# .2 system: one sub for left, right - 2 sub for LFE



## KASR (Jun 9, 2009)

OK, so I have two subs that I am running in my 7.2 setup. Stereo material always sounds like it's lacking in bass, so am I correct in thinking that i can have one of my basses handling left-right channels and the other handling LFE exclusively?

Correct me if I'm wrong - but couldn't I run speaker cable for left and right front speakers to the first sub and then run them back out of the sub to the fronts? Then for the second sub, run the normal pre-amp sub out for LFE to it?

Is there a better way?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

You cant use the High level inputs and the line in at the same time. Does your receiver have two sub outs?


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

I think he has one sub with a plate amp that he can do as he plans, using the full range setting from the receiver for the front mains, then use the receiver's dedicated lfe out to the other sub (low level).


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## KASR (Jun 9, 2009)

ironglen said:


> I think he has one sub with a plate amp that he can do as he plans, using the full range setting from the receiver for the front mains, then use the receiver's dedicated lfe out to the other sub (low level).


What he said. I've attached two images of how I think it would work - of course, both configurations being combined. IF I do this, do I set the mains to "Large" in the crossover settings?


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

Affirmative. Try it out before running wires hidden, etc, if you don't like it switch it back (let us know if you like it!) Others have done this and felt it improved the sound, I'm in the process of doing something similar. You can vary the crossover(s) as well.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

You can do it that way however I wonder if that would cause some issues as you must have the receiver set to full range on your mains and if your receiver does not have the "dubble bass" option you would not get the .1 information sent to the LEF channel


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## KASR (Jun 9, 2009)

Cool! I was just wanting to make sure my logic wasn't flawed! another question is, if I set the sub to "off" or "no" - will the pre-amp out still get a signal passed to the LFE sub?


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## KASR (Jun 9, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> You can do it that way however I wonder if that would cause some issues as you must have the receiver set to full range on your mains and if your receiver does not have the "dubble bass" option you would not get the .1 information sent to the LEF channel


I was just wonder that as well, since I would have to say either "off" or "no" if I ran the main through the sub.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Give it a try ,who knows it may work just fine.
Just keep in mind that music dos not have the dynamic range that BluRay movies do. Music usually rolls off at around 35Hz.


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> You can do it that way however I wonder if that would cause some issues as you must have the receiver set to full range on your mains and if your receiver does not have the "dubble bass" option you would not get the .1 information sent to the LEF channel


Really? I thought the mains would get full-range content, while lfe would be sent to the .1, of course only in the case of 5.1/7.1. For stereo mode, .1 only works when the mains are set to small, right?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I do believe so, This will particularly be noticeable with music. But again if your receiver allows you to send the lows to the mains and the sub at the same time then your fine.


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## glaufman (Nov 25, 2007)

I would suggest trying to figure out "why" you think stereo sound is lacking in bass... a few possibilties come to mind: 
Starting with the assumption that bass is good with multichannel, and therefore we don't blame room acoustics and the like...
Some receivers, much to my chagrin, don't perform bass management (i.e. redirecting bass from mains to sub) when in stereo mode. Although my opinion is they should any time a sub is present, some call it "2 ch stereo" mode for a reason. If this is the case, then you indeed could see great benefit doing what you're doing.
OTOH, if your subs ARE getting the bass information in stereo mode, I'm afraid that doing what you're proposing could take one sub out of the equation in this mode, which based on our assumptions, would presumably make the bass weaker...


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## luke (Feb 4, 2010)

i also have mine set up like that somewhat. I have 2 amps ( a sony 5-1 and aiwa 5.1 )
I have B&W and then Bose on the other amp . At Times i get too much base I am currently having a 
problem with bounce back or echo with my sound and the Tv/ cable system . I am not sure if it is feed back from the center channel or one of the channels is not set up correctly on the TV ( SAMSUNG LCDLED 40 " ) i know that when it is working correctly both amps and all the speakers , nothing sounds like it or nothing that i have ever heard . LUKE


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
With most modern AVR's, if no Subwoofer is selected, the LFE information will be redirected to the Fronts (Mains). You could conceivably configure 1 sub to your LFE preout and configure the other to another channel via high level inputs.

You could also configure your fronts each with a subwoofer via high level inputs and should still get LFE with the subwoofer not selected in setup.
I will say that the most common configuration for dual sub setups that are not 7.2/9.2 is to use a Y Adapter to split the signal at the preamp out of your AVR.
Cheers,
JJ


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