why does my sub need a y-adapter?  

buy wire from radio shack it is cheaper and of the same quality as any other copper wire.

Anyone who can hear the difference between $10 spool and insanely expensive wire is just that insane.

IMHO, I would stay away from radio shack cables, esp. the adapters they offer. I've purchased their y-adapter/premium subwoofer cable and they made my HSU VTF-2 sound like crap. Spend a few exta bucks and buy better cables/adapters to make your HT setup sound better.

GC

from what I gathered, if you use the auto on/off feature on the sub, and if the sub would not turn on because the source signal is too low, then use the Y adapter.

Buy the cables from parts.com. I got some Dayton patch cords and King 12awg speaker wires...they are not expensive and of good quality

You realy shouldn't need the Y adapter at all. Just run from your Sub output to the L/Mono input on the sub. Using a Y cable will boost the volume by doubling the signal (simplification I know) but it will not do anything different than turning up the volume.

mygiantcicle has about the only reasonable explaination for why you would need a Y cable.

As far as cables go... Absolutely better cables make a difference.

but don't get caught up in the marketing too quickly. In my experience a good solid well built cable can make noticable improvements wether it has a name brand on it or not.

My thoughts,

There are lots of do-it-yourself instructions on the net if you are so inclined. If you do a good job you'll get great cables and save a ton of money.

If you don't mind purchasing online, there are lots of online cables stores. Search for Bluejeans cables or better cables you should save some money.

If you would rather go to a local store you can't go wrong with any of the name brands like Monster or Acoustic Research but you will pay a pretty big premium for about the same thing.

A/R cables are alot cheaper than Bluejeans and Better Cables. And, are just as good of quality. www.accessories4less.com

I think you mean partsexpress.com

Sub cables carry only low frequencies, which are not very demanding on a cable. Therefore, any decent cable should do. THe AR cables at accessories4less should be fine, in fact I just ordered one from them, and the Dayton cables at partsexpress should be OK as well. If you get any noise or hum, however, you need better shielding, and I'd go to bluejeanscable.com or RAM (a forum sponsor), who sell quality cables at reasonable prices. Better Cables, also a forum sponsor, sells more esoteric cables for more money.

For speaker wire, the partsexpress Sound King 12 or 14 gauge is hard to beat (12 gauge is bigger than 14 gauge, bigger is better). If you are going in-wall, get the in-wall wire from partsexpress or accessories4less. I am using 14 gauge, because my runs are not very long. 12 gauge is as large as you would need to get no matter how long your runs are.

You're going to notice that you're going to have to discover alot of things through "trial and error"

I find that the Y adapter was a night and day difference for my sub....Others think it's a waste.....

You can buy a cheap adapter and a monster adapter.......Try both, you can always take 1 back or both if you notice no difference.....

Some will tell you to hook the sub up to your receiver through speaker terminals......

You have to experiment to see what works best.....

oops...brain fart!

:D

Since my sub has a variable cross over, I use the speaker terminal connection as I can blend in the sub to the speakers much better than using the fixed x-over the the receiver.

I picked up a subwoofer cable from Radioshak that had a built in Y adapter. Should I hook up both pieces of the Y to the sub or just pick one and attach it to the mono? Is that bad for the sub? Should I return it for a single cable?

Thanks, Dave