I'm switching from HT to 2 channel audio and have been looking at replacing my Onkyo 5.1 receiver with some vintage equipment, including a Sansui G8000, Marantz 2275, and Pioneer SX 1250/1280.

I'm wondering if it's possible, and if so, how, one could run a subwoofer in addition to two main speakers from one of these older units. Would it help to have a newer preamp? Any ideas?

all you need is some longer speaker wire. i have a vintage amp hooked up with a new subwoofer. i ran the speaker wires for each channel ttoo my subwoofer first then from the sub to my main speakers. and it works and sounds better then ever

I asked the same question:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=129655&highlight=sx-1280+subwoofer

Now I have my sub hooked up to C set on my SX-1280. Works great! Using it at this moment.

No problem with a sub, a new preamp is not necessary.

There are two ways to do it, run speaker wires to the subs' high level inputs and back out to the speakers from the subs' high level outputs.

Or you can put "Y" connectors on the pre-outs of your vintage receiver and run one end to the main-in and the other to the subs' low level input on each channel. This is how I like to run mine.

This is assuming that your sub has two low level inputs, if not then you can get around that by building a simple summing network to combine both channels. Think I have info on that if you need it.

- Dave

I have a Sansui AU919 that I run with a couple of Ohm Walsh speakers...love the sound of those Ohm's, but they are lacking a little in the rump, if you know what I mean...I simply run standard RCA jacks from the preamp out of the AU919 into a Hsu VTF-1, and it sounds magical. Just SO alive in the lower register, and the Ohm Walsh's handle the rest of the frequencies just peachy...

Good luck!

Clevah!:music:

I completely forgot that the subs can pass the music through. It's been ages since I'd taken a look at their backsides. Ok, now I'm totally psyched to pick up some vintage receiver! :banana:

You will need to study the literature on your sub-woofer. Here's the main problem.

What you want is for the original speakers to handle, say, everything above 120 Hz, and for the subwoofer to handle everything below 120 Hz. There will, of course, be a small overlap, since this is the real world.

What you do NOT want is for the sub-woofer and your original enclosures to BOTH handle the same low-frequency signals. This will result in phase distortion as air molecules receive different marching orders from the subwoofer speaker and from the woofers in your original enclosures.

In order to prevent the above phase-degradation, the standard solution is to use a filter. This is a high-pass/low-pass combination filter. It sends ONLY the low-frequencies to the subwoofer, and ONLY the higher frequencies to the original enclosures.

Few standard stereo receivers have filters built in, though many higher-end home-theater receivers do. Passive subwoofer cabinets usually have these filters built in. Active subwoofer cabinets sometimes have these filters built into the LINE-IN/LINE-OUT loop and sometimes don't. As well, some active subwoofer cabinets have these filters in the SPEAKERS-IN/SPEAKERS-OUT loop -- and some don't.

If your literature doesn't say whether filters are built in, you can contact the manufacturer or use a signal generator to determine he answer experimentally.

And, of course, you can go the DIY route, and build your own filters.

Fred

Fred,

THANKS for that very informative post. I have a Velodyne HGS-12. I'm going to dig up the manual on that puppy and take a look. It is important especially as I'm going to be using it with Onix Strata Minis that have powered woofers.

Thor

Yes, thanks Fred - this is stuff that I never knew or was smart enough to even consider so I'm following along.

Here's the manual for the Velodyne, seems to have both high and low pass filters.

http://www.velodyne.com/products/manuals/HGS_1012.pdf

Mine however has only low pass, I think, which I have set to 80 Hz, I'm guessing that I got lucky on this one and my speakers probably roll off around 70 Hz, so it sounds ok to me. I am also listening near field with the sub under my desk.

- Dave