Subwoofer Question
 

Recently I purchased a Pioneer VSX-D710S reciever. During the intial setup I ran into one problem. I tried to connect the reciever to my subwoofer using a rca jack from the subwoofer out connection to one of the channel inputs on my Yamaha YST-SW80 Subwoofer. According to the manual for the subwoofer I should have been able to connect either to the right or left rca inputs on the subwoofer for this type of connection to work. It seems that for some reason no sound was being output to the subwoofer, at least no sounc that I could discern, which leads to my question.

I connected the subwoofer by using the alternate method of running the speaker wires out of the reciever into the subwoofer and then out of the subwoofer into my main front speakers. Will this type of connection method give me the same results as connecting with an RCA jack from the reciever?

The Subwoofer has its own amp and crossover if that makes a differance.

Thanks for any help!

Make sure the sub output is turned on at the receiver. If it's like most Pioneers, there is a setting for sub on or off, and if the speakers are set to 'small' the sub is on all the time.

Thanks DVD_O_Rama

I checked that already, will try again just to make sure.

If would appreciate it if anyone knows if there is any differance sound wise in the way its hooked up. Whether by RCA jacks or by rerouting the main speakers through the subwoofer.

If there is no real differance I will leave it hooked up the way it is. If there is a differance I will continue to try to figure out a way to get it to work with the RCA Jacks out of the Subwoofer output on the Reciever.

Peace, LTK

Set the subwoofer to PLUS!
 

My fathers Pioneer had to be set to plus to hear it during 2 ch playback,

(it's their third option in the menu)

Assuming that is, that they keep simialr settings in their recievers.

D

That same problem drove me to drink!

First time, I relized I did not have the speakers to small, condition corrected.

Second time, I tried everything under the sun and then replaced my woofer cable, BINGO!!

I have had to replace my woofer cable twice in three years(radio shack).

PS; I have a Pioneer reciever.

SOOOOOO, check your woofer cable.

As to your question whether your alternative connection makes a difference, it probably does. 5.1 sound tracks have the .1 track meant specifically for the subwoofer.

If you have your sub turned "on" in your receiver, the .1 stuff only gets sent to your receiver's low-level sub out. The high-level main outs(speaker wires running to your sub then to your mains) won't contain the .1 info. And, if you have your mains set "small" all the LF stuff that would have gone to your mains gets sent to the sub out too and so you even lose those lows.

If you set your sub "off", the .1 stuff is mixed into the mains. Your sub crossover will filter this stuff out and play it on the sub. But, by running your high-level(speaker) wires through your sub, your sub will also filter out some of the LF stuff meant for your main speakers and play it mixed in with the .1 stuff on your sub. The extra filtering and remixing may mess with the sound quality.

not sure about your particular sub, but some yamaha subs are notoriously hard to turn on when using the auto-turn on function. If you have a sensitivity switch, turn it to high-that will solve it, but in return, your sub's amp will probably never turn off again. If you want to check that your RCA connection is OK, turn off and then on your sub manually using the button on the front (takes about 10 seconds to really turn on) and then connect the RCA sub cable to your receiver-use a tape loop or any output but the sub to check. If it plays, then you probably need to do something to turn on the sub output. I'm not familiar with pioneers, so someone else has to help you there.

DeadGnat,

You called it, fixed one problem, I am now getting output from the sub. But like you mentioned in your message it will not turn on when using the auto-turn on function. I think I might have solved it by turned up the DB's to the Subwoofer. The crossover on the Reciever is off and I have the crossover on the sub set to 50. But then again this might have created another problem, too much boost as far as DB's.

Tomorrow it is sound meter time hopefully sooner or later I will get this figured out. I guess that is what makes Home Theater fun, fun if you like sticking bamboo shoots under your finger nails.

why did you turn off the crossover?
 

You should set the crossover to it's lowest point (if you are using the sub out,) probably 100HZ on low-end pioneers, and keep your 50 HZ setting on your sub. But if you have it running via speaker in-outs, then your crossover setting is relevant to where you want the front rolloff.

D