Old subwoofer, new help

[mindtakerr]

Hey everyone, I am new here but I thought you guys could help me. I have a very old subwoofer that came with my very old surround sound system. It has speaker plugins for + and - on the back of it.

I am looking into getting a new receiver because this piece of junk I have now does not even have component video, let alone HDMI. I am looking at the Onkyo TX-SR674 and from this picture, it appears that there is nowhere to plug in speaker wire for the subwoofer. I am obviously a noob, but I was wondering if you could tell me how I would connect it. It looks like the subwoofer has some sort of RCA connection on there instead of direct speaker connections.

Thanks guys!

 

[mike c]

you need to give us either a picture of the back of your subwoofer or at least the model number of the old system.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hey everyone, I am new here but I thought you guys could help me. I have a very old subwoofer that came with my very old surround sound system. It has speaker plugins for + and - on the back of it.
I am looking into getting a new receiver because this piece of junk I have now does not even have component video, let alone HDMI. I am looking at the Onkyo TX-SR674 and from this picture, it appears that there is nowhere to plug in speaker wire for the subwoofer. I am obviously a noob, but I was wondering if you could tell me how I would connect it. It looks like the subwoofer has some sort of RCA connection on there instead of direct speaker connections.
Thanks guys!

Yep, you have what is called a passive sub. How did you power it before? It needs its own amp, so you will need a good amp, if and only if that sub is capable of serving as a good, powerful sub. Or, may just want to invest in a good powered sub.
If you just want to keep it, I know that feeling, tell us a bit about it, its impedance and power capability, if you know. Perhaps the owner's manual is still around?

 

[Seth=L]

Depending on what the sub is you may want to just purchase a newer powered sub instead of purchasing an amplifier to power the old one. You could easily spend $300 on the amplifier and at that point most passive subs (inexpensive parts to older all in one systems) would be completely obsolete next to modern subs that cost about the same as the amplifier.

 

[MDS]

For further clarification, no receiver will ever have speaker terminals that are designated for a subwoofer.

To use speaker level inputs on a sub, you'd have to run speaker wire from the front left and front right speaker terminals on the receiver to the subwoofer and from the subwoofer back to the front speakers. That approach will work fine if the subwoofer is powered and has speaker level outputs.

If the sub is passive (no internal amplifier) then you'd have to do what mtrycrafts said and get an amp for it.

 

[Seth=L]

Some of those older passive subs were intended to be used with the front two channels. Those where the days of Pro-logic where all bass material below 100hz was sent to the front channels. So the sub may have left and right inputs and outputs. I have seen quite a few passive subs from that era designed that way.

If it is a newer HTIAB or newer system it likely has one of the subs that was intended to be used with the HTIAB and he could use the amplifier supplied on it to do the job. Using the subwoofer output on the Onkyo to connect to the unit that was powering the sub with y-adapter would work just as well as any amp given that the amp was designed to adequately power the woofer.

 

[mindtakerr]

The Subwoofer is a SW-15HT; it is 100W and 8 Ohms. It is part of the Kenwood HTB-205 HTIAB. Here is a picture I found of the back of my receiver, and as you can see, it has a place to plug in speaker wire for my subwoofer.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[markw]

the only receivers I've ever seen with speaker terminals are part of an HTIB system.

The Subwoofer is a SW-15HT; it is 100W and 8 Ohms. It is part of the Kenwood HTB-205 HTIAB. Here is a picture I found of the back of my receiver, and as you can see, it has a place to plug in speaker wire for my subwoofer.

Thanks again for all the help!

My buddy just bought a Pioneer HTIB for $300 or so and it had that arrangement. A mediocre receiver with a sub-par "sub" woofer.

I doubt you'll find any stand-alone receiver with speaker level outputs. At least I've never seen one.

IIWY, I'd just figure on buying a powered subwofer. Depending on your expectations, decent 8" units can be had for under $100 and similar 10" for under $150. That's about what a plate amp would cost to power what you have now, and it won't be as good.

But, if you can find a used HTIB receiver for sale, go for it. It may or may not be better than the one you have now. I know my buddies kindsa sucks.

 

[mindtakerr]

Thanks for the help, guys

Now if I only had any money I might actually be able to do some of the things I mentioned here...

 

[Nick250]

Now if I only had any money I might actually be able to do some of the things I mentioned here...

Welcome to the club mindtakerr. Just about everyone says that whether they have a a five hundred dollar system or a five thousand dollar system.

Nick

 

[Adam]

Seth=L already pointed out the solution that popped into my mind, but I'll mention it again in case it got missed. You can hook the subwoofer output from the Onkyo into an input on your Kenwood receiver (using a Y-adapter to plug it into both the left and right inputs) and use the Kenwood receiver to power the sub. Not the perfect solution, but it should work okay until you get the money to upgrade.

 

[mindtakerr]

Seth=L already pointed out the solution that popped into my mind, but I'll mention it again in case it got missed. You can hook the subwoofer output from the Onkyo into an input on your Kenwood receiver (using a Y-adapter to plug it into both the left and right inputs) and use the Kenwood receiver to power the sub. Not the perfect solution, but it should work okay until you get the money to upgrade.

That is a great idea... if I even had the money for the receiver Too bad I don't make anything at my job...

 

[rexracer]

Just curious...what kind of speakers are you planning on driving with that Onkyo receiver that you can't afford?

 

[mindtakerr]

Just curious...what kind of speakers are you planning on driving with that Onkyo receiver that you can't afford?

Just the junky ones that came with my HTIB. I basically would like a new receiver because I have all these HD-enabled devices and an HDTV, but my receiver cannot do anything with any of them. I have to set my TV to one thing and my receiver to another, and I would rather have a receiver that can make the most of the HD inputs.

 

[rexracer]

If you have HD capable cable,DVD etc. can't you hook them directly to the HD-TV? Other than up-converting non-HD signals, I don't think the receiver will do anything for you, and if you have HD components, you don't need up-converting. Am I wrong people??

 

[mindtakerr]

Yeah, that's what I meant in the last post, but it is annoying to have to switch everything on the TV and the receiver, and there are not enough audio inputs either. That's all I meant.

Also, in my current setup, I can only put my DVD player and cable box on digital sound, and all others (Xbox 360, PS2, etc.) have to only use Pro-Logic II. In addition, there are not enough component inputs on my TV to put the Wii in 480p. So, the point is, it would be nice to have more inputs, ya know?

 

[billnchristy]

Dude, you had the money for all this other stuff.

I recommend saving and doing it right, not going from total junk to partial junk to junk to good stuff.

The Onkyo is a good step, but the junk speakers will still sound like junk.

For low priced subs, X-sub is the way to go at $199, unless you want to start stepping into the $300+ range I dont think you could do much better.

OTOH if you can find an SLS Q-line gold at Best buy it has component in/outs (no hdmi) and pretty darn good speakers for $299...sub still sucks though.