Need help setting up an old Denon 435R receiver

[beznsarah]

I bought a Denon DRA-435R receiver that came with a 5CD changer and cassette deck for $50. The components are pretty old, from the mid 1990's I think. I thought it was a good deal but now I'm thinking I got ripped.

Anyhow, I just want to set it up as a 2.1 system. I've purchased a set of Polk R15 speakers ($60) and was looking at getting a powered subwoofer a Polk 10 in or an infinity ps 8 are the 2 I'd looked at. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to use a subwoofer with this older receiver, does anyone know?? Would I be better off not buying the subwoofer until i upgrade to a better receiver?

The inputs on the back of the receiver are as follows:
2 sets of speakers on each channel A/B.
Various inputs : phono, CD, video, tape1/tape2
Pre-out

If I can use a powered subwoofer, how would I go about hooking it in?

Any guidance would really be appreciated!

 

[j_garcia]

DRA suggests a stereo model so 2.1 is the best you are going to do.

Polk's lower end subs are no good, scratch them off the list.

The A/B would be the speaker outputs, I believe.

You would use the pre-out to the sub and adjust the sub's x-over manually, leaving the mains running full range (the receiver will likely not have a built in crossover). Another way would be to use speaker level outputs to the sub and then connect the R15s to the sub directly. This will give you a crossover to the R15s (fixed, x-over point depends on sub).

R15s are $40/pr right now at www.outpost.com

 

[markw]

Just one thing to add here...

What Mr. Garcia says is true, but be aware that you make dang sure that whatever sub you wind up choosing has TWO inputs, one for the right channel and one for the left.

A few subs only have one input and you don't want that. Trust me on this...

 

[beznsarah]

Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for your recommendations on hookup. No the receiver does not have a built in crossover. I'll try both options you listed and see which works best.

Would you recommend the Infinity ps 8 for a sub? I can get a used one for $75. If not, what sub's would you recommend.

Thanks for pointing out the deal at outpost, I found that yesterday and purchased the R15's.

 

[j_garcia]

I'm not familiar with the PS-8, but for $75, I imagine it will do the trick. 35Hz on the low end is not very good, but not unexpected for a 8" sub. Do you have a budget in mind for the sub? Assuming ~$100 or so, the only other thing I can think of off hand would be the 10" sub from Parts Express .com #300-633 that is $124 (often goes on sale for $99). Only claims 30Hz on the low end, but it has gotten a fair amount of good reviews. There is the Athena AS-P4000 that goes for $149 on Amazon and Audioadvisor also.

 

[dj grump]

Dra-435a

Hi...I would not mess with running a sub with this receiver...besides you don't want to overload the impedance with trying to "splice" in or over connect to get a sub signal or a signal that you would downcrossover from a full range one.Let me tell you this is an amazing receiver,with a tremendous amount of kick even at 55watts/ch. It has great dynamic range,in fact "Denon watts" and the power outputs of some other brands that build higher end equipment like NAD and others tends to pack a lot of punch.I own a panasonic receiver rated at 110 watts 7 channels driven and 130! in 2 ch stereo and it never came even close to delivering the dynamic range the Denon did.To me,the best thing you can do is get the "best" pair of speakers within the budget you were thinking of spending for speakers and extra powered sub.If also space is not a burden or cosmeticaly you dont mind bulky speakers,try to get a pair of towers of a good brand that sport at least 12inch or even better 15inch subs togetehr with ducted ports to get that air "flowing" out of them...believe me this little receiver if you got it in decent shape and is not out of calibration in a bad way will drive them and you will get amazing low end,more than you would've if you ran a dedicated sub,even powered.If the speakers you get dont go above 4ohms per side and are fairly good quality you will rattle your neighbore's walls..Now.if you're looking for digital connectivity and more modern options this receiver is outdated for that.Is a superb analog unit that kicks ***...as not to many did or do.Take care...LHE