# Passive Subwoofer on Amplifier?



## nemdog (Dec 23, 2008)

Hey guys,

completely new to this audio thing...

Ok so ill be honest, i bought this "surround sound system" (5.1 - 2 fronts, 2 rear, centre and 2 woofers in ported box) off a friend of mine and ive just figured out the subwoofer is what they call a "passive sub" It was 8 different connections on the back, and tells me to hook it up to a positive and negative on an amp - but my amp only has the one Sub-pre out for a powered sub!!

How do i hook it up and power it? Ive got a 5.1 channel Sherwood AV reciever/amp (RD-6513) at home, and ive heard you can connect the sub to the normal speaker connections (via the crappy speaker wire) then run the speakers off the sub? but another friend said he wouldnt hook an amp up to the passive sub that way, ill definatly blow something??

Just wondering is there anyway i can hook the system up? (maybe use the centre speaker connections and then run that off the sub) - without blowing speakers or amp?

And what is the right way to get this system working?? Please help, ill try and answer any questions - sorry im not sure as to what information i should put down... I know the amp is 5 x 100 watt RMS, the speakers say they are 125 watts each but its not RMS and i think they are pretty average speakers.

Cheers guys, Merry Xmas, happy new year artytime


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Welcome to TSF...

If the sub has connections labeled "Speaker In" & "Speaker Out" (they'll look like the speaker wire connections on your Sherwood) then go ahead and hook the 2 front speaker leads (left & right) from the receiver to the "In" and run 2 pair of wires from the sub's " Out" to the fronts. Everything will be sort of OK. The problem is that the .1 in 5.1 is a dedicated bass signal. The sound track was mixed assuming the bass was coming out here.

Your other option is to go on Craig's List (or similar) and buy an inexpensive amp. Even a receiver will do - use the pre-out to any of the inputs and come off one of the stereo speaker connections. 

Hope this helps.
yustr


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