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What about the subwoofer?

The topic of improving stereo listening from an AVR by adding an integrated amp to control the front speakers has been discussed in this forum. The recommended method involves connecting the AVR’s pre-out to the home theatre bypass of the integrated; connecting the front speakers to the integrated; and running the source (e.g., the streamer and dac) to the integrated rather than the AVR. I understand with this method the AVR need not even be on for stereo listening.

My question relates to the subwoofer presently connected to the AVR.  Presumably that connection must be maintained for surround sound sources. Must the AVR power remain on when listening in stereo? Should a separate subwoofer cable be attached to the integrated, using a Y cable  to connect both units to the subwoofer? All advice appreciated.

sadbird
auxinput
2,924 posts
 

Well, you are using the integrated amp as an "amplifier" left/right outputs of your AVR.  So you would still be able to take a high-level tap off the speaker outputs of your integrated and use that for the subwoofer.   Like I said, the left/right would have the full-range sound and would not be crossed over.   The subwoofer would just add any low bass that your left/right would not be able to produce.  Not the best solution, but the only solution you would be able to setup.

kennyc
3,006 posts
 

Seems that the OP is adding an additional amp between the subwoofer signal and the subwoofer, then trying to bypass the added amp like there was a “subwoofer bypass” feature/option

deep_333
2,450 posts
 

The reason a preamp processor and separate power amplifiers are suggested for hifi applications over a AVR is...

- The preamp processor (no built in amplication) is usually a ground up designed flagship product from most brands with the best preamp sections, dac implementation, streaming function, dedicated power supply, etc. It can still be relatively affordable because it gets subsidized by the higher end HT guys (markets of scale). 

- You can connect it to the best power amplifiers (depending on your budget). The primary weak link in an AVR are the compromised power amp sections crammed into the same box, injecting noise everywhere...downgrading the upstream components and everything in the box, brings everything down.

 

By using some dumb integrated amp, you lose very useful features like bass management, peq, etc (that the prepro came with). You will find it very difficult to integrate subs correctly and so on with a purist piece. By deploying a high quality preamp processor paired with hifi power amplifiers, you can achieve very good results when running it in stereo mode as well. 

Get a prepro from a good brand and use the best power amps you can afford for the front left, front right and center channels. You can get by with some power amp compromise for the surrounds and height channels.

Refer to my room 2 system for a ballpark on what can quality as both a hifi 2 channel and multichannel hybrid system.

(Sky’s the limit if you have less wallet restrictions, of course).

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