New speaks and sub on an old reciever - Y-splits?

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so_cal_forever

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 5, 2004
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Alright, I've begun saving up for my venture into the world of HiFi (these Logi's really aint cuttin' it anymore). Now, my reciever is an older Yamaha RX-300U. So, being old and all, it doesnt have an input for the subwoofer. Here's the back connections:

d0_12_sb.jpg


(Sorry for the crappy pic, it's not mine)

Now, as I understand it, I need a y-split cable which will have a 3.5mm jack on the single end to connect to my line-out, and y-split to red and white audio, such as we see here from Radio Shack. From there I could just connect the R and W audio jacks into the auxilary source inputs.

Now, how would I do the sub? Being a stereo reciever and older, it doesnt have an input for a subwoofer. How I understand it, I should be able to make a split at the line-out of my sound card and connect both the reciever and the sub at the same time. Using another one of the cables I listed previously, would this be the cable I plug into my line-out in order to accomplish the feat of connecting the reciever and the sub at the same time?
 
What sub you got?

The Y splitter thing will work but I wouldn't run it like that.
Especially with those crap cables. ;)
 
None yet, but I'm looking at a traditional home theater sub such as a Dayton Loudspeaker 100w or Polk PSW202.

Any suggestions on what else to do?
 
Sorry about the double post, but...

Would just connecting the sub with speaker wire to the same channel as the speakers allow the sub to work with the audio?

Edit - Now I'm seeing some subs have speaker inputs and then a seperate set of outputs for the speakers going to the reciever. So, as far as the mandatory Y-split to connect it to my sound card, do you suggest a better brand of said cable?
 
Mister X said:
What sub you got?

The Y splitter thing will work but I wouldn't run it like that.
Especially with those crap cables. ;)
Click to expand...

How would you do it?
 
Osiris said:
How would you do it?
Click to expand...

I would patch the low level output (tape out) from the receiver into the sub, that way whatever source is selected gets routed to the sub and not just the computer. ;)
The caveat is the sub has to have a built in filter or else that doesn't work.
 
Mister X said:
I would patch the low level output (tape out) from the receiver into the sub, that way whatever source is selected gets routed to the sub and not just the computer. ;)
The caveat is the sub has to have a built in filter or else that doesn't work.
Click to expand...

So
the Dayton 100w or just about any recent decent subwoofer would allow that method to work?
 
NO DO NOT PLUG THE SUB INTO THE SAME CHANEL AS ANOTHER SPEAKER! This will cause the impedance to drop to unacceptable levels and could/will cause your receiver to overrload which will probably put it out of commission. I see that the receiver appears to have 4 chanels so you may be able to plug it into one of the other unused chanels but it's probably not the best idea.

The is what I would do:

Use that headphone jack to RCA jack cable you had there to plug your sound card's front line level output into the AUX input jacks on your receiver.

Now plug your stereo speakers into the standard jacks on the back of the unit.

Now buy a powered sub woofter which also has a crossover built in which will accept input via RCA jacks. Plug the Sub into the Tape out via the RCA jacks. It is important that the subwoofer has a crossover built in so that it is only outputing the low frequencies. It will not sound right if all frequencies are going to the sub.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you. I'm sure you'll be very happy when you can finally buy a new receiver and setup 5.1 surround sound. :);)
 
So an adjustable crossover in a sub is a must to get this working well? What all should I be looking for in a sub given my situation and using the tape input method?
 
So an adjustable crossover in a sub is a must to get this working well?
Click to expand...

Yup. :)

(you call it a crossover I call it a low pass filter)


What all should I be looking for in a sub given my situation and using the tape input method?
Click to expand...

The Dayton one you linked earlier will fill that role nicely.
 
One thing to note: If you are bypassing your receiver and hooking up your sub directly, you'll have to do all your volume adjustments within windows. Otherwise, when you change the volume on the receiver, you'll change the volume of mains but not the sub.

If your sub has speaker wire binding posts, you could always attach it that ways too, it would just involve stringing a bit more speaker wire around. At least then you'd be able to adjust your volume at the amp, rather than fudging with Windows every time.
 
BO(V)BZ said:
One thing to note: If you are bypassing your receiver and hooking up your sub directly, you'll have to do all your volume adjustments within windows. Otherwise, when you change the volume on the receiver, you'll change the volume of mains but not the sub.

If your sub has speaker wire binding posts, you could always attach it that ways too, it would just involve stringing a bit more speaker wire around. At least then you'd be able to adjust your volume at the amp, rather than fudging with Windows every time.
Click to expand...

Such as a sub that has connections for speaker in and then sub out to the reciever?

I'd much rather adjust on the hardware level than on software. Distortion and improper amplification makes me cry.
 
Stereo 1/8" to RCA cable on the aux input is fine. As for the sub... if it has speaker level inputs on it, just use the B outputs on the reciever. Also connecting the speaker level inputs to the same terminals as the main speakers does not drop the ohm load to an unacceptable level provided that the sub is self powered.
 
so_cal_forever said:
Such as a sub that has connections for speaker in and then sub out to the reciever?
Click to expand...

Not exactly. If you look at the plate amp on the sub, you'll see [assuming it supports this] 4 speaker binding posts: two ins and two outs. Just go from receiver>sub>speakers with your speaker wire, and you're set.

Look at the amp on this guy, you can see what I'm talking about:

http://www.svsubwoofers.com/subs_pb12_plus_2.htm
 
Alright, I understand now. I'll be looking for a sub with such connections. I think the Dayton had them IIRC, but I'll have to double check. Otherwise, I'll keep searching.
 
Newbify2 said:
keep in mind a decent receiver that can do this quite a bit easier/better can be found around $120 refurb at www.ecost.com .
Click to expand...

Yeah, but my budget's gonna be $300 max, so considering I'm buying a pair of speakers, a sub, and the cables that I need, I'm gonna be hitting my budget, if not going over it.
 
GodsMadClown said:
Since he owns a receiver, it makes little sense to buy a new one simply for connectivity options, especially with a low budget.

May I suggesest a speaker deal?

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=878530

They also sell subwoofers.
Click to expand...

How would those stack up to the Polk R line? I've all considered the R15s, the R20s (which I hear arent as good as the R15s for rock and metal... big turn off for me), and the R30s. Also, would these provide sufficient bass while I'm saving up for the subwoofer?
 
Well, it'll only be about a month or so until I get a sub (Dayton is only gonna cost me $145), so I'm just thinking short run on the bass for now. My budget as of now is $143, so the 5 1/4 Fosgates are in my price range. The 6 1/2s I'd have to cheese my parents into loaning me the money for them. Plus, I still need to buy a cable to connect my reciever and my Audigy 2 (yeah, not the best sound card for music, I know. I picked up some Analog Devices AD8610s and AD8620s as someone suggested for me to replace the OPAMPs on my card, but I'm too much of a pussie to attempt to solder).

I'm hoping this'll be a real step-up from the X-530s which I've only got in 2.1 right now because I cant set up the surround and the cluster-stereo I had going on sounded ick.
 
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