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Subwoofer Wire Connection Question

post #1 of 5
9/8/10 at 3:09pm
Thread Starter 
I have a Pioneer HTD510 5 Disc DVD receiver that I want to replace with the Pioneer VSX-820-K:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...VSX-820-K.Kuro

I currently have the audio from my Blu-Ray player going through the coax audio input. My old receiver has no HDMI inputs so I can’t hook my cable or my media player up to it. The VSX-820-K has everything I am looking for but I have a question about the subwoofer connection.

I want to keep the speakers that came with the 510 as there is nothing wrong with them. Looking at the picture of the back of the VSX, I see all the normal wired speaker connections except for the subwoofer. My subwoofer has the normal black / red 2 wire connection on the back of it and it connects that way to the receiver. I don’t see a black / red connection for the subwoofer on the VSX. I only see a white plug for the subwoofer (upper left). Is there any way to convert the black / red wire output from my existing subwoofer to this plugged connection? I really don’t want to buy new speakers if I don’t have to.
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post #2 of 5
9/8/10 at 4:08pm
What sub do you have? Does it have line (or low) level inputs?
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post #3 of 5
9/8/10 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
Here is the back of the subwoofer:

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/a...j/DSCF0017.jpg
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post #4 of 5
9/8/10 at 5:26pm
Your old receiver had a 100 Watt amp built in for the subwoofer. That is why it used speaker wire connections. The sub itself is passive (no built in amp), where most subs are active (powered by a built in amp). The new receiver does not have a dedicated amp section for the sub. Instead, it has a sub pre out that is to be connected to either a stand alone amp or an amp built into the sub. In the old receiver, all the decoding and bass redirect took place in the pre-amp stage (as does the new receiver) but it had an amp section to feed the signal to for the sub. The new one does not have this amp section built in.

Your options are to replace the sub with a powered one, buy an external amp to power your sub (manual shows as 100 Watts max, 8 Ohms), or go back to the old receiver.

You may be able to connect the new receiver's sub out to the old receiver's AUX in (Left or Right), then connect the sub to the old receiver as before. This may get complicated and it may put too much processing on the signal. But you can try it.

Something like THIS will do as an external amp. There are many other options.

Also, read the label on the sub warning about connecting to any other amp.

What you are going through has been and will always be the problem with HTIB systems. People buy the HTIB as a system, then they want to replace components. It just doesn't work.
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post #5 of 5
9/8/10 at 6:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ransac View Post

Your old receiver had a 100 Watt amp built in for the subwoofer. That is why it used speaker wire connections. The sub itself is passive (no built in amp), where most subs are active (powered by a built in amp). The new receiver does not have a dedicated amp section for the sub. Instead, it has a sub pre out that is to be connected to either a stand alone amp or an amp built into the sub. In the old receiver, all the decoding and bass redirect took place in the pre-amp stage (as does the new receiver) but it had an amp section to feed the signal to for the sub. The new one does not have this amp section built in.

Your options are to replace the sub with a powered one, buy an external amp to power your sub (manual shows as 100 Watts max, 8 Ohms), or go back to the old receiver.

You may be able to connect the new receiver's sub out to the old receiver's AUX in (Left or Right), then connect the sub to the old receiver as before. This may get complicated and it may put too much processing on the signal. But you can try it.

Something like THIS will do as an external amp. There are many other options.

Also, read the label on the sub warning about connecting to any other amp.

What you are going through has been and will always be the problem with HTIB systems. People buy the HTIB as a system, then they want to replace components. It just doesn't work.

Thanks. For $75, it would be much easier to just replace the entire subwoofer.
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