Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater need help with passive subwoofer

Hello Henry,
Here are some more tests you can do with that sub. Try connecting your CD (or DVD player) directly to your Sony, I guess the CD input. Use both left and right analog outs of the player into the receiver. Try connecting the sub to right channel, then to left channel, of the Sony. Can you hear it with normal -or slightly loud- volume settings? If so, then I would guess that the HK is not sending much signal out that LFE port and someone who has that receiver will have to help you diagnose the proper settings.
If, however, you get not much of anything out of the sub when directly connected to the Sony, then I suspect the sub is not well. Are you connecting to the proper inputs? I don’t know what they would be labeled; a quick Yahoo search did not turn up the company website in the first page or so.
Or, the Sony could be sick. You can test it in this configuration by temporarily connecting an M22 to the Sony’s speaker output. It should be blasting loud…so be careful and turn up volume slowly.
Good luck,
PS Oh hey, reading your post again. The sub wants to be connected on both sides? Well then you need a Y-cable to duplicate the LFE out of the HK into both right and left sides of the CD input on the Sony. It still should make a fair noise with only one connected, I should think. You still can make these tests of it with the CD player connected to both right and left. Of course you are playing music with some bass level in it, right? Since it was Halloween I brought out some of my organ favorites (Bach Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, for example) and that sort of thing comes to mind for your test. You don't accidentally have the tape monitor on?

Henry, it isn't clear from what you've described why it isn't working well. I have no familiarity with either your Sony or the sub, but those general principles should apply to them. With the Sony volume control all the way up there should be plenty of volume with the 525's sub level half way or even less(obviously, be sure that the 700 is set to the right input, i.e. CD). On the unlikely chance that something's wrong with the right channel, if you haven't already done so, try the left channel input and output on the 700. Also try some line-level input other than CD. If you're saying that the sub has two sets of speaker wire terminals,for both left and right channels, a way to use both would be to use a Y-connector at the 700's CD(or other)inputs so that the single cable from the 525 sub out would supply signal to both left and right inputs. You would then use speaker wire from both left and right terminals of the 700 to the two sets of terminals on the sub.

Hello Bryan,
I bought a Y-cable and reconnected the sub. It sounds much better. The volume is much improved. I just turned volume to less than 50% of the range to got enough low frequency. It is the right solution obviously. Thanks for your help.
Henry