I have an early model Yamaha pro-logic receiver which doesn't have a separate subwoofer output. Can I connect to the "B" speaker outputs or do I have to run my main speakers through the subwoofer?

Pretty good idea, you can do i either, so long as you have the sub in the same room as your mains. Just remember to run both A and B at the same time. I think im going to try that to increase bass performance. Now i just have to buy a passive sub.

Radio Shack used to sell a passive subwoofer that you simply connected in between your amp and left/right front speakers. The sub takes the left and right from the amp, filters out the bass frequencies to play, then sends the rest on to the other speakers. I've got two. They Work GREAT! You avoid stressing your left/right speakers with too much bass and can use smaller (higher range) speakers for this reason.

Dave

Alan,

Set your main speakers to large and route the signal to the subwoofer. Then you can set the subs crossover at whatever works best for your main speakers. I would NOT use the "B" speaker setting for this.

Neither would I !

Bill,
Excuse my ignorance--I'm new to this--what does it mean to set my main speakers to "large"? Do I wire the sub directly to the receiver outputs and then wire the main speakers to the sub? Thanks for your help.

You can set your main speakers to large,normal, or small depending on your recevier. Then wire your sub in between your two main, When he says crossover. It means lok on the back of your sub where you will find some knobs one of which will sa phase and set that to 0 degrees flat response for music and 180 degrees for movies.

Good luck.

Homiez:

Phase is definitely not what I meant.

Alan:

In the setup menu on your receiver you should have the option of setting your main speakers and center channel speaker to "large" or "small". By setting the center channel speaker to "small" the LFE (bass) for the center channel is sent to the subwoofer. Select large for your L/R main speakers. You'll then run speaker wire from the speaker outputs on the receiver to the speaker inputs on the subwoofer. Then run speaker wire from the speaker level outputs on the subwoofer to the appropriate L/R main speaker.

Phase Inversion and Crossover are two different things. Optimally, to set the crossover you will need to know the ferquency response of your main speakers. Say they have solid response down to 70hz. You'll then set the crossover on your sub to 70hz. All information at or below 70hz will be played by the sub and information above 70hz will go to your L/R main speakers. This way the subwoofer only produces bass below 70hz and the main speakers don't have to strain to try to reproduce information that they can't handle. The main speakers operate with less stress and your have a more coherent soundfield.

IF your subwoofer has a phase switch you may want to change it if the bass seems nonexistent or boomy. Inverting the phase can help in this situation. Experiment with placement of your subwoofer also. The easiest way to place the sub is to put it in your listening position (literally put it in the seat that you sit in!) and walk around the room until you find the place with the strongest, tightest bass. That's where you want to put the sub.

When setting the volume level on your sub I recommend staying at the 50% mark or less. You don't want to overdrive the sub. If you crank up the volume you'll just create more distortion and you may damage your sub.

I hope this helped. Feel free to e-mail me if you have additional questions.

Regards,

Bill Lucas

Alan:

I believe Yamaha uses a fixed crossover point of 100hz. To avoid cascading crossovers (we'll save that one for later) I would set the crossover on the subwoofer to 100hz regardless of the frequency response of your L/R main speakers.

Regards,

Bill Lucas

I think the confusion is that most of these guys seem to think you have a newer digital receiver. Your original Post mentions that you have an older Yamaha ProLogic receiver. There is no setting for Large or Small for you main speakers. Disregard this advice. Bottom line is if you have an active sub(meaning it has its own amp) you will need to make sure it has speaker level inputs. If so, I would suggest going from your 'A' speaker connection, to the sub in, and then out to your main speakers. In many cases the speaker level outputs from the sub are crossed over, cutting out all info below 100hz or so. This will help your mains operate more efficiently (especially if they have small bass drivers). It is best not to use your 'B' speakers as this will generally place a heavier load on your amplifier.

Hope this helps...

n-vision,
Your advice hit the nail on the head! Thanks.

No sweat...glad to help

n-vision,

I did tell him how to correctly make the connections. BTW, Yamaha uses a 90hz crossover. :)