seperate bass amplifier for home theater?

Question

I was recommended one in another question I asked,but I dont really know where to get one.....where can one be obtained?nothing pricey im looking for cheap to mid quality.

how do I connect it?does it connect to the powered subwoofer out or what?somone said connect it to the "subwoofer pre amp" but I dont see a "subwoofer pre amp" connection anywhere....

what happened is I have a new reciever,and the subwoofer out is for a powered subwoofer (not powered for a passive subwoofer)

I dont have a powered sub right now,but I have an awesome Technics passive subwoofer that I had connected to an older reciever with a built in subwoofer amplifier,which in turn was connected to my new reciever through the VHS out on my new reciever.

my old reciever bit the dust.

so what I need is a seperate subwoofer amplifier to power my passive subs and a way to connect it to my new reciever wich has an output for a powered sub.

hopefully that makes more sense,sorry for the length and confusion.

Answer 1

Put this between the LFE output on your receiver and your speaker. This will give your sub all the power it needs.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gem-Sound-XP450-Stereo-Power-Amp?sku=481217

Answer 2

Okay, from what I understand is that you are trying to hook up a passive sub to a Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 system. For that you need some sort of amplifier to power the sub. The reason to run this sub sepreately is that there is a specific audio track in the surround sound of most movies for the sub. If you hook your sub to the front terminals than you are only beefing up the bass for the front channel of the surround sound. My suggestion, simple...First, run a RCA connector wire out of the Sub out on your new reciever and either make it long enough to go to a location for a NEW powered subwoofer or (what I would do) make it long enough to hook it to a reciever/amplifier that you picked up CHEAP at a flea market/garage sale, or pawn shop. Connect this RCA cable a Y adapter that splits the signal in two male connectors and connect to the CD Left IN on the back of the used reciever and run speaker wire from the Speaker output to your passive sub. Set the volume control to about 3/4 and then adjust the signal level on the reciever that you already have. I am doing something simular for my THX system at home, Good Luck

Answer 3

Yes, subwoofer amps are available
Your new receiver has a subwoofer out, RCA style jack. You called it "powered subwoofer out". "subwoofer pre amp" connections makes no sense, they may have make a mistake. Just connect the Powered subwoofer out to the subwoofer amp in then connect the sub woofer speaker out puts to your sub. You will most likely have to set the "level" of the sub amp. Most sub amps have a gain knob that you use to adjust the woofer level relative to the other speakers. Feel free to email me any questions.

From Crutchfield
Boston Acoustics SA1 $600
Polk Audio SWA500 $700
Probably a little more than you want to spend

From parts express there is a bunch of "plate" amplifiers. They can be mounted to the sub or where ever you want to put them. They start at about $40 and go all the way up to $325 http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&Webpage_ID=3&DID=7&CAT_ID=43&ObjectGroup_ID=505&SO=2

I have used the DAYTON SA100 listed for $75. IT acutally works fairly well.

Answer 4

If I am reading your question correctly, you have some sort of a subwoofer out on the back of your receiver. If that is so, I had the exact same problem. If it is filtered (no highs go out), your in luck. What I did temporarily was take my old amp and hooked up one channel. I connected from the sub out on the hometheater receiver to (in my case) the right input of any thing that was open except phono (phono won't work properly because there is an "equalizer" of some sort for the phono cartridge). Next, I hooked up a passive "subwoofer" on the matching right speaker channel. You can use either left or right as long as both the input connection and the speaker channel match (left input= left speaker channel , right input= right speaker channel). However, if you get two passive "subwoofers" of some kind, you can run a "Y" cable from the sub out to both channels of the old amp. With two "subwoofers" you could have somewhat deeper and louder bass. It may also save the old amp, because some are not 100% comfortable with driving just one channel (but that is a very minor issue at worst). Good luck. I hope that I was helpful.

Answer 5

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I think my answer was the one you were talking about.

Yes, get an amplifier and connect it to your SUB OUT (which is the receiver's subwoofer preamp section) to your new separate amplifier's INPUT and drive your passive subs with the new outboard power amp you get.

Your receiver should already have custom crossover points (i.e. variable, or 80 Hz, or similar) that you can set using your receiver's video menu. See your receiver's owner's manual for instructions and details.

You can get the amplifiers (the Behringer [which also gives you volume control for each channel of sub] and the Onkyo) I recommended by going to the following merchant's website addresses I am providing you below... I have done much business with both merchants and either one offers excellent service and products.

Make sure your passive subwoofers are rated at 8 Ohms before you consider the Onkyo. If they are 4 Ohms, choose the Behringer (I would recommend against the Onkyo with 4-Ohm subs).

E-mail me anytime if I can help you further.

H a p p y
H o m e
T h e a t e r i n g !
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Answer 6

it is called a LFE, it is a RCA type cable and it plugs into the back of the sub woffer and your reciver. A powered sub has the bass amp built in to it, there are some that use seperates, NHT does this, but mine uses a LFE

I dont know if you have Dobly Digital, you might not have a sub-out, older rec. dont have this.

if you dont you can use speaker wire, it wont be a true .1 but you will get a ton more bass out of you home .

You can buy a sub any where, Best buy, Crutchfield, High end places sell Paradigm and they are they go the deepest I have ever heard, some people like Rel and highter end stuff. but for 400 or some where in there the Paradigm will kill everthing, in the price range.

now for cheaper and still good I think that Crutchfield has some deal on a Infinity on sale, always look for a sale.

by the way hearing them in a place means nothing, it all means about what it sounds like in your house

Answer 7

What you refer to as "powered sub out" and "sub pre amp" is the same thing. It is designed to connect to (a) a powered sub, or (b) any amp. It can be connected to any amp because the output is already filtered for low-pass only. Some receivers will allow you to control the frequency, or you can get an amp with built-in crossover controls like the NHT.

I have speakers that are bi-amp-able. I use a y-adapter and connected the sub-out to an old receiver's left and right INs. I then connected the speaker outs to the subs and it works perfectly.

Answer 8

You really don't need a separate amplifier for your passive subwoofer, your receiver should be able to supply the power to it,
Simply hook your sub to the speaker connections of your receiver.
If you feel you need more power any amplifier would work fine.

Answer 9

If you have a powered sub woofer output on your Home theater system you will need to buy a "passive" sub woofer. In other words your system will provide the power to run/operate the sub woofer. Have your system make and model #'s with you when you go to purchase the woofer just in case compatibility is an issue.

Most electronics stores will carry sub woofers. Try Best Buy, Circuit City or possibly Wal-Mart. Or you could order one online at any electronics website.