Need help using a subwoofer crossover


I have a cheap Velodyne CT-120 sub. I am trying to experiment by using its crossover to prevent my main speakers from having to reproduce frequencies below about 100-120 Hz.

The back of the sub has RCA input and output terminals. I ran cable from the "main out 1" on my pre to the input terminals on the sub, then ran the output on the sub to the inputs on my amp. Result: I get sound out of the sub but nothing out of the speakers.

I have the low-pass filter set to 120 Hz, and sub is on all the time (as opposed to auto). The only thing I can think of is there is a high-pass filter switch on the sub that can only be set to 80 or 100 Hz. I'm wondering how to engage only the correct filter so my speakers run everything above 100 or 120 Hz.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks tons!
Howard
aggielaw

Showing 1 response by john_z

Does your CT-120 provide speaker-level in/out connections? If your pre-amp or integrated amp is meant for stereo only (no processor) and/or lacks an output labeled "subwoofer" or similar (which are usually filtered) you may get a better result using the high-level (speaker-level) connections to the sub in your case. It sounds counter-intuitive, but connecting a powered sub this way can actually sound a lot better if your preamp or integrated is not fitted with a line-level sub output.

Also, the "line out" on many powered subs is often not meant to feed a signal back to the pre-amp, but may be used to "daisy-chain" another sub. That may explain why you are not getting any sound from your main speakers with it connected this way.

Try running speaker cable from your preamp to the sub's speaker level inputs, then another set to your monitors from the sub's speaker outputs (assuming it has this connection, of course), and the adjustable crossover in the Velodyne will filter out the low frequencies before they reach your monitors so they will play louder and cleaner than otherwise. Definately worth a try! JZ