Can’t choose “Off” or “None” at my receiver

KCWindows

So I’ve got Polk RM 2300’s and a PSW 350 subwoofer. I’m trying to do the “best hook up method” according to the Polk documentation, and wire the front speakers through the sub.

It requires you to choose “off” or “none” for the subwoofer at the receiver (a Sony STR-DN1070), and that is not an option. The only thing I can do is turn it down to 0db.

The speakers are working fine, there’s just nothing coming out of the sub with this method. No sound when I do the calibration test.

I know the sub works, as the other wiring method works.

Is it worth trying to do the “best hook up method”, and if so, any tips on how to make it work?

Thanks in advance!

pitdogg2

Are you running the front main left and right speaker cables directly to the R/L speaker INPUTS on the sub and the OUTPUT directly to the satellite speakers?

KCWindows

The front main left and right speakers are wired into the speaker level output on the sub. And then speaker wires are ran from speaker level input on the sub to the receiver speaker connections.

Like this:

pitdogg2

It requires you to choose “off” or “none” for the subwoofer at the receiver (a Sony STR-DN1070), and that is not an option. The only thing I can do is turn it down to 0db.

This should not have any impact on the subwoofer as you're using the left and right main speakers.
Using it the way you are, it's like you have full range tower speakers. You WILL need to adjust the xo point on the sub to blend with the satellite speakers coming out of the sub.
You will set the L/R speakers in the receiver to LARGE, make sure it is not set to small which will remove most bass below 80hz

KCWindows

Yes, I’ve set them to large.

Emlyn

Is the low pass dial on the back of the PSW350 set all the way up to maximum and the volume control set about half way? If you do that I think everything below around 160Hz from the front left/right speakers is played through the PSW350 subwoofer and is managed by the filter in the subwoofer.

The RM2300 satellites have a -3dB level of between 130Hz and 140Hz.

Since you had the system working before with an LFE cable to the subwoofer like most systems work now, you could just go back to that with all the satellites set to small and live with it that way. If it's possible in your receiver you can set the crossover frequency as high as possible to better match with the satellites rather than using a traditional 80Hz setting. It's possible your receiver only has internal speaker setting logic where sound is output from a subwoofer using the LFE connection when at least some of the other speakers are set to small. I'm not sure about that model though or whether it has the option of selecting a crossover setting above or below 80Hz.

KCWindows

Thank you for your input, Emlyn and pitdogg2. I’m diving into it later today and will update on here.

KCWindows

Ok, I got it working. It was just a tweak of the low pass and the volume of the sub. What threw me off (and still does) is that during the auto calibration and the test tones, the sub doesn’t make a peep when it’s wired this way.

With that being said, I can’t do an auto calibration because it doesn’t get past the subwoofer. Any recommendations on tweaking the settings on the system for optimum performance? Speaker level, crossover frequency, etc.

Thank you!

pitdogg2

Many older receivers were not good in the sub area with auto calibration. You're going to do it the old fashioned way ..... Your ears.

Emlyn

Right. The receiver doesn't see a subwoofer when the system is wired that way and the test tones into the main left and right speakers are not intended to produce sounds necessary to calibrate a subwoofer. Although Polk said the preferred connection method was to use the speaker level inputs when the system was designed that may not be the best way now if there are more crossover frequencies that can be selected in the receiver.