[Althax]

Well I finally was able to order a sub and I was lucky enough to get the Elemental Designs A2-300. I'm a little worried because I just dropped a load of cash on it and have no idea how to setup that hideous thing. What kind of cable or accessories do I need to order to hook it up to my Onkyo Tx-SR505? I'm a big old noob on this HT stuff and have been slowly building my setup.


Is this going to work well with the Polk R150's and CSR I currently have and the Onkyo 505?


Also, how do I set it up? Just go through the Onkyo auto setup thing or do I have to do funky stuff with crossovers and crap like that? Gah there's so much to learn about all this junk I feel like I'm wading through a river.


And placement... do I just stick it behind the speakers (they're a little forward and to the left and right of the TV)? I've never had a sub so I don't even know what to expect.

 

[thsmith]

I don't own an eD sub but below are some of basics.


You will need an RCA cable to connect receiver to sub. Go to monoprice.com and order online.


Not sure what your Onkyo uses for speaker calibration if any but eD should provide some guidance and what level to set sub gain to but for my HSU it was 10:00 on the gain knob. If your receiver has Audessy or some sort of other speaker calibration, follow the instructions.


After it has completed it will most likely have your main speakers set to large. CHange this setting to small and if not already set to 80hz at the crossover set it to 80hz.


That should get you started.


Oh yeah, eD may have you set the sub crossover to out which means your Onkyo will control the crossover going to the sub which in this case is 80hz.


As far a placement you can start with a front corner and then try different placemants that give best bass and sound quality.


Good luck !

 

[Althax]

Do I need an RCA Cable that Y splits? I think from other posts it seems that this sub needs it or something? Not sure because I'm very confused.

 

[gimmepilotwings]

No, you can put the single cable on either the left or right. I always use the left.

 

[Josette]

I've got the exact same setup as yours, A2-300 sub and Onkyo TX-SR505. They work marvelously together

The only thing you need is an RCA cable, I used a coaxial digital audio cable from Monoprice. Just plug it into either the left or right input on the sub, no need for a splitter. I used the left.


On the sub, there are 3 controls: set the level to the 12:00 position (halfway up), the phase to 0 (all the way to the left) and the crossover up as high as it goes (all the way to the right). Plug the sub in and run the Audyssey automatic setup on your receiver. Once it's done, go into the setup menu and set all speakers to small, and the crossover at 80. Double check the distance for the sub, mine had it set 4' too far away. This should give you a good starting point. Put in a movie or Cd with a lot of bass. Give it a listen.


Since this is your first sub, it's EXTREMELY important to find the best place in your room to put it. Mine sounded crummy in one spot, okay in another, and awesome in another. Mine sounded best when put in the corner, so make sure you try that. Just go through the same procedure with each new location, running Audyssey, checking the settings, and giving it a listen. Once you've put it in a certain spot, make sure you listen to it at various places in the room - you don't want it to sound "okay" in your normal listening position and great someplace else in the room. I'd recommend turning the sub off and letting it sit for 10 minutes or so before moving it.


Once you've found the spot where it sounds best, try setting the phase control on the sub to 180 (all the way to the right). See if it sounds better or worse. Experiment with setting the crossover on the receiver at various points, see what you like best. Turn the sub level on the receiver up a bit, down a bit, see what sounds best. Try setting your front speakers to large and turning on the double bass, see what you think of that. Etc.


Edit: Might want to set the level on the sub to 10:00 instead of 12:00. I had mine at 12:00 and the sub level on the receiver at -3, and when listening to movies at moderate volume levels, the sub went into sleep mode. Reset the level on the sub to the 10:00 position and the sub level on the receiver to 0, it's working fantastic now. Just something to keep in mind if you have a similar experience.

 

[Althax]

Sweet reply! I'll be sure to check back on this once I receive the sub and set it up.


Thanks a ton!


Oh and i already ordered a Y split cable. Is that going to be harmful in any way?

 

[SRR]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Josette /forum/post/14248103


I've got the exact same setup as yours, A2-300 sub and Onkyo TX-SR505. They work marvelously together

The only thing you need is an RCA cable, I used a coaxial digital audio cable from Monoprice. Just plug it into either the left or right input on the sub, no need for a splitter. I used the left.


On the sub, there are 3 controls: set the level to the 12:00 position (halfway up), the phase to 0 (all the way to the left) and the crossover up as high as it goes (all the way to the right). Plug the sub in and run the Audyssey automatic setup on your receiver. Once it's done, go into the setup menu and set all speakers to small, and the crossover at 80. Double check the distance for the sub, mine had it set 4' too far away. This should give you a good starting point. Put in a movie or Cd with a lot of bass. Give it a listen.


Since this is your first sub, it's EXTREMELY important to find the best place in your room to put it. Mine sounded crummy in one spot, okay in another, and awesome in another. Mine sounded best when put in the corner, so make sure you try that. Just go through the same procedure with each new location, running Audyssey, checking the settings, and giving it a listen. Once you've put it in a certain spot, make sure you listen to it at various places in the room - you don't want it to sound "okay" in your normal listening position and great someplace else in the room. I'd recommend turning the sub off and letting it sit for 10 minutes or so before moving it.


Once you've found the spot where it sounds best, try setting the phase control on the sub to 180 (all the way to the right). See if it sounds better or worse. Experiment with setting the crossover on the receiver at various points, see what you like best. Turn the sub level on the receiver up a bit, down a bit, see what sounds best. Try setting your front speakers to large and turning on the double bass, see what you think of that. Etc.

Phase=Time Arrival, you shouldn't need to redo the distance the receiver finds as it is taking into account everything the sub is doing to the signal and room, it will sometimes set the sub further away then what it actually is, bu in reality it is setting it just right.

 

[SRR]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Althax /forum/post/14250258


Oh and i already ordered a Y split cable. Is that going to be harmful in any way?

Not harmful one bit.

 

[Josette]



Quote:
Originally Posted by SRR /forum/post/14250509


Phase=Time Arrival, you shouldn't need to redo the distance the receiver finds as it is taking into account everything the sub is doing to the signal and room, it will sometimes set the sub further away then what it actually is, bu in reality it is setting it just right.

That's interesting, thanks for the tip! I'll have to try setting the distance back to where Audyssey had it and see if that makes a difference. Oddly enough, even though I had the distance set in the receiver, when I set the phase to 180 instead of 0 on the sub, it seemed to sound better, so I left it like that.


Now I've got some more experimenting to do