Home Theater Subwoofer hookup - SO frustrated! Help!

[Defiantly]

Hi everyone,

I'm having trouble hooking up an older subwoofer to my new Yamaha 5.1 receiver.

I'm not getting any sound from the subwoofer.

The receiver is set to 'small' speakers, the sub is set to 'use' and the levels are high.

What I don't get is that the receiver has a single RCA out to the sub, yet my subwoofer has a right and left RCA input. So, I'm using an RCA Y adapter at the sub to change the single output to a right/left at the sub.

Still no sound from the sub. I've played with the sub's crossover dial and volume dial while various movies played. No dice.

Any ideas?

I feel like an idiot as I'm normally good at this stuff.

Any help or input is appreciated.

[jerzdawg]

Plug the RCA cable directly into the R on the back of the sub, don't use a splitter. Check the speaker setup in the reciever, you should be able to set the speakers at 80hz and set the sub to 120hz. Also check the back of the sub for any knobs or switches and let me know what's back there

[The Evil Overlord]

You mention the amp has a setting to 'use' a sub

My first guess would be that it's possibly a pre out, so you may need a power amp for the sub (or if the sub has a built in amp, it might not be on)

 

Try hooking the sub to another source to make sure it is working, and maybe the settings are too high? Try a lower setting for the sub, then gain up (just to rule out the cut out)

 

(also are the rest of the speakers working)

[Defiantly]

Plug the RCA cable directly into the R on the back of the sub, don't use a splitter. Check the speaker setup in the reciever, you should be able to set the speakers at 80hz and set the sub to 120hz. Also check the back of the sub for any knobs or switches and let me know what's back there

Hi Jerzdawg,

Ok, I've plugged the RCA directly into the right on the sub.  No dice.   I've also set the the the receiver's crossover at 80hz.  I then slowly rotated both the crossover and volume knobs on the sub while a bluray movie played.  nothing.

 

My sub, an AudioSource branded unit, has an either AUTO or OFF switch.  it also has a phase switch and an knob for crossover and a knob for volume.  It plugs into an outlet.  While playing a movie, the sub "turns on" with a red light above the auto/off toggle switch.

 

The rest of the 5 speakers sound great,(incredible actually) btw.  

You mention the amp has a setting to 'use' a sub

My first guess would be that it's possibly a pre out, so you may need a power amp for the sub (or if the sub has a built in amp, it might not be on)

 

Try hooking the sub to another source to make sure it is working, and maybe the settings are too high? Try a lower setting for the sub, then gain up (just to rule out the cut out)

 

(also are the rest of the speakers working)

It is DEFINITELY a pre out on the receiver.  The sub is powered, as it plugs into my outlet.  

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

A Google search says something along the lines of on your receivers settings you need to change the subs setting from Large To Small and also put it to 80hz.

 

There are a few other things, but try that first.

Found here and here.

 

I did not know the model of your receiver, so perhaps there is more specific information about it. I just did general Yamaha.

[jerzdawg]

Does the sub work during a speaker test or calibration? I'm curious if its a setting or the actual connection.

[HawkMan]

Yeah, do a full set-up on the receiver, if it has the microphone auto setup use that.

 

also after that and tellign the setup what speakers you have/though it should figure it mostly out by itself). make sure the receiver is set to a surround mode(direct if it's from a surround source) or a music or movie mode or 7.1(5.1) channel stereo, for music and other stereo sources, otherwise it might justignore it altogether anyway.  

[Defiantly]

Sigh.  I think the sub is fried.  I did a direct hookup to the audio out on a dvd player and using a music cd in it, got nothing out of the sub.

 

Well, it looks like it's replacement time.

 

Thanks for the help everyone.  Much appreciated.

[Aergan]

You might find the sub is passive to your L and R channels (LFE type) rather than a dedicated sub for the sub channel from the receiver. I used to have a very old Technics sub that worked this way from a 3x Stereo setup (i.e multiple speakers but not 5.1) which I don't use with my Yamaha receiver.

Try plugging it into one of the L & R RCA rear outputs on the receiver? They should have some power, the DVD player probably operates at low power.

[Defiantly]

You might find the sub is passive to your L and R channels (LFE type) rather than a dedicated sub for the sub channel from the receiver. I used to have a very old Technics sub that worked this way from a 3x Stereo setup (i.e multiple speakers but not 5.1) which I don't use with my Yamaha receiver.

Try plugging it into one of the L & R RCA rear outputs on the receiver? They should have some power, the DVD player probably operates at low power.

Hmmm, this is an excellent point.  This sub worked perfectly with the older receiver that I replaced with the Yamaha.

I did try this, but still got no sound.  I'm wondering if the sub is just too old to work with the new unit.

[The Evil Overlord]

Does the sub still work using the old receiver?

Hmmm, this is an excellent point.  This sub worked perfectly with the older receiver that I replaced with the Yamaha.

I did try this, but still got no sound.  I'm wondering if the sub is just too old to work with the new unit.

[sc302 Veteran]

What model sub and what model receiver?  I have had several receivers that have a dedicated sub out, it is a pre amplified source that plugs into the subwoofer.  What you are describing on the back of your subwoofer is that it is looking for a speaker out to plug into from your receiver.  Subwoofers are mono, so there shouldn't be a left and a right unless it is doing some sort of pass through or acting as a in-between between your receiver and the left and right front speakers.

[Top Qat]

I'm into home cinema and run a half decent setup (not rich enough for top end stuff :( )

 

The sub should be set to highest cut-off frequency (the amp does this for you) and sub volume at 50% (adjust level from amp to get correct sound level).

Also, on my setup (Sony STR-DH820) if I set a speaker to 'small' then the low frequency sound will get redirected to speakers set as 'large'.

Check you amp's manual to see if it does this as well.

 

Edit: this is assuming you have a dedicated sub output.

[HawkMan]

What model sub and what model receiver?  I have had several receivers that have a dedicated sub out, it is a pre amplified source that plugs into the subwoofer.  What you are describing on the back of your subwoofer is that it is looking for a speaker out to plug into from your receiver.  Subwoofers are mono, so there shouldn't be a left and a right unless it is doing some sort of pass through or acting as a in-between between your receiver and the left and right front speakers.

 

Some subs do actually have stereo inputs. there's several reasons for this.

 

In the case of my active Dali sub it's two reasons. firstly, they can be used in stereo for extra oomph, and even though subs have very little directional sounds, they do have some and this solves that.

 

Secondly as an active sub, it also has speaker outputs. So I can use the sub to drive two stereo speakers.

 

Most subs today with stereo input should work fine with just the right input and if there's nothign in the left it'll audo set itself to mono mode. Older models (very old by now) might need a splitter to avoid reducing output by half. easy to test, if you get twice as much oomph with a splitter. you use a splitter.

 

 

Also remember active subs generally have a on/off switch, make sure the speaker is on ;)  another thing is if it's a higher end model like my Dali, it might have a cut off protection circuit to avoid blowing the speaker. With the Dali this comes with a one/off switch of it's own along with a red/green led light. if the led is red then the circuit has been triggered and the sub won't give any sound, usually I'd fix this by turning the protection on and off and it resets to green, though I believe it should do it on a timer to. nowadays I ddon't have a problem with this since I don't set my sub to max output because it's stupid :)

 

But as I said, also check the speaker setup on the yamaha, and check the modes so you are sure it actually knows there is a sub and it's actually using it. 

 

What model Yamaha are you actually using ?

[xendrome]

As someone else said your previous sub was not powered, and was powered through the receiver. The new sub needs to be self-powered and plug into the wall to work through your new receiver.

 

<<moved to home theater forum>>

[Defiantly]

The sub in question is an AudioSouce and it is powered, using a plug on my power strip.  There is a switch for either Auto or Off.  It was set to Auto during all of my tests.

The unit did not respond when I used RCA cables directly from a dvd player (as a test).

When the unit is powered up, moving the volume knock produced a slight "crackle"

 

I can't test it using the old receiver, as that died, causing me to replace it with a new Yamaha V375BL unit.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/500w-5-1-ch-a-v-home-theater-receiver/8046066.p?id=1218863731300&skuId=8046066&st=yamaha%20receiver&cp=1&lp=9

.

I believe the sub is fried. Anyway and I ordered a new sub already.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009WBYK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[HawkMan]

if there's a power plug on it, it's an active sub and it should work on all modern receivers with a phono/rca sub out.

 

the switch that says auto/off is likely the cutoff circuit and not on/off for the sub. 

[Lord Method Man]

You don't need a Y splitter, your sub should indicate which of the two RCA jacks to use if using a dedicated subwoofer cable from your receiver. Depending on the model there may be a switch to toggle if you are using stereo input or subwoofer input.

 

On your sub, set the crossover frequency nob as high as it will go and leave it, let your receiver handle the crossover frequency and, like you did, make sure your speakers are set to small.

[Defiantly]

Just as a followup, the new Sub arrived last night.  Plugged in the power and the RCA cable and boom, works.

So, the old sub definitely was fried/broken.

 

But thanks for the input everyone.  Much appreciated.