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General discussion

Home theater subwoofer question?

Sep 14, 2005 9:49AM PDT

I recently was given a sherwood 5.1 reciever. It doesn't have a jack for a bass input, However, I know that it used to have a sub that had audio jacks on the back of the sub. I was wondering what this is called, when a subwoofer has audio input jacks on the back? And if anyone could suggest a some what good sub with that function.

Discussion is locked

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Sub
Sep 14, 2005 10:12AM PDT

These are simply the way the receiver, with a proper Sub-woofer output, gets the signal to the speaker. This is just a different method than having standard speaker wires connect to it, which can't carry the load/signal that the sub-woofer needs. When you have a receiver with the proper "sub" output, you will notice that the "output" has these type of connections, not just speaker wires. As far as brand, my 2-cents is to stay away from speaker companies that also make TVs, receivers, etc. Try to stay with a manufacturer that specializes in speakers. Axiom, Energy, Infinity are a few. You may find that the sub-woofer is the most expensive speaker you buy...but a good sub is worth the money.

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Info
Sep 14, 2005 1:08PM PDT

Your receiver is 5.1, which means there should be a SUB output on the back, often a black colored rca plug.
From here you would run a single RCA cable to a powered subwoofer. There are lots to choose from in lots of price ranges. I would have a hard time recommending to anyone to spend less than a couple hundred on this speaker, but it should also match up with the rest of your speakers and be similar quality, so thats something only you can decide. The back of many powered sub's you often find 2 rca inputs (right/left) check the owners manual, usually the left input acts as a mono input and will be where you can plug the rca cable into, or you can get a Y- connect which will split the single rca cable into 2 ends. In lower priced subs this probably isn't needed. There usually are 2 dials, one for setting the output level, the other will set the sub's cut off. Once again read the manual, it will give advice about setting these to maximise your sub's performance to your speakers and room.
Good luck with your set up.

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sherwood 5.1 reciever.
Sep 15, 2005 4:14AM PDT

This depends on your reciver.
Some just have a line output RCA for a powered sub.
Some have a set of speaker terminals to hook up a non powered sub. In this case the reciver has a built in amp for the sub. So have a look at yours to see what it has. John