close attention to speaker placement, as how you place your speakers is a free and not so subtle way to improve the sound.

tonyb

Zip cord......those are fighting words around here.:p:)

sm88

tonyb wrote: »

Zip cord......those are fighting words around here.:p:)

I think in terms of "least amount of expense for the most amount of improvement" when speaking along the lines of a budget. I'm not against better cables, but modest systems need only modest accouterments imo

tonyb

sm88 wrote: »

I think in terms of "least amount of expense for the most amount of improvement" when speaking along the lines of a budget. I'm not against better cables, but modest systems need only modest accouterments imo

I can agree to that....but even low budget cables is an improvement over zip cord. But hey man,if thats all you can afford right now,rock on and enjoy.

whgarrett1394

This thread is right where i'm at with my 2 channel set up. I have polk m5jr+ that don't put out enough low end, so I want to hook up my sunfire hrs12 to the system. My sub has no speaker outputs like op. I want to use an active xo. Rane ac 22b. The xo is the last piece to the puzzle. I just picked up my source off craigslist today. Sony c333es. Everything is in its right place.:D