Help me hook up my speakers to my AV receiver

Jensen

We just bought an Onkyo SR606 AV Receiver to hook up to the built in surround sound speakers that came with the house. I've never hooked an audio system up before :shock: -- anyway, the speakers are straightforward enough: left front, right front, left back, right back etc... However My subwoofer is confusing me. It's a powered subwoofer from proficiency audio ( came with the house, yay) and it has two sets of inputs: High Level, which has a bunch of red and black connectors like the other speaker hookups on the back of the avr and in the walls, and then a Line Level that has red/white female connections with L/R labeled on them.

The problem is: the AV Receiver has only one output on the back that says anything about subwoofer, Pre-out subwoofer -- it's a single female connections. My sub doesn't sport anything that looks to connect to that. I don't want to make anything explode, so any advice would be great.

I linked the above model text to a newegg picture of the back of the avr.

ZackSchilling

Can we get a higher quality image of the Pre-out subwoofer connector?

High-level would be the connection from an amp looking to drive the woofer. The line level is like what comes out of an iPod dock, game console, etc. It's an audio signal with enough power to drive a set of headphones or so. This would use the sub's built-in amp. Who knows which would produce better sound, probably high-level. I'd need to see the connector to know if the receiver wants to drive the speaker or not.

Edit: Looks like a regular RCA connector on the amp. It's line-level. You'll need...

This: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=663&seq=1&format=2

And...

This: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=2009&seq=1&format=2

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ZackSchilling

I literally couldn't find a long single RCA cable. I tried.

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ZackSchilling

I have quite a few too, but none more than 6 ft. I assume Jensen wants something a little longer. If not, then he might have a video cable around that'll do.

Just look around monoprice for the right adaptor. Great place. All kinds of cables, reliable, cheap.

Goose

What you want is called, surprisingly enough, a "subwoofer cable". Its a single-RCA style connector on both ends, but with a little extra shielding than normal to ensure a clean signal. On the lower (and unamplified) frequencies that subwoofers use, distortion in the cable is much more apparent, as instead of producing a good rumble or clean tone, a bad cable on a subwoofer can easily turn everything that sub makes into the kind of flatulence normally reserved for obese gentlemen after an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet.

Shopping around in department and electronics stores in your area will probably find you a decent one. For a 2-meter cable, a good price would be about $30-$35 (keep in mind I'm Canadian).

ZackSchilling

35 ft, $8

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=3976&seq=1&format=2

Love the Monoprice. LOVE IT.

kpeezy

The input on his subwoofer needs Left and Right inputs. What type of signal does that subwoofer out on the receiver send out? I know it's line leve, but it's most likely just one channel, right? I guess he would just be sending the same signal to the left and right inputs of the subwoofer if he used a splitter type of cable.

Is that what the subwoofer needs?

Jensen

Pics! and yes that single connector subwoofer cable is what the instructions that came with the receiver suggested, but there's no single rca connector on the back of the sub. It's got L/R.






Oh and testfreaks has better pics of the back of my receiver here.

Thank you guys

LittleBoots

Try using just the left, all the sub woofers I've ever had (a whole 3) used the L jack as a mono jack. Then just use the pan on your receiver or comp to test if panning the sound form L to R makes a difference, if not you're good to go.

Jensen

LittleBoots wrote: »

Try using just the left, all the sub woofers I've ever had (a whole 3) used the L jack as a mono jack. Then just use the pan on your receiver or comp to test if panning the sound form L to R makes a difference, if not you're good to go.

Wow. That's a great idea. I'm going to give it a shot!

Rigor Mortis

FYI, Use the low (line) level connection when possible. Why? It's been processed less and should be the superior signal.

Jensen

That worked. Sweet. Thank you all, this is one of the many reasons PA rocks