Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions SUB hookup

I have a question that I have researched many times before and would appreciate some opinions on: My receiver's lowest x-over setting is 80 which is the normal THX setting. What if I were to run the high-level front L&R speaker wires to the EP500, set the x-over on the SUB to 60 and let it pass everything above 60 to the M60's???

The reason I ask is because I used to have a passive SUB many years ago that connected like this and quite frankly it sounded very good. Especially when watching Apollo 13, right before the launch where the music plays really low did the passive SUB sound fantastic... not so much with a powered SUB of better quality. (I do not yet have the EP500 in my possesion.. another week and a half maybe) If I were to try this, would I set the speaker sizes all to small, the same as I would with the line level hookup to the SUB? Or would that limit the low end frequencies needed by the SUB? Or would it be best to just leave the receiver set to SUB-on and the x-over to 80, and the fronts set to small?

You can certainly try this with your 500 but I can't fathom why it would sound better.

This method is not as efficient as using the LFE output on your receiver. Hence, some of your receiver's power will be wasted.

If you do decide to try it, the sub should be set to off. The speakers should be automatically set to large by the firmware and the cross-over is a "don't care" since the sub is turned off (at least that's how mine works).

I also wanted to point out that more BOOM does not a better sub make . If your 500 turns out to be anything like my 600, it booms when appropriate and everything else is as smooth as Rob Thomas on Santana's Supernatural .

Let us know what you find out.

Joey, welcome. No, the "crossover" control on subs, including the EP500, doesn't work the way that you're expecting. It isn't actually a full crossover that would roll off the sub above the frequency selected and the speakers below that frequency; it's simply a low pass filter on the sub which has no effect on the speakers, even in situations(not with the EP500)where the speakers are connected through the sub. So, what you propose isn't possible and you'll have to rely on your receiver for bass management. Use the regular coaxial cable to the sub, set all speakers "small" in the receiver, and most likely an 80Hz crossover. Since the receiver will be doing an actual crossover, set the "crossover" control on the ER500 to "bypass", since it isn't needed.

If Joey connects as I proposed above, wouldn't lows be passed by his speakers and his 500?

Mo, there're no speaker connections on the EP500/600, and if there were, the "crossover" control would have no effect on them.

I see high level inputs on the back.

So my understanding is that if you connect to the high level inputs, you'll have bass out of the 500/600 (below the dialed cut-off frequency) and the speakers (limited by their natural response).

Am I missing something?

Mo, those are just inputs, there're no speaker output connections. Joey is asking about something that can't be done: somehow connecting the M60s through the EP500 and then incorrectly assuming that the EP500 "crossover" would also provide bass management at say 60Hz to the M60s, since his receiver has no setting lower than 80Hz.

Yes, I see that now. Thanks.