HLLY TA2020 on 4 OHM speakers?
- Thread starter Bigkahuna
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Bigkahuna
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the info!
Bigkahuna
Well-Known Member
Powered Sub?
I have a powered sub that I want to experiment with. If you look at the photo you can see the connections. Can I connect this to my Tripath amp? Do I just run the speaker wires parallel? It looks like you can run the speaker wires in series?? Sorry I do not know much about amplified subwoofers.
I have a powered sub that I want to experiment with. If you look at the photo you can see the connections. Can I connect this to my Tripath amp? Do I just run the speaker wires parallel? It looks like you can run the speaker wires in series?? Sorry I do not know much about amplified subwoofers.
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whoaru99
Epic Member
Maybe, maybe not. Quite a few chip amps are BTL design which can be damaged by common ground connections, that are not unusual on a sub input like that. If you have a multimeter you could check for common between the two black/negative speaker input terminals on the sub. If they are not common it's no problem. If they are common I'd find more info on whether the amp can be connected to common grounds.
Last edited:
marqueemoon
Gimme indie rock!
It has a wattage rating for 4 ohm use, so it should be fine.
I agree about doing a little more research re: connecting to the sub. Try to find a manual.
I agree about doing a little more research re: connecting to the sub. Try to find a manual.
whoaru99
Epic Member
Just the subwoofer driver.
Depends on the sub. Some do, some don't. You'll have to check the literature/specifications to see if it has a high pass filter for the main speaker connections.
As mentioned earlier though, many chip amps are NOT suitable for common ground operation but many subwoofer inputs are common ground. If this is the case, connecting the sub could damage the amp.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
One way to connect your sub amp is to feed the source signal to it's line-in and then go line-out to your HLLY. Most line-outs on sub amps are pass through so the signal is not affected. The downside is you'll have two separate volume controls to deal with.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Here's another example of integrating a chip amp, sub amp and preamp. The CD player on bottom is connected to the tube preamp. Y cables off the preamp feed both the chip amp on the left and the sub amp on the second shelf. This configuration allows the preamp volume pot to control both the volume levels of the sub amp and the chip amp. No common ground connection problems using line levels.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Bigk, you'll have volume control using either method but I'm not sure my explanation is clear enough.
Method 1 ( no preamp ) - CD player or other source connects to sub amp's line-in with RCA cables. Sub amp's line-out is then connected to t-amp's input with RCA cables. Volume is controlled individually by sub amp's volume pot and by t-amp's volume pot. Whatever sounds best is the levels you should use but it may differ for each CD.
Method 2 ( with preamp ) - CD player or other source connects to preamp input via RCA cables. Output on preamp ( unless you have two outputs ) uses two Y cables ( or signal splitters ) attached to two pair of RCA cables. One pair of cables feeds the t-amp and the other is connected to the sub amp line-in. The volume of both the t-amp and sub amp is now controlled by the preamp. You can set the sub amp at a level you like and leave it there.
Method 1 ( no preamp ) - CD player or other source connects to sub amp's line-in with RCA cables. Sub amp's line-out is then connected to t-amp's input with RCA cables. Volume is controlled individually by sub amp's volume pot and by t-amp's volume pot. Whatever sounds best is the levels you should use but it may differ for each CD.
Method 2 ( with preamp ) - CD player or other source connects to preamp input via RCA cables. Output on preamp ( unless you have two outputs ) uses two Y cables ( or signal splitters ) attached to two pair of RCA cables. One pair of cables feeds the t-amp and the other is connected to the sub amp line-in. The volume of both the t-amp and sub amp is now controlled by the preamp. You can set the sub amp at a level you like and leave it there.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Everyone should own two of these signal splitters. Y cables work fine but with these there's less clutter.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
I like this style even better.
whoaru99
Epic Member
With cascaded level controls I suggest setting the 1st stage (the Yamaha in this case) to 60-70%, then adjust the 2nd stage (the T amp) to provide as high a volume, or a little more, than you normally ever play with this system. Then, once you have the T amp set to that point, use the Yamaha to control the volume.
Bigkahuna
Well-Known Member
I had it but took me a minute or two. Thank you for confirming though. As you can tell I really have not messed around with sub woofers. I also want to try this with my Magnepan SMG speakers to just add a touch of low end.
