It always depends on the particular brand and model you buy. The good news is that in stereo mode, both new and old receivers & amps have very similar subwoofer behavior when connected as you’ve seen here. Next, use either the receiver’s remote control or its front panel control buttons to select the Direct Multi Channel In Playback mode. Setting these levels incorrectly could lead to distortion and damaged amps. Just like an off-the-shelf line level RCA converter I mentioned earlier, the subwoofer’s internal electronics will scale down the speaker signals to a much lower line level signal the internal amp can use. Older amplifiers and receivers don’t provide a subwoofer output so we’ll need to connect a subwoofer by other ways. Thank you for some of the best technical writing I have seen in a long time. Can I Use an OLED TV for Bright Room Viewing? For example: • You have a passive (non-powered) subwoofer, correct? :). In fact, it you don’t have to worry about going broke, either, although you will need to do a bit of shopping. Copyright © 2017-2020 SoundCertified.com. I have a sub from a 2.1 system. I recently bought an amp and speakers as an upgrade. Otherwise, the sound filtering is radically different and won’t sound right since the speaker load will change how the crossover filters the sound quite a lot. The amp or receiver should still see an 8 ohm load (or whatever ohm rating your speakers are. A passive subwoofer low-pass crossover, unlike an electronic crossover, works using capacitors and inductor coils instead of electronic components to filter out the unwanted higher-frequency sound that would otherwise go to the subwoofer. For non-powered subwoofers the problem comes when you connect one to an amplifier or receiver’s outputs without a crossover – it sounds terrible! Surround sound receivers and amplifiers are designed so that you can play nearly all the sound through the main speakers if needed. Powered subwoofers have an internal amplifier and one or more signal input options: speaker inputs, RCA input(s), and in some cases, digital audio inputs. Thank you so much for this great article. My though was to get a female to 2 male splitter then a line out convertor then hooking it to the speaker ports…but then theres no volume control. Example #1 in the diagram shows that (although you don’t have to have L & R speaker inputs – you can use a single speaker channel), Dear Marty, I own an older Marantz with no dedicated sub out, but it has a preamp out, to connect a power amplifier. Working with tweeters that are too bright? In fact, some of the information you’ll find right now on the internet says that you have to buy another subwoofer if you don’t have a receiver with an output jack. (An elegant solution would to buy a separate multichannel power amp to pair with the pre-pro.). They also have to be matched correctly to the impedance (Ohms rating) of the sub. All Rights Reserved. That’s simply not true. You can still expect very nice sound quality as the signal used is just divided down and isn’t changed. It may be helpful to send me the model numbers of the amp/receiver and the subwoofer so I can see what you’re dealing with. So the receiver is non Atmos compliant. Even if you buy (or already own) a subwoofer without speaker level inputs, it’s ok – there’s another way to basically connect it essentially the same way! It works great. No, in nearly all cases it shouldn’t have any effect. Not only have I worked for years as a professional installer, but also as a degreed engineer I've designed & built audio electronics as a hobby. According to Pioneer’s manual for the VSX-49TXi, this will provide “a true playback of the signal from the MULTI CH INPUT … —Rick Jennings, Hollister, CA, A It’s not the most elegant solution, but yes, you can. Feel free to contact me here via my Contact page. They’re designed for only low-end bass and not voice or other musical instrument frequencies. The great news is that there are several ways to connect a subwoofer to an old amplifier or vintage receiver. And is there anyway of rectifying this? Line level converters (also called RCA speaker level adapters) are small electronic devices that connect to speaker outputs from an amp or receiver and scale down the higher-voltage signal to a low level (“line level”). When it comes time to add some great low-end bass you might be scratching your head wondering how – and if – you can add a subwoofer. If your subwoofer has a single RCA subwoofer input jack, you may want to pick up a “Y” RCA adapter to combine both receiver channels on the output side into a single mono RCA plug. Read on and I’ll share with you 3 ways to connect a subwoofer along with clear subwoofer diagrams anyone can understand. ( as opposed to connecting the Left speaker in parallel to he sub?) Thanks in advance! Normally you’d choose one with a low-pass frequency of close to 100Hz or close to that. Unlike older amplifiers, more modern home stereos and especially home theater receivers have a subwoofer output jack (or pair of jacks) dedicated to this bass signal a subwoofer uses to create sound. Got a vintage amplifier or receiver? (Fc360 Microlabs) I have no idea whether its SVC or DVC. Left: Example of a powered subwoofer with 2, instead of the typical 1, RCA input jacks. Note that not all subwoofers offer speaker level inputs, meaning if yours doesn’t have them it’s a bit harder to connect the bass signal input. Need direct help? Is This possible? Thank you. Additionally, there’s a low-pass crossover built-in as well to produce great-sounding bass and no unpleasant parts of the music – just pure, low-end bass. Here’s my guide with. Hi Marty. Those are able to extract the dedicated bass sound from a DVD or other media and route it to the subwoofer output jack. On the other hand, it might not even be a problem. Like many other high-end receivers of its era, the VSX-49TXi has a multichannel analog input designated for hooking up a DVD-Audio or SACD player. Should I Replace My 20-Year-Old Subwoofer? Ok so my Passive sub was part of a 2.1 Laptop setup a while back. It also has a built-in low-pass crossover to block higher sound frequencies in order to produce clear and great-sounding bass only. Next, use either the receiver’s remote control or its front panel control buttons to select the Direct Multi Channel In Playback mode. As the cone moves the air inside of a specially designed enclosure (speaker box) deep bass, contained in the musical input signal, is produced. Should I Use My Subwoofer’s LFE or Line Input Connections? These connect to the RCA input jack on the subwoofer, if present. Hi there, ok if it’s not an active sub then I would test the sub with a test meter or even a 1.5V or 9V battery across the terminals to make sure it’s working. In some cases, for example, some movies and music use the bass channel to really draw you into the experience. how to reduce tweeter volume using an L-pad. Most, but not all, speaker level adapters do not need a power source. Hi Curtis. Should I Use the Coax or HDMI Output On My BD Player for Hi-Res Audio? Even better, it won’t cost a lot, either! Shown here are two examples of line level/RCA speaker level converters: a 2 channel RCA output model and a 4 channel RCA output model. So would it work if say, I take a normal RCA and cut the other end and then split the neg & pos of the RCA, put it in the receiver and the uncut in the sub? Subwoofers with 2 (stereo) RCA jack inputs will need a standard stereo male-male RCA cable. I’m a bit confused as the pic of the FC360 2.1 set I found shows it using RCA connectors & a powered sub from what I can tell. These types are less common. That’s because speaker level inputs are typically “high impedance” (very high resistance, basically) which can be used in parallel with speakers. Hello there. So what if I bought a lower end Onkyo TX-NR737 which is Dolby Atmo's and my Blu-ray player has two HDMI outputs. Prior to doing this, I used Audacity to verify that the receiver puts out signals as low as 10Hz. Can is safely connect an active subwoofer via rca? Speaker crossovers are sold where speaker parts & related components are sold as well as marketplaces like Amazon or Parts Express. I appreciate you visiting my site! You’ll need to use a line level adapter as I showed in the article in order to do that. To use it as a power amp, connect cables from the Marantz pre-pro’s amplifier outputs to the Pioneer receiver’s multichannel analog inputs. In most cases, a subwoofer input jack, if you had one on a receiver, is a “mono” (monaural, 2 stereo channels combined into one) signal you connect with a single RCA cable. Be careful here. Will that affect how my speakers perform? I am was also pondering the dolby atmos scenerio. Or safe? To connect your amplifier or receiver to a non-powered subwoofer as is shown in the diagram above, you’ll need to pick up a low pass crossover that you’ll connect between the amp or receiver and the subwoofer. Just connect them directly to your amplifier or receiver’s speaker outputs, either to unused speaker terminals or at the same time (in parallel) with speakers connected to the receiver.