Connecting a subwoofer to older receiver

[Jeff Kaiser]

Hello. I could really use some guidance on adding a subwoofer to my setup.

I currently have a Marantz 2285bd receiver and a pair of Bose 301 series V speakers. They have sounded fine, but have never really been able to handle bass well when I really increase the volume.

I reached out to an old boss of mine who has dabbled in stereos and such and he said I'd want to add some kind of crossover adapter. He said "you really want something that will separate the bass from the other speakers otherwise the sound might get muddy as 2 different systems are producing bass at the same aprox time". I thought newer subs have the ability to manipulate this exact thing?

If anyone can help me figure out what my best solution would be that would be great.

Thanks!

 

[qguy]

You need to get an ACTIVE subwoofer with speaker level inputs. You connect the sub via the speaker B from your 2285. For now you can ignore the comments about the muddy bass etc due to 2 systems producing bass at the same time. The sub will produce the bass that the 301 cannot produce. Newer subwoofers have crossover over controls.

 

[TudorTurtle]

Welcome to AK Jeff.
Here's how I connected a SW to a vintage Marantz, in a very simple manner. This was complimenting a pair of bookshelf speakers sized like your Bose, assuming they start to roll off around 50 Hz.
Out from Marantz Pre-Out rca jacks, left and right to the SW line level inputs. There are several other methods, BTW.
For my room and speaker integration, I set the SW lowpass cutoff to 60 Hz and the volume to 40%. I tried the Phase switch, and when it was out-of-phase, the bass was low volume and muddy. YMWV, and I like the recommendation of setting SW volume so you don't notice the SW as a separate.

Generic SW photo:

 

[Artie]

Doesn't that model have pre-out/main-in? That would be the perfect place to insert an active 2-way x-over or miniDSP. The high-out of the crossover would feed back into the "amp-in" jacks, and the lo-out would feed to whatever sub solution you wanted.

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

I really appreciate the input! Thank you guys!

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

I ordered the Polk Audio PSW10 10-Inch Powered Subwoofer. Here's a pic of my setup. I'm unsure regarding placement. I've never had sub woofer before.

Any input location wise I should put it?

 

[nfafan]

There are several good vids on YouTube re: the subwoofer crawl and room placement.

 

[chip18sw]

I ordered the Polk Audio PSW10 10-Inch Powered Subwoofer. Here's a pic of my setup. I'm unsure regarding placement. I've never had sub woofer before.

Any input location wise I should put it?View attachment 1443401

A front pic ... doesn't really mean anything aside from a "Ported Sub" and I'll let that go.

We need to see. what the options are on the back of it and that will say weather this particular Sub, is a "PIA" to hook or a Piece of Cake.

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

Here's the back.

 

[chip18sw]

Done then! High Level speaker inputs! That is all you need right freaking now! No LFE, needed, which your Receiver does not have! And no screwing around with preamp in and outs! And since your Receiver has no means to handle the LFE 80hz thing?? I have no idea how that Pre in and out would work anyway??

That sub has High Level inputs! And those are all I use myself anyway. The Receiver sends all the frequencies to the sub and I set the crossover as I chose. So If I want/need lower than 80 hz ... I can do that.

At any rate it would be Sub Out left/right to the Speakers and the Receiver Speakers Outs go to the speaker sub in. Pretty much that simple. The sub then sees what the speaker see and it uses its cross over to split the signal as required, determined by where you set the crossover point. (But you know see the manual for high level speaker inputs.)

A sub out and LFE in, say's 80 hz crossover point ... end of story! My LX 5's would have no problem with that ... my Mach's One ... (lot of overlap ) not so much, to name two.

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

Done then! High Level speaker inputs! That is all you need right freaking now! No LFE, needed, which your Receiver does not have! And no screwing around with preamp in and outs! And since your Receiver has no means to handle the LFE 80hz thing?? I have no idea how that Pre in and out would work anyway??

That sub has High Level inputs! And those are all I use myself anyway. The Receiver sends all the frequencies to the sub and I set the crossover as I chose. So If I want/need lower than 80 hz ... I can do that.

At any rate it would be Sub Out left/right to the Speakers and the Receiver Speakers Outs go to the speaker sub in. Pretty much that simple. The sub then sees what the speaker see and it uses its cross over to split the signal as required, determined by where you set the crossover point. (But you know see the manual for high level speaker inputs.)

A sub out and LFE in, say's 80 hz crossover point ... end of story! My LX 5's would have no problem with that ... my Mach's One ... (lot of overlap ) not so much, to name two.

Thanks for sharing your input and info!! Those steps seem simple to follow. The sub will arrive tomorrow so hopefully everything goes smoothly!

 

[Grenadeslio]

Some more expensive subwoofers incorporate a high pass filter that removes the lower bass from the main speakers allowing them to handle more power. One of my subs actually has an adjustable high pass filter, but I've found I prefer to let the mains run full frequency with the subwoofer's low pass filter set low enough it only picks up where the mains begin to drop off.

As for location, with only one subwoofer I prefer it between the mains with a measured distance from the seated position equal to the mains. If unable to use this location I've found placing the sub in either front corner aimed along the front wall best for localization/integration with the mains.

In theory a "true" subwoofer's position won't be apparent to the listener, as most will have some output in the frequencies our ears are capable of locating this is rarely the case.

Have fun with your new toy, don't get frustrated if having trouble with integration, trial and error will eventually pay dividends and sonic nirvana will be the end result.

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

Some more expensive subwoofers incorporate a high pass filter that removes the lower bass from the main speakers allowing them to handle more power. One of my subs actually has an adjustable high pass filter, but I've found I prefer to let the mains run full frequency with the subwoofer's low pass filter set low enough it only picks up where the mains begin to drop off.

As for location, with only one subwoofer I prefer it between the mains with a measured distance from the seated position equal to the mains. If unable to use this location I've found placing the sub in either front corner aimed along the front wall best for localization/integration with the mains.

In theory a "true" subwoofer's position won't be apparent to the listener, as most will have some output in the frequencies our ears are capable of locating this is rarely the case.

Have fun with your new toy, don't get frustrated if having trouble with integration, trial and error will eventually pay dividends and sonic nirvana will be the end result.

Thank you for your input too! I was thinking l'll try something fairly affordable since it's my first sub... see how things play out literally ha ha. If I feel like I need something with more knobs and switches I'll return and perhaps go with the Klipsch R-120SW Subwoofer.

 

[ultumax]

Welcome to AK Jeff.
Here's how I connected a SW to a vintage Marantz, in a very simple manner. This was complimenting a pair of bookshelf speakers sized like your Bose, assuming they start to roll off around 50 Hz.
Out from Marantz Pre-Out rca jacks, left and right to the SW line level inputs. There are several other methods, BTW.
For my room and speaker integration, I set the SW lowpass cutoff to 60 Hz and the volume to 40%. I tried the Phase switch, and when it was out-of-phase, the bass was low volume and muddy. YMWV, and I like the recommendation of setting SW volume so you don't notice the SW as a separate.

Generic SW photo:

thats a quality looking sub is it new? We're did you buy it .
Pioneer elite make subs now?
I thought to it was just receivers they made. Epic

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

thats a quality looking sub is it new? We're did you buy it .
Pioneer elite make subs now?
I thought to it was just receivers they made. Epic

It's Polk Audio. Maybe someone else posted that pic just to show me.

 

[ultumax]

It's Polk Audio. Maybe someone else posted that pic just to show me.

Don't think I've ever heard a Polk sub that's got speaker inputs too , nice like my old klh,.
How does it sound ?so far
I've seen some polls $100-200 for 10" good priced .

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

Don't think I've ever heard a Polk sub that's got speaker inputs too , nice like my old klh,.
How does it sound ?so far
I've seen some polls $100-200 for 10" good priced .

It'll be here tomorrow. Once I get it hooked up and tested I'll post an update. It was about $100.

 

[Grenadeslio]

It'll be here tomorrow. Once I get it hooked up and tested I'll post an update. It was about $100.

Well, if the Polk isn't to your liking my recommendation would be Dayton Audio from Parts Express, the 12" Sub 1200 is $148, they have others. Great customer service second to none, even if not needing another sub check them out, they have all kinds of accessories.

 

[TudorTurtle]

thats a quality looking sub is it new? We're did you buy it .
Pioneer elite make subs now?
I thought to it was just receivers they made. Epic

Grabbed the pic off Amazon as a generic SW

 

[Jeff Kaiser]

Done then! High Level speaker inputs! That is all you need right freaking now! No LFE, needed, which your Receiver does not have! And no screwing around with preamp in and outs! And since your Receiver has no means to handle the LFE 80hz thing?? I have no idea how that Pre in and out would work anyway??

That sub has High Level inputs! And those are all I use myself anyway. The Receiver sends all the frequencies to the sub and I set the crossover as I chose. So If I want/need lower than 80 hz ... I can do that.

At any rate it would be Sub Out left/right to the Speakers and the Receiver Speakers Outs go to the speaker sub in. Pretty much that simple. The sub then sees what the speaker see and it uses its cross over to split the signal as required, determined by where you set the crossover point. (But you know see the manual for high level speaker inputs.)

A sub out and LFE in, say's 80 hz crossover point ... end of story! My LX 5's would have no problem with that ... my Mach's One ... (lot of overlap ) not so much, to name two.

Hey!! I got everything (sub + 16g speaker wire), read over your instructions numerous times. Can you please clarify the actual bose speakers connection? Am I taking both speaker wires from each speaker, removing from receiver and plugging them straight into polk sub? And then am in using rca cable to go from line in on polk sub to pre out on receiver? Really appreciate your help!