Sub woofer help

[Trixter]

Hey guys,

I am brand new to this forum and I thought I would introduce myself and maybe get your thoughts on a small problem I am currently having.

My real name is William, or just Will for short, I'm retired Canadian Army (medical), spent ten years as a medic. I am out now and working locally as a paramedic. 49 years old and I am rediscovering an old hobby...that is vinyl records.

Much to my delight a few years ago I discovered that vinyl was enjoying a bit of a comeback (I know it never really went away).

I have some old records that my parents gave me in days gone by, and I have also been buying certain select new pressings as well. Thank you Volbeat!

To that end I have the following setup...I have a Project turntable, going into a Pyle audio preamp with that running into a fosi audio tube amplifier. From there I go into two polk audio speakers. Its not the most expensive setup and I am not sure I can actually tell the difference between Digital and analog audio....it's likely purely in my head (been around too many explosions), but hey just getting up to turn a record over just seems so serene.

Anyway, my girlfriend was getting rid of a bunch of old stuff she never uses and lo and behold she has a powered subwoofer that just happens to be a polk audio one as well I am like ok then I am latching onto that. Anyway, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to get it into the loop, but I am afraid I am failing terribly. The subwoofer has RCA inputs and individual speaker outputs.

I figured I would ask you good people to weigh in.

What am I missing?

Thank you in advance guys and gals!

Will

 

[TheWarrior]

Hi!

Do you have a model name/number for this sub? The description has me wondering if this is an HTIB or Home theater in a box system that is intended to be used ONLY with the included equipment.

 

[Trixter]

Hi!

Do you have a model name/number for this sub? The description has me wondering if this is an HTIB or Home theater in a box system that is intended to be used ONLY with the included equipment.

Hrmmmm

I am not at home at the moment, but I will post something in a little bit to give more detail…I’ll see about a picture of the back as well. Should help a little.

 

[Trixter]

Hi!

Do you have a model name/number for this sub? The description has me wondering if this is an HTIB or Home theater in a box system that is intended to be used ONLY with the included equipment.

Here’s a picture of the back of the sub.

 

[TheWarrior]

Ok that you should at least be able to plug and play with. If your preamp has LFE crossover, you will want to use that and defeat the subs built in model by turning it as high as possible and allowing the preamp to control that.

Just in case you're unfamiliar - Low Frequency Effects is a dedicated channel incorporated mostly with surround sound content, but of course it also serves to offload the deep bass that alot of speakers shouldn't be reproducing. If you know how low your speakers can play, then select the corresponding LFE crossover frequency. Or play with it using familiar music until it sounds like you're hearing everything you are supposed to.

Food for thought - vinyl is an experience. And one that should be cherished. I think a lot of people agree that CD and really high res digital does sound better, but there is a warmth and a sense of occasion to vinyl that nothing else has been able to compare with.

 

[Trixter]

Ok that you should at least be able to plug and play with. If your preamp has LFE crossover, you will want to use that and defeat the subs built in model by turning it as high as possible and allowing the preamp to control that.

Just in case you're unfamiliar - Low Frequency Effects is a dedicated channel incorporated mostly with surround sound content, but of course it also serves to offload the deep bass that alot of speakers shouldn't be reproducing. If you know how low your speakers can play, then select the corresponding LFE crossover frequency. Or play with it using familiar music until it sounds like you're hearing everything you are supposed to.

Food for thought - vinyl is an experience. And one that should be cherished. I think a lot of people agree that CD and really high res digital does sound better, but there is a warmth and a sense of occasion to vinyl that nothing else has been able to compare with.

Ok, so my next question…how do I put it in the loop? I agree that vinyl has a warmth that other formats can’t beat. Yes vinyl is an experience. Completely agree.

 

[lovinthehd]

@TheWarrior LFE crossover? I think that's confusing, the LFE isn't being crossed over. Bass redirection perhaps from bass management....altho some avrs do have a LPF of LFE that's fairly useless. Doubt a Pyle pre-amp even has LFE, sounds like just 2ch gear.

As to connecting your sub not sure what your Pyle pre-amp offers, but you could at least split the pre-out with your speakers' amps and the sub. Another way would be to use the amp's speaker level outputs and use the sub amp's high level/speaker level inputs and then outputs to the speakers (could even be a high pass filter in some sub amps....but hard to check without a model number for the Polk sub).

 

[TheWarrior]

Ok, so my next question…how do I put it in the loop? I agree that vinyl has a warmth that other formats can’t beat. Yes vinyl is an experience. Completely agree.

Does your preamp have a sub out connection? If not, we definitely need to know what preamp you have to understand its capabilities.

 

[TheWarrior]

@TheWarrior LFE crossover? I think that's confusing, the LFE isn't being crossed over.

LFE is a dedicated channel for bass, and to implement it you are selecting the frequency at which you want to crossover the speakers to the subwoofer.

So yeah, I too am hoping that the preamp has that ability, otherwise the subwoofer may be of no use. We'll see what model is being used...

 

[lovinthehd]

LFE is a dedicated channel for bass, and to implement it you are selecting the frequency at which you want to crossover the speakers to the subwoofer.

So yeah, I too am hoping that the preamp has that ability, otherwise the subwoofer may be of no use. We'll see what model is being used...

LFE is a dedicated channel for the ".1" content. Bass redirection is not LFE. Keeping them separate is less confusing to the newbs I think to an extent as well. He can use the sub in a coupla ways, tho. It just sounds like he's got 2ch gear so LFE isn't even in the discussion really. IMO.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

LFE is a dedicated channel for bass, and to implement it you are selecting the frequency at which you want to crossover the speakers to the subwoofer.

So yeah, I too am hoping that the preamp has that ability, otherwise the subwoofer may be of no use. We'll see what model is being used...

LFE is definitely a separate channel for bass included only in films. The XO does NOT affect the LFE channel. The only option available there is the lpf of the LFE channel. All it really does is allow one to chop off the top of the 1-120hz .1 LFE channel.
The XO on the other hand which is responsible for redirected bass to the subwoofer is a different story. They are not related and mutually exclusive to each other.

 

[TheWarrior]

I'm glad we all agree that LFE is a separate channel! But you're right, I should not be saying LFE, when I just mean a subwoofer output. My bad!

That said, if there is no subwoofer out channel, I don't see how this sub can be used as I doubt Trixter would be pleased with the subwoofers speaker outputs vs the tube amp. What am I missing?

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm glad we all agree that LFE is a separate channel! But you're right, I should not be saying LFE, when I just mean a subwoofer output. My bad!

That said, if there is no subwoofer out channel, I don't see how this sub can be used as I doubt Trixter would be pleased with the subwoofers speaker outputs vs the tube amp. What am I missing?

Why wouldn't he be able to split the pre-out between amp and sub? High level inputs would be a problem why?

 

[Trebdp83]

Yikes, just get some more speaker wire. Connect the speaker wires from the amp to the SPEAKER LEVEL INPUT on the subwoofer and connect the new wires from the subwoofer's SPEAKER LEVEL OUTPUT to the speakers. Adjust the sound to your liking and enjoy the music.

 

[TheWarrior]

Why wouldn't he be able to split the pre-out between amp and sub? High level inputs would be a problem why?

Duh. I guess I'm not doing too well today.... LOL