[jenspetermeyer]

I am really in the dark about this stuff.

Just bought a used set of Definitive Technology BP2002's with built in subs.


There are 3 pairs of main speaker terminals on each tower marked HI, MID and LO.

Which pair do I plug into?


Also, the sub has two types of connections. One marked "optional LFE in" and the other marked "left or right full range low level in for subwoofer".

Which one of these do I use?


What are differences in these connections?


My Pioneer VSX D912K is probably not the best for these speakers but it'll have to do until I upgrade.

It has the usual front and center terminals and right and left surrounds.

I don't use the surround back terminals since I don't have speakers for them yet.

The subwoofer terminal uses a single audio cable but I have two subs


I haven't been able to verify whether the speakers are 8 ohm or not but I hope they are.


Anyway, any help would be great. Thanks

 

[Hyabusha]

Hi, the back of your speakers are marked hi, mid, and low. There are special wires you can by called bi-wire. They are used for your hi and low inputs of your speakers, so you can get more bass and treble separation. Recommend you get some, If not, just hook your regular wire to the mid inputs of your speakers. As for the sub, If you want to use your reciever's crossover, use the LFE Input of your sub. If your recievers sub crossover cuts off to high, than use the line In, red and white on your sub, then use the subs crossover and set It where you want. Cya

 

[jenspetermeyer]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hyabusha Hi, the back of your speakers are marked hi, mid, and low. There are special wires you can buy called bi-wire. They are used for your hi and low inputs of your speakers, so you can get more bass and treble separation. Recommend you get some, If not, just hook your regular wire to the mid inputs of your speakers. As for the sub, If you want to use your reciever's crossover, use the LFE Input of your sub. If your recievers sub crossover cuts off to high, than use the line In, red and white on your sub, then use the subs crossover and set It where you want. Cya

Bi-wire? There are three inputs though. So if you use "bi-wire", you plug into LO and HI and forget about MID? - and if that is so, there's still only ONE pair of "outs" on the receiver. The previous owner used Monster cable - 2 banana plugs on each end. Can't I use these too?


The sub hook-up is still a mystery. Before I can even mess with the X-over, how do I hook up 2 subs to 1 subwoofer output? Why is the white input marked "optional LFE in" and the red one "left or right full range lowlevel in for subwoofer"? Can you use one at a time or both?


If you could be more specific that would be cool - thanks.

 

[Larry Fine]

JP, if I may...


The speakers should have come with gold-colored links that allow a single wire pair to effectively connect to all three terminal pairs. Contact the previous owner and ask him to look for them. Otherwise, contact Definitive and ask if they can be bought. Lastly, you could just use wire.


In all cases, you need speaker wires connected to the MID and HI terminals (unless bi-wiring). If you feed the LO input, too, be sure to set the front speakers to 'large' in the receiver's bass management, and the sub output to 'off' or 'no sub'. In this case, interconnect the three reds and likewise the three blacks.


As an alternative, you can feed only the MID and HI sections with speaker wire, and run interconnects to the RCA inputs. The difference between the two is that the full-range input uses a low-pass filter to block all but bass from the sub, while the LFE input allows the receiver's bass management to do the crossing-over. Use one or the other, not both, and only if you don't have speaker wires on the LO terminals.


If you use the receiver's bass management to feed the LFE (and bass from any channel set to 'small') to the sub jack, you can use a Y-cord to feed two subs from the single sub output. Be sure to set the sub output 'on' (or 'sub-yes') in the receiver, and use the LFE input on the speakers.


The alternative is to set the sub out 'off' (or 'no sub'), fronts to 'large', and use the left and right preamp-outs to feed the full-range inputs. The advantage is that you have genuine stereo subs, the disadvantage is that your mains must be able to handle the full-range bass that will be included (which, of course, these are designed for).


This last method is what was recommended in the manual that came with my BP-2000's (original, not TL's), and after trying the other ways, is how I have them now. It sounds better this way than any other. Anyway, I hope this was helpful. Let us know.

 

[jenspetermeyer]

What is a pre-amp out?


I do have those gold colored links installed.

Didn't know what they were but I left them on. When you mentioned these it made much more sense.


I guess the links spread the frequencies between the terminals for full range eliminating the need to use the sub inputs. Just set them to large and the subs pick up all the low frequencies?


So I really don't need to use the sub output on the receiver. Will I still be able to set the level of bass with the knob on the back?

 

[Larry Fine]

A preamp output on a receiver is meant for using external (usually more powerful) amplifiers instead of (or in addition to, sometimes) the receiver's own amps. In this case, the receiver is being used as a preamp-processor.


The links don't "spread" the frequencies, they merely act as jumpers. The crossover components inside the speaker do the directing, with a high-pass (aka low-blocking) filter between the HI terminals and the tweeters, and a low-pass (aka high-blocking) filter between the MID terminals and the mid-woofers.


The LO inputs are merely inputs to the sub amps; they use resistors to drop the signal level, and then fed to the full-range (with low-pass filtering) input to the amp. (It amost seems an oxymoron that the full-range input is filtered and the LFE input is not.)


Correct; with the fronts set to 'large' any deep bass in the main channels goes to the sub amps, and if the sub out is set to 'no sub', the LFE signal goes to the front outs, too. And yes to your last question.

 

[jenspetermeyer]

Quote: "The alternative is to set the sub out 'off' (or 'no sub'), fronts to 'large', and use the left and right preamp-outs to feed the full-range inputs. The advantage is that you have genuine stereo subs, the disadvantage is that your mains must be able to handle the full-range bass that will be included (which, of course, these are designed for)."


The left and right preamp out you mentioned are the front speaker terminals?


P.S. thanks for all the help so far

 

[Ted Pugh]

jenspetermeyer,


A lot of good advise here. I own the Def. Tech 2002 TL'S with a super cube II sub. I bi wire my fronts by using the jumpers connected. I have monster speaker cable and hook the high end wire to the high freq. connector on the speaker and the low end wire to the mid section on the speaker. Remember keep the jumpers on the speakers in place.


I hook my sub from the sub output on my pre/pro to the LFE input on the sub. If you have two subs then you will need to have a y connector to hook them together unless your receiver has two sub outputs.


Hope this helps.

 

[jenspetermeyer]

Thanks for all the help guys...

 

[Larry Fine]

J.P., no, I'm talking about RCA jacks on the receiver that would be labeled "pre-out" or something similar, one for each channel, although some receivers don't have a jack for every channel.




Ted, Ted, Ted...


Remove those jumpers! You're not getting the benefit of bi-wiring, and your bass is suffering as well.


If you have separate wires to the HI and MID inputs, and the links in place, you're only paralleling the wires, and not actually bi-wiring at all.


Plus, if you're running interconnects to the LFE inputs AND speaker wires to the LO terminals, you're not getting the LFE via the interconnetcs.


Please remove all of the links and you'll be surprised at how much better they will sound. Trust me. Please let me know the results.


Edit: Okay, I just re-read your post. If you use the Cube as your only sub, and the RCA interconnect goes there, and the subs in the BPs as woofers, not sub-woofers, then you should leave the lower links in place.