Bit of more than I can chew with this sub

[khaki]

I need some help.

Here's my problem from the top: about a year back I lucked up on a Denon AVR-1100 at a garage sale for $30 (the lady just wanted it gone.) So I bought it and frankensteined the speakers for the home theater with what I used with the previous receiver. I have 3 Utah WD-80s (10" 3-way, 8 ohms, 50 watts peak, they're old but work well) and 2 spearkers from an Aiwa portable stereo. Since I'm at college I didn't think I'd have the time or money to go buy a sub. Then I happened to find a sub w\ cabinet from a factory close out of pre-packaged surround systems minus the amp on amazon. I thought it shouldn't be too hard to rig up even with out the amp... I was wrong. I bought some speaker cable from radioshack (18-gauge, it has a phono plug and tinned ends) I plugged the phono into the sub out on the denon and the ends to the +/- on the sub and I got nothing. Since I'm still new to this can any one please tell me what I'm missing or doing wrong? Can this sub be made to work or am I wasting time and money? Thanks

Here are the specs for what I'm working with
Denon AVR-1100 w\ built in 5 channel amp rated at 55w and 8 ohms for front, surround and center channels. The analog subwoofer out is rated at 1.2V/ 10 kohms

The Sub: (No name)110 watts max *Impedance: 4 ohms *Re: 3.34 ohms *Frequency range: 40-114 Hz

thanks again for any help you can give me.

 

[mike c]

does your subwoofer have a built in amp? if not, it's a passive amp and won't run with receivers that don't have powered subwoofer channels.

 

[khaki]

does your subwoofer have a built in amp? if not, it's a passive amp and won't run with receivers that don't have powered subwoofer channels.

No there's no amp built into the sub, I just have the speaker and the cabinet. So pretty much I need an amp for my sub to work. If so does any one know some good places to shop around and recommended specs? Thanks

 

[Gimpy Ric]

Buy a cheap receiver with 80-100 watts per channel for the sub, and just use one channel. Thats the cheap way to do it, but lets look into some other options.

Here is a kit sub for $300.00 Only a 10" though.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-760

Here is a cranking Infinity sub for $300.00 shipped. And its a 12".

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=12300&i=108PS212&search=ps+12&tp=187

Hope this helps!

 

[khaki]

Buy a cheap receiver with 80-100 watts per channel for the sub, and just use one channel.

Haha I like the cheap option seeing as how that's how I got in this mess. It might be time to upgrade anyways seeing as they haven't made AVR-1100s for a while. I wouldn't mind the 10" kit since the one I have is only 8" Its the buyout they have at partsexpress

 

[mike c]

how much budget you willing to spend on a subwoofer?

IMO, i don't think it's worth it to spend more money on that sub.

 

[Haoleb]

You would be able to use your current amp to drive the sub. Granted it would be mickey moused, But you require a crossover to do this. You can buy subwoofer amplifiers which have built in crossovers, But it would probably be a waste of money because the sub you bought (just guessing here) probably isint that great of quality. You can buy a cheap sub for 100 bucks or so that will fill in the bottom end though. Also, watch craigslist in your area. I had a KLH subwoofer i bought at costco for 99 bucks at one time. For the money it wasnt bad. It would fill in nicely with what you have now, But if you decide to upgrade down the road it probably wont fill the bill any longer once you start hearing better subwoofers.

 

[khaki]

You would be able to use your current amp to drive the sub. Granted it would be mickey moused, But you require a crossover to do this. You can buy subwoofer amplifiers which have built in crossovers, But it would probably be a waste of money because the sub you bought (just guessing here) probably isint that great of quality. You can buy a cheap sub for 100 bucks or so that will fill in the bottom end though. Also, watch craigslist in your area. I had a KLH subwoofer i bought at costco for 99 bucks at one time. For the money it wasnt bad. It would fill in nicely with what you have now, But if you decide to upgrade down the road it probably wont fill the bill any longer once you start hearing better subwoofers.

To answer your post and the one above it, the KLH sounds nice and in my price range, since this is only untill i get my own place in a few years I'll upgrade all the speakers. But for what you're suggesting on the cross over can it be done on a budget and some one who's adept at DIY? If not I figure it's cool, I've done with out a sub for this long.