Question about hooking up a subwoofer

[donconsolmagno]

Hey I just recently purchased a Onkyo 606 and a Polk PSW10 subwoofer. Do I need a special cord to hook that up or would any RCA cable do. This is my first sub so that's why it's probbaly a pretty stupid question to ask but I'm not sure about it. Thanks.

[The Master Geek]

I won't claim to be an expert but for subwoofers nothing special is required. It's not a particularly complicated signal to send. A coax with an F adapter works.

[donconsolmagno]

Hmm, where would I find such a cord?...monoprice?

[The Master Geek]

i've heard monoprice is an excellent site though I haven't used them myself. You can find coax cables pretty much anywhere. As far as F adapters somewhere like Radioshack. I actually got some at the Ace Hardware that's right down the street from me. I live in a small town though so that was pretty much my only option.

[Chief]

Anolog is anolog. Even if you have an old component cable laying around you can split them and use one of those.

[Chickengas]

You'd do better going to monoprice and getting a subwoofer cable. I don't know about that sub, but all the subs I've had have a left and right input but the amp has only 1 output. You'll probably need a Y adaper too, but check your amp and sub just to be sure. If your sub is close to your receiver, most cables would do ok, but if you have to put your sub a distance away, use a cable designed for a sub.

[donconsolmagno]

Hey thanks for all your help, I cant find the Y adapter anywhere on monoprice but I know they have it...any help would be appreciated...

Here is my manual if anyone cares to take a look, but I'm sure I need a Y cable because I have no LFE...Thanks

[Chickengas]

where is your manual??

Here is the Y-adapter I was talking about, but I'd buy one a little beefier than this:

http://www.visualapex.com/accessorie...Audio_Adapters

basically you'll probably need a MMF Y-Adapter. I bought a really nice one (it's made by monster, but whatever) because I wanted nice thick wiring and I couldn't find anything else.

[donconsolmagno]

Sorry thought I copied and pasted it

http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/m..._12_Manual.pdf

That's the manual for the PSW10, what I have.

Hmm, I guess I can run any RCA cord into that cord huh?

THanks

[Chickengas]

Yes, but depending on the distance, you want to be careful. Subwoofer cables are thicker and better shielded that other standard RCA cables. Spend a couple extra bucks and get a legitimate subwoofer cable.

[Arkadin]

You can look at BB or CC for specially marked packages that say "subwoofer", but in reality, as others have said, they are just regular rca cables. They do look pretty though.
they use the color brown near the jacks of "sub" cables in the ht color code system.

[NineseveN]

Many subs, at least HT subs have two inputs but the connections are bridged inside the jack anyway. A single RCA type 75ohm cable is usually enough. There are exceptions though, so check with your manual and/or manufacturer.

Example: SVS subs run one cable into either of the inputs on the sub panel, you don't need a Y cable or adapter.

[Yog-Sothoth]

Cable (they have shorter or longer lengths as needed)

If you don't want to wait for shipping, you could go to some place such as Home Depot and get 25 feet (or whatever length you need) of RG6 coaxial cable. You would need one (or two) of these if you went that route. You could get the RG6 cable at RadioShack as well, but you would pay more. If you're really paranoid about the thickness of the cable, you could use RG6 quad shield, but that's mainly intended for outdoor use.

From your subwoofer manual:

PSW10—
NOTE: The PSW10 subwoofer does not have an LFE input. Instead, use either the L or R Line input (another hookup option is to use a Y-split cable and connect both L and R Line inputs). After you make this Sub Out connection, turn the "Low Pass" filter fully clockwise. This will in effect create an LFE input.

If you still want to connect to both RCA inputs, use this adapter, or this one if you want to go cheap. Either way, you can find them in any RadioShack. I did a search at Monoprice for the adapter—they only have the reverse of this (two RCA jacks to one RCA plug).

Another option for the adapter.

[donconsolmagno]

Thanks a lot for the information, Yog, my final question would be, I guess it's better to get that adapter to split it to make the LFE correct?

[Yog-Sothoth]

It wouldn't hurt.