Question about connecting Non Powered Polk Sub to Digital Sony Receiver

tscutty

Hey all,

I am kinda a newb on the older receiver setups with a non powered sub. I am connecting a Polk Audio Rm1000w Non Powered Sub to a Sony Digital Receiver correctly. I have it connected but i feel like it may be wrong, as I feel it should be more powerful than it is now. Maybe its connected wrong or just the settings in the receiver are wrong or maybe its right and its not as good as i think it should be, Ha.

The unit sounds great, don't get me wrong, I hear the ambiance and the left and rights and all the nuances in moves around me, its more the sub and bass I feel should be better. I have to crank it and then the satellites start humming or crackling a little cause i have to turn it up so loud. I feel like the bass should be coming from the sub mostly and the highs from the satellites.

The sub is kinda low (no power knob on it) but its all the way up on the reciever and I have to crank the stereo up to hear the rumble, I feel like with the size of this and the receiver, it should be pretty rocking bass-wise.

So here is my current setup.

Receiver:
Sony STRDE998
6 Speakers connected - 2 fronts, 2 satellite rears and 2 more satellites near the side behind a couch.

Sub
Polk Audio RM 1000w

So I have the 2 fronts set to the FRONT A's
I actually have the Sub set to the FRONT B's (since the sub only has speaker wire inputs - this could be wrong)
The 2 side satellites are connected to the Surround R and L

Should the sub not be connected to the Front B's? Should I make the REARS the FRONT B's and then the sub connected to the surrounds? I have also read the surround should connect directly to the sub itself??

Or should I be using the center for the sub? For this though there is only 1 L and R on the receiver and the sub has 2 L and R ..

Any help would be appreciated. I was almost ready to go out and spend the money on a new bluetooth 5.1 soundbar and all that but I feel like this should get me close to that sound anyway with this setup and wanted to check before i spend more money.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Welcome to Polk's forum. You'll want to run another pair of speaker wires from the receiver's front speaker connections to the corresponding right and left speaker level inputs on the woofer.
Think of it as another pair of speakers that want the same audio signal as the front speakers.
Regards, Ken

tscutty

Right now the sub is connected to the front Bs.... Are you saying to do that or to run 2 sets of speaker wire going out of the Front A's? One going to the Actual Fronts and then One going to the woofer instead of using the Front Bs for the woofer? I've never heard of that.

Then that would free up the Front B's?

Or am misunderstanding this?

[Deleted User]

Either connection method is fine, the audio signal goes two places at the same time. If you've connected using the B speaker terminals, that's fine, no need to change.

tscutty

Thanks. That's how it's currently connected. So there's may be no change then. Hmmm. Maybe I just need a new sub or maybe that's just the way it is...

Nightfall

The bass you're looking for isn't going to come from two 6.5" drivers. Though I'm sure you're getting deep musical bass it's not going to slam you in the chest.

tonyb

Aside from the fact that this particular sub isn't really meant for this application, check your receiver settings. The speakers need to be set to large in this type of setup to get the full bass going to the sub. The problem is using speaker A and B will send a full range signal to all the speakers, even the small sats. Also in the receivers settings, make sure the subwoofer is set to no or none. That setting is only for the dedicated subwoofer output on the receiver which you are not using.

In reality, it may be time for a new subwoofer. You can usually pick up a used Polk 505 for around 100 bucks. Even that would be head and shoulders better than what you have now.

tscutty

Thank you all for the help. I will check these settings and mess with it or maybe look into a new sub.

tscutty

This did end up working. I went into the settings and saw a 6.1 setup. Switched it to that. The settings were large and sub off and it sound a lot better. The satellites are no longer clipping at high volume and the sub sound as little better. I appreciate everyone's input thanks! I'll keep this for now. Save me a few hundred dollars.