TX-NR515 Subwoofer question

Hi,

This might be an incredibly stupid question, so I apologize in advance if that's the case.

1) I have an older (maybe 7 years?) subwoofer from a previous Onkyo setup. It only has a regular speaker wire connection on the back (purple and black). Am I correct in thinking that there is no way to hook this into the TX-NR515? The receiver seems to only have an RCA connection for subs. I didn't know if plugging the subwoofer into the (unused) "rear" speaker ports would damage something, so was a bit hesitant.

2) If I have to buy a new subwoofer, a good number of them seem to have two RCA ports (red and white) on the back. The TX-NR515 has the one subwoofer RCA plug and then a shaded un-named RCA port right beneath it. Would I plug the two RCA's from the powered sub into both of those ports? Does it matter which one is left or right?

Thanks!

DJMattB241 wrote:Hi,

This might be an incredibly stupid question, so I apologize in advance if that's the case.

1) I have an older (maybe 7 years?) subwoofer from a previous Onkyo setup. It only has a regular speaker wire connection on the back (purple and black). Am I correct in thinking that there is no way to hook this into the TX-NR515? The receiver seems to only have an RCA connection for subs. I didn't know if plugging the subwoofer into the (unused) "rear" speaker ports would damage something, so was a bit hesitant.

2) If I have to buy a new subwoofer, a good number of them seem to have two RCA ports (red and white) on the back. The TX-NR515 has the one subwoofer RCA plug and then a shaded un-named RCA port right beneath it. Would I plug the two RCA's from the powered sub into both of those ports? Does it matter which one is left or right?

Thanks!

Your old sub has speaker level inputs. There should be two sets - one for the output from your receiver (input for the sub) and another to feed your speakers with output from the sub). You can connect the front right and left outputs from your Onkyo TX-NR515 to the inputs of your sub, then the (outputs from your sub) to your front right and left speakers. You'll have to set your 515 front speakers to full range.

If it were me, I'd purchase a new sub to fully take advantage of the Audyssey sound calibration system that is built into your TX-NR515.

Your TX-NR-515 has two purple colored RCA output terminals for two subwoofers. You can use only one or both if you wish for one or two subs).

Here is a really nice Onkyo sub that I own. The sound is phenomenal! this will work well with your 515.

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SKW204-Reflex-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000HMLP5A/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&srs=2530057011&ie=UTF8&qid=1349492956&sr=1-1&keywords=onkyo+subwoofer[img][/img]

Good luck! If you have any questions please feel free to PM me!

Thanks for the reply. My subwoofer only has one input: a set of speaker wire inputs. Purple and Black. There is no output to other speakers, nor is there really anything else of note on the sub at all. It's basically just a black monolith with just those two speaker wire inputs. Anything I can do with that?

A lot of the subs I looked at looked more like this one: (I can't post links yet, but if you do a search on Amazon for Polk Audio PSW10, you'll get what I was going to link to.)
As you can see, it has a line input, which I would imagine would be what I use, but it has both a left and right input. But the receiver only has one output. That's what I mean. How do you hook the Onkyo receiver to something like THAT?

Again, I really appreciate your help. Thank you!

DJMattB241 wrote:Thanks for the reply. My subwoofer only has one input: a set of speaker wire inputs. Purple and Black. There is no output to other speakers, nor is there really anything else of note on the sub at all. It's basically just a black monolith with just those two speaker wire inputs. Anything I can do with that?

A lot of the subs I looked at looked more like this one: (I can't post links yet, but if you do a search on Amazon for Polk Audio PSW10, you'll get what I was going to link to.)
As you can see, it has a line input, which I would imagine would be what I use, but it has both a left and right input. But the receiver only has one output. That's what I mean. How do you hook the Onkyo receiver to something like THAT?

Again, I really appreciate your help. Thank you!

I looked at the user manual for the Polk PSW10. Here is a link to it: http://www.specsserver.com/CACHE/FILE17069.PDF

That particular version of the Polk PSW10 had both speaker inputs & outputs plus female RCA line level inputs in addition to a LFE input.

Here is another link to it right from the Polk site: http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/manual/PSW10_12_MN.pdf

I looked on various sites at pictures of the back panel of the PSW10 and all showed the LFE input. Was yours part of a packaged 5.1 speaker system or something like that? Here is a link to the Crutchfield site, where you can see a picture of the back of the current PSW10: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107PSW110B/Polk-Audio-PSW110-Black.html

Maybe what you could do since your particular PSW10 doesn't have the LFE input, is to use the amplified Zone 2 speaker outputs from your TX-NR515 and connect them to the speaker inputs on your Polk PSW10 S/W.

Let me know how you make out!

Good Luck!

Thank you again!

Okay, couple clarity points:

First, I don't own the PSW10, it's just one that I've been eying because it's cheap, my apartment is small, and I just want something to fill in the sound. The s/w I own is one that came with my last Onkyo receiver. It just has the speaker wire input.

Second, that back image you linked was for the PSW110, which is about $175 more than the PSW10. If I could link stuff, I'd send you right to the page. Curse the 7-day embargo on links! The back of the PSW10, which I verified through a bunch of looking through Google Image Search, definitely does not have a single plug LFE in. It has speaker wire (speaker level, right?) in, and RCA (line level, right?) in. That's about the end of it.

Anyway, you said that I could just use speaker wire from Zone 2 to get to my sub. Will that work with my existing sub? I thought I read something about subs needing a special output so the bass isn't super quiet. Is that not true?

DJMattB241 wrote:Thank you again!

Okay, couple clarity points:

First, I don't own the PSW10, it's just one that I've been eying because it's cheap, my apartment is small, and I just want something to fill in the sound. The s/w I own is one that came with my last Onkyo receiver. It just has the speaker wire input.

Second, that back image you linked was for the PSW110, which is about $175 more than the PSW10. If I could link stuff, I'd send you right to the page. Curse the 7-day embargo on links! The back of the PSW10, which I verified through a bunch of looking through Google Image Search, definitely does not have a single plug LFE in. It has speaker wire (speaker level, right?) in, and RCA (line level, right?) in. That's about the end of it.

Anyway, you said that I could just use speaker wire from Zone 2 to get to my sub. Will that work with my existing sub? I thought I read something about subs needing a special output so the bass isn't super quiet. Is that not true?

Sorry for the confusion on PSW10 vs PSW110. I knew that you meant the 10, I must have typed in 110 anyway.

From what I have heard from owners of the 10 they just use one of the line level inputs either R or L from the sub output on their receivers. You could always buy a "Y" connector (one female RCA to 2 male RCA), if you decide to purchase the Polk.

When I purchased this Onkyo sub http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SKW204-Reflex-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000HMLP5A/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1349565214&sr=1-1&keywords=Onkyo+sub It was $126 delivered from Amazon. It puts out mega LFE with no distortion. I purchased it because I wanted to use it in a very confined space. Its design is very space efficient.

You could try your old sub by connecting it to the Zone 2 on your TX-NR515. It certainly won't hurt anything. Most likely it will work.

In another system that I have with a Yamaha 265 watt per channel RMS power amp, I have a Sony 12" powered sub wired to the speaker out terminals, since my preamp has no LFE out. It works fine. That's essentially what you'll be doing b using Zone 2. Just be careful - observe polarity and make sure no bare wire touches receiver chassis or bare wire to bare wire and so on.

Hope it works out for you.

Yeah, the Zone 2 is too quiet (bass-wise). I'll just cave and get a new s/w. I guess at least I'll be able to pass on the old s/w when I find someone to take my old receiver.

Thank you very much for your help!