Dual Subwoofers - Need your expert advice

tortfsr24

Dear List:

I like most of you take pride in knowing more than the average Joe when it comes to home theater. However, I've become mired down concerning proper sub woofer hookup and am hoping you might be able to guide me down the right path.

My system consisits of a Denon AVR-3300 receiver, (4) RT12s (similar to RT800s) all with upgraded trilaminate tweeters, LS f/x surrounds (have you seen the recent ebay listing where they are currently at $465, damn!), CS 350-LS center and lastly (2) cerwin vega 250 watt 15" subs.

I am going to brain storm and list all possible options I can think of. Accordingly, please do not laugh to hard at some of them as they may defy logic.

I currently have the subs hooked up splitting the subwoofer-out on my receiver via a Y-adapter and have my towers set to "large" in the receiver menu. Is this proper, or would I get better results hooking the left sub up to the left main channel pre-out and the right sub to the right main channel pre-out. If I did this, would this interfere with the .1 channel decoding in dolby digital/DTS? Would I then in turn need a 3rd sub for the .1 channel subwoofer output from my receiver. My wife says no.

Further, both of the subs have an external out on the back panel. Should I hook up one via the reciever's subwoofer-out and then run a cable from the 1st subs output to the input of the second? (I think I already know the answer to this option) Of course, in my present set-up, I have both subs volume and crossover settings set identical.

OR.........., would I be better suited to use one sub for the .1 sub channel and use the other one for my surrounds. If so, how?

I do have a pretty large room with tall ceilings, but the one sub was more than ample. I saw the second on sale and couldn't help myself. It looks pretty tough having everything look symetric accross the front of my sound stage. Needless to say, I had to turn the volume settings way down for the bass is more than intense.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Brent

sgtgto

Hi:

The way you have it setup is the way I would do it.

Gary

ntculenuff

i am running 2 subs in my system and had them set up the way you do.. but with both subs crossed over @ the same frequency and same volyumm, there really is no need for 2, you just get a lot more bass..so i changed mine to current configuration:
sub 1 definitive 12" connected to lfe, sub 2 definitive 10" connected to L&R pre out x-over @ 125..
if you have some time and want to play maybe you should try this.
(i looked on the denon site for your rcvr to see how it was set up but its not on there site)

1) connect sub 1 to your lfe for the .1
2) connect your 2nd sub to your mains using the L&R pre outs on your rcvr (if your rcvr has this option) leave your mains connected as they are and leave on the large setting..cross your 2nd sub over a little higher than sub 1

or if you dont have pre outs, even try

1) sub 1 same as above
2) use speaker wire from L&R on rcvr to speaker input on sub 2 and then speaker out on sub 2 to your mains (still set to large on rcvr)
sub 2 x-over higher than sub 1..
you will need to adjust the sub volyumms to your taste as these set ups will change the sound, but with one of these you get a bass drop that will go from your mains to sub 2 to sub 1. since i have done this i have noticed a great improvement..my music and movies are not so boomy more fluid, before my subs were kina overpowering used to have to turn the volume down thru the rcvr on a lot of stuff
just my 2 pennies hope it made sense:)

ntculenuff

when you get a chance click the link and read,this prompted me to chang my second sub. it also shows some diagramsbass management and subwoofer connections

hondaskateboard

Can anyone help me? i just bought 2 brand new Kicker Comp C12s and idk what would be the best size or amp or w/e for it...so any answers??

onthefenceman

tortfsr24 wrote: »

Dear List:

I like most of you take pride in knowing more than the average Joe when it comes to home theater. However, I've become mired down concerning proper sub woofer hookup and am hoping you might be able to guide me down the right path.

My system consisits of a Denon AVR-3300 receiver, (4) RT12s (similar to RT800s) all with upgraded trilaminate tweeters, LS f/x surrounds (have you seen the recent ebay listing where they are currently at $465, damn!), CS 350-LS center and lastly (2) cerwin vega 250 watt 15" subs.

I am going to brain storm and list all possible options I can think of. Accordingly, please do not laugh to hard at some of them as they may defy logic.

I currently have the subs hooked up splitting the subwoofer-out on my receiver via a Y-adapter and have my towers set to "large" in the receiver menu. Is this proper, or would I get better results hooking the left sub up to the left main channel pre-out and the right sub to the right main channel pre-out. If I did this, would this interfere with the .1 channel decoding in dolby digital/DTS? Would I then in turn need a 3rd sub for the .1 channel subwoofer output from my receiver. My wife says no.

Further, both of the subs have an external out on the back panel. Should I hook up one via the reciever's subwoofer-out and then run a cable from the 1st subs output to the input of the second? (I think I already know the answer to this option) Of course, in my present set-up, I have both subs volume and crossover settings set identical.

OR.........., would I be better suited to use one sub for the .1 sub channel and use the other one for my surrounds. If so, how?

I do have a pretty large room with tall ceilings, but the one sub was more than ample. I saw the second on sale and couldn't help myself. It looks pretty tough having everything look symetric accross the front of my sound stage. Needless to say, I had to turn the volume settings way down for the bass is more than intense.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Brent

Brent,

Like another poster mentioned, they way you have run the setup is probably pretty good. Essentially you're using the subs to augment the bass produced by the main speakers below whatever the crossover point @ the sub or the receiver is (whichever is lower).

If the bass is too intense and you find yourself having to level-adjust frequently, it's probably because both the sub and the main speakers are covering a large portion of the bass frequency range. I'd say to try two different options for better results:

1) If there is a built-in crossover in the subs, crank it down as far as it will go (probably 40-50Hz). This means the "overlap" between the speakers and subs will be smaller. I'm not sure where your RT-12s roll-off, but it's probably in the high 30s. Setting your sub crossovers at 40Hz would effectively roll them in where your speakers roll-off.

2) You could also try setting the main speakers to "small." This would mean the subs would cover bass up to wherever your receiver crossover point is. Personally, I would think this option is not as good. CV subs are quite powerful but don't have a strong reputation for accuracy. I'd let them stick to what they do best - subwoofing below 40 or 50 Hz.

You mentioned wiring each sub to the corresponding pre-out. This would also be worth a try, but bear in mind you'll still have the "overlap" issue with the main speakers (see point #1). You should also set the sub to "none" if this is available in your receiver. The only real benefit here is stereo separation at the sub-bass level. This could be beneficial if you're listening to primarily music, and bass-heavy music at that. Home theater primarily is geared to routing bass frequencies to a single source, so benefit on movies would be minimal.

(All IMHO, different perspectives welcome.)

onthefenceman

Whoa, just realized this was a blast from the past...

McLoki

From page 20 of your AVR manual...

* If the subwoofer has sufficient low frequency playback capacity, good sound can be achieved even when “Small” is set for the front, center
and surround speakers.
* For the majority of speaker system configurations, using the SMALL setting for all five main speakers and Subwooofer On with a connected
subwoofer will yield the best results.

Running 4 tower speakers from an AVR that is exactly the advice I would follow. Set all speakers to small, sub to on. (use the "Y" cable like you have from the sub output on your AVR to the LFE input on your subwoofer - turn the crossover on your subwoofer as high as it will allow. adjust the volume on each subwoofer so it is the same and then adjust in your AVR to match the level of bass you like compared to the volume of the rest of your speakers)

That is how mine are adjusted and for my situation it sounds the best that way.

Give it a shot and see if you like it.

Michael

Edit - ok, will leave my response for someone else to benefit from (maybe) but you are correct, this is an old one and I did not notice it either.....

ben62670

The OP hasn't posted since 01-25-2007.