Connecting A Sub - Help Needed!

EliBrooks

EliBrooks

Audiophyte
Hey there everyone. I recently picked up a new LG home theater system due to my previous one being from the mid 90's and not having an optical audio input. Only problem is, I can't figure out a way to connect my previous subwoofer to this new system. The new system has come with an interestingly tiny subwoofer that connects to the BluRay player via an odd orange adapter of sorts. All other speakers connect just as my past system did, you insert the positive and negative cables and you're good to go. My old subwoofer connects the same way.

So, I was wondering, is there any adapter out there that I could buy that can allow me to place the positive and negative cables into it and attach it to my LG system?

The model number for my system is the LG BH6730S and I'm attempting to connect my ONKYO SKW-50 to it.

Here is a picture of the input area for the subwoofer on the receiver:

1459970_10202760823523703_1501488101_n.jpg
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Welcome to the forum!

While it has that orange adapter on the end of the cable, the LG subwoofer is being powered by the LG receiver just like the other speakers. The speakers attach with two wires (positive and negative), and that's also true for the sub - it just happens to have a connector on one end instead of bare wires.

The good news is that your Onkyo sub can accept speaker-level inputs for the signal. I believe that you'll want to cut the wire running to the LG sub and use it to connect your Onkyo sub (keep in mind that splicing cables together is easy, so you won't be permanently damaging anything). The connector end will still plug into the LG receiver, and the now-exposed two bare wire end (from the end that you cut, and you'll strip the two strands to expose the wire) will connect to the Onkyo. You would set the "Frequency" dial on the Onkyo to the highest level (200 Hz) so that it won't filter the frequencies because the LG receiver is already doing that. The piece that I'm not sure of is how to connect that single speaker cable to the Onkyo, which uses two (left and right) speaker level inputs. I believe that you'd only need to connect to either the left or the right because all of the bass management is being done by the LG receiver, but hopefully someone else here can chime in to verify.

A possible alternate approach is to not use that subwoofer output jack at all, but rather run the front left/right speaker cables from the LG receiver to the Onkyo subs speaker-level inputs, and then run speaker wires from the Onkyo speaker-level outputs to the front left/right speakers. I say "possible" because I don't think that you can change the crossover settings for the speakers in the LG system, which means that approach wouldn't work - but I put it here in case I missed that setting in the manual.

For other members here, this is an image of the LG sub with attached cable.

 
EliBrooks

EliBrooks

Audiophyte
Wow, thanks for the response! That was very thorough. It worked perfectly, I've got the ONKYO sub connected now using the method you suggested and it's working flawlessly. Thanks a lot.
 
D

dthomp16

Audiophyte
Since OP has had his question answered, I am going to piggy back on this thread. I have the same HTib - LG BH6730S. However, I have a Yamaha RX 375 Receiver. I want to be able to hook my TV, Xbox and Blu Ray to the AVR and have it all play through the surround sound. I beleive I have seen enough to confirm the speakers will all hook up to the AVR with no problem. The problem I have is with the Subwoofer. The LG subwoofer is a passive sub, but the AVR only has a Pre Amp Out. My understanding is that I need to modify the connector from the sub and buy a small amp for it. Then just hook the Pre Amp Out to the amp with the sub connected to the amp. I have a few questions regarding this set up.

1. Will it this allow the sub to work with the AVR?
2. With an HDMI to the AVR from the Xbox and the Blu ray, and an HDMI out from the AVR to the TV, will I be able to hear all sound through the surround sound speakers?
3. What are some recommended amps for something like this?

Thanks for helping an obvious newbie out!
 
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