Best way to setup my sub for 2 ch and movies at the same time...?

michael_w

What would be the best and safest way to setup my new diy atlas 15 sub? I would like to hook it up to my nad c352 integrated amplifier for 2 ch and my panasonic sahe-75 for movies. Is there a safe way to hook it up to both or do I either have to take a risk and make sure that only my nad or panny is on at one time or just have it hooked up to one system?

While I'm on this topic I was curious about this plate amp. It didn't come with a manual and I'm still a newbie when it comes to half decent gear like this. The plate amp has a low level output. Does this mean that I can unhook the jumper on my integrated amp, run the main preout (instead of the second preout that I've been using) to the sub low level in and then from the low level out to the main in on my integrated amp and it will filter out whatever I set the xover at my sub? I was hoping this would act as a receiver setting a speaker to small and clearing up the midrange a little but would adding another crossover and 6 feet of cables degrade the sound to the point of not being worth it?

Thanks,
Michael

Heres a pic of the connections available...

unc2701

Is there a switch for high pass on/off?

michael_w

Nope... only connections on the plate amp are in that picture...

unc2701

ok, odds are that line out on the sub is totally unfiltered. Some plate amps have a high pass filter- usually set at 80hz- that you can switch on & off, but I don't think that they would put a line out jack on there that's always filtered. You can verify this by opening up the amp- the line in is probably soldered straight to the line out.

As for the best way to hook it up:
Use the speaker level inputs to hook it up to one source, then connect an RCA cable (not attached to anything else) to the low level input. If the amp stops playing when you hook up the RCA, you'll have to go to plan B (see below); if it doesn't, then use the high level inputs for one source and the low levels for the other. Try not to have them playing at the same time.

Plan B:
hook the up one source to the left input and the other source to the right. If your sources don't have a sub output, you'll have to live with only the Left or Right channel bass playing through the sub (but usually the bass is the same left vs right).

michael_w

OK I'll try plan A but first need to get some more speaker wire to match the fronts in my 2 ch system. I'll run my 2 ch system through the high level and my ht system through the low levels.

I can't really tell from the picture I have of the back of the amp looking at the bottom of the circuit board if it runs directly to the output or not. It would be quite the **** to drag the 100+lb sub out of the corner after moving everthing and pulling the plate amp. I think I'll give Bob from CSS (where I bought the amplifier) and maybe he'll know if the output is filtered.

I just had a thought that it might be unfiltered so that you could daisy-chain subs and have them crossed over at different frequencies. The filtering of the output on the low level doesn't really matter if I don't use the low level inputs for my 2 ch... the whole idea of using the low level output was to filter out low stuff to help my LSI7's, but still good to know for the future.

fyi the crossover control and gain is in a seperate little thing that I have mounted on the front of the sub.

Thanks for the info and help

michael_w

Well I got some more speaker wire and tried out the high level inputs. I ran my 2 ch system through the high level inputs and my ht system through the low level input... not exactly the result I was hoping for. It has no problems hooking up both systems but it does not filter out the low frequencies for my 2 ch system. I tested it by fiddling with the crossover and even tried putting it to max (170 hz) turning the sub down to nothing and running a thx optimizer sub crossover test that runs a tone from like 200 hz down to watch the blending. I could still hear low bass coming out of my lsi7's even near the end of that cycle that I know are far below 170 hz.... It's not a huge deal that they run full range I'm just a little dissapointed that I don't have the option to cross them over anymore.

Thanks for all your help,

Michael

Polkitup2

What I do to use my SVS sub with my NAD 370 and HT AVR is use a simple A/B switch from radio shack. Run the pre-out on the NAD and your LFE out on your AVR to the A/B switch using some RCA to coax adapters and run a single coax to the the line level input on the sub. You will want to use the sub's crossover for two channel stereo. I have a crossover disable I set on my sub when listening to multi-channel.

VR3

Keep it out of the corner. Fastest "musical" tweak you can do for a sub... If your subs a monster, it wont hurt it in output much to move it out of a corner.

michael_w

I'm not really sure I want to throw questionable quality radio shack components into my rig.... but thanks for the suggestion I'll keep it in mind.

I'd love to move it out of the corner but if you saw my room you'd quickly realize that there is no way I can get it out of the corner unless I get rid of my tv or put it on top of the sub. Try to picture it in your mind... eight foot wide room

*moving from left to right*

8" space to climb up on top of my bed then
14" wide Monitor 7Bs with LSI7s on top
20" wide marble componnent rack
20" wide tv and stand
24" wide sub
14" wide Monitor 7Bs with LSI7s on top
6.5" from bedpost to wall

(yes things arn't exactly side by side since it equals more than 8 feet)

Kind of like the picture but with the tv stand 90 degrees so that I can fit the sub in that little corner on the right where the boxes are. Also the Athenas got moved to surround duty and the LSI7s are sitting on top of the Monitor 7s. Still don't have the damn camera yet.... it would make this much easier

Yes I did try the sub when it was on its back firing upwards and in the very middle of my room and it still shook the room with ease but I simply have no where else to put it.

michael_w

You have me curious now.... Wondering what it would look like with the tv on top of the sub and if it will fit. Might come across some shielding problems but it sits about 2 feet from my tv now with no problems. I'm going to start measuring to see if it will fit under my bed and where I would put my center.

Edit: I had an idea as to getting it out of the corner... put my tv stand back to its normal front facing position and bring my tv about 8" closer to me then roll the sub in behind. I would like to move my componnent rack as close to the middle as possible but having ht in the loop it just won't work. (plus if I have to move it I have to take everything off the rack and disassemble it because it's 25 lbs a shelf )

michael_w

Ok yesterday night I managed to move everything around and brought my tv foward about half a foot and slid the sub in behind it. The whole thing makes my small room look even smaller by a bit but I can deal with that since it sound a lot tighter and any boomyness is gone now. Much less rattle from stuff leaning up against the wall it was snuggled up against before and bit better for my brother as the head of his bed was about a foot from the wall that the sub used to be on .(in the adjacent room) The only other disadvantage to the move is that I can't see the volume and crossover knobs without climbing back there... but that's not a huge deal since the remote for it still works

Thanks for the idea.

btw I am so glad that I put the sub on casters because it would have been quite the challange to move the 100+ lb beast into where it is now. (sadly it weighs almost as much as me )

VR3

Cool. Corners suck...its only good for HT...