Totally new to this - go easy on me

[crazymorton]

hi all...i've been avidly reading this forum and the site (which is really very impressive!) since i decided to go the home theatre road. and i've tried to look for help that relates to my problems but haven't found an answer yet so if there's one out there then just direct me and i will find it....
i bought a Pioneer VSX-816 and got some speakers and a sub woofer (powered) all good so far except being a total noob i dont understand the sub woofer? i am using a dedicated sub cable
my issues are...
1. my Pioneer receiver only has 1 outlet for the subwoofer but the subwoofer has lots
so a store guy told me just to plug it into low level left...is this ok? seems to work but i want to make sure
2. Phase 0 -180, Freq 40-180, Level Min-Max -> what should these be set on?
3. I've also been having some trouble with it kicking in and have had to move the cable (which zaps me a bit) to make the green light come on and you get that woooom sound....maybe a dodgy cable? or someone said because it's with all the others at the back may be an issue?

anyway thats it for now....could you please when you respond explain any acronyms as this is a total new field for me...
thanks heaps

 

[MDS]

1. my Pioneer receiver only has 1 outlet for the subwoofer but the subwoofer has lots
so a store guy told me just to plug it into low level left...is this ok? seems to work but i want to make sure

Yes, that is ok. You could get a Y adapter cable to split the one output of the receiver into two and feed both L and R line-level inputs but all that does is increase the voltage to the sub. You may not have to turn the sub volume so high when using a Y adapter and it does sometimes help with the auot-on feature of the sub but it is not necessary.

2. Phase 0 -180, Freq 40-180, Level Min-Max -> what should these be set on?

Start with the phase at 0. If the sub is on a wall opposite the main speakers, 180 may sound better. It's purpose is to help integrate the sound of the sub with the other speakers. 0 means 'in-phase'; ie the sub drivers move in and out at the same time as the drivers in the other speakers. 180 would be 180 degrees out of phase; ie when the sub driver moves in, the other speakers are moving out.

The Frequency (subwoofer internal crossover) should be set as high as it will go because you are using the xover in the receiver. If that sub has another input labeled 'LFE' or a switch with the same label, you would run the cable from the receiver to that input and issue number 1 goes away.