# BFD, EP2500, subs, etc. Need help hooking it all up please



## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

Hi. This is my first post on the site. A member on the other big site told me about this place and I thought I'd check it out. Already checked out the BFD guide and looked around a little. I like what I see! :bigsmile:

Now, on to my post...

I need some help hooking up all my equipment I'm about to order cables and want to make sure I buy the right stuff. I have a Behringer EP2500, Feedback Destroyer Pro, Onkyo 674, and 2 elemental designs 19Ov.2 dual voice coil speakers in separate tubes. I would like to run one sub on channel 1 and the other on channel 2 on the EP2500, at 4ohm giving them about 650w each.

This could all be totally wrong, so please correct me. For the blue and yellow lines I am not sure if I should use XLR or 1/4" cables. I hear different things from different people. I'm not even sure if I have the cables going to the correct input/output ports. Or if I even have the speaker wire connections on the subs correct. :scratchhead:Thanks in advance for any help. I'm also attaching the clean diagram if anybody wants to edit it.



















Thanks again for any info. It is greatly appreciated. :bigsmile:


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

First of all Welcome :wave:

I don't have any of the equipment you'll be using ... but I think the diagram is correct :yes:

The only doubt I have is about the inputs ... you're using just "input/output 1" on BFD; I don't know if you have to use both inputs/outputs on the FBD??? ... I think that to connect from BFD to EP2500 you need at least a "Y" cable from output 1 from BFD to input 1 & 2 on the EP2500 (unless you can use one input and output from both channels) ... :huh:

Will see what the experts say ... :bigsmile:


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

You're good up to the amp. If the sub on output 2 doesn't work, you'll either need to get a Y cable, or if that amp will handle to load, run parallel or in series.

What would make more sense though is to run a Y cable from your AVR to to both inputs on the BFD, and then separate cables to both inputs of your amp and run it in stereo. That way, you can EQ each sub individually.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi Dradius,

First, welcome to the Shack!

Okay, Like eugovector noted, you're good up to the amp. I assume from your diagram that you've figured out that you can drive both channels from a single input (parallel mode). Just make sure you have the switches on the back of the EP set up accordingly. You can use either the XLR or 1/4" connectors, doesn't matter for most applications. (If you want to post some of those "different things you've heard from different people" as to why one is better than the other, we can comment them for you.)

What doesn't look right is your voice coil connections for the ED drivers. According to ED's website, your drivers have dual 2-ohm or dual 4-ohm voice coils. You have them connected in parallel, which means you're going to be delivering either 1-ohm or 2-ohms to the EP amplifier.

Are your EDs the dual 2's or the dual 4s?

By the way, thanks for taking the time to do a picture diagram for us. Makes these threads _sooo_ much easier!

Regards,
Wayne


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys :bigsmile:

"I assume from your diagram that you've figured out that you can drive both channels from a single input (parallel mode)." Unfortunately, no I'm not that smart about this stuff to have figured that out :blink: I was _assuming_ I could run a single cable from receiver to BFD and BFD to EP2500. But I wasn't really sure. I don't have a solid understanding of series/parallel/oms, etc. yet. 

I see what you guys are saying about using a "Y" cable and running two lines to BFD, then two to the amp. I had thought about that but here is my concern with that. My receiver only has 1 "sub out" rca port. I have the two sonotubes, a ED a5-350 sub, and a couple of aura bass shakers (yeah I like bass lol.) So, I currently have a Y adapter on that "sub out" splitting the signal between my current ED sub and the other one going to an old receiver that powers the bass shakers. I was thinking about removing the bass shakers and that way I could stick with just the single Y and have one line going to my current sub and the other going to the BFD for the new tubes. What I'm trying to ask is, if I were to use a Y on my 'sub out' to give me two ports, and then Y's on those two to give me 4 ports, and run one to the bass shakers, one to the current sub, and two to the BFD. Would that be alright or is that too many adapters coming off that single 'sub out' port? 

My ED subs are the dual 2 voice coils. It is my understanding that these are only capable of approx. 650w RMS where as the dual 4 would handle 1100w RMS. Does this sound right or do I have it backwards? Can I even run these Dual 2 speakers at 4ohm each? :huh:

The things I've heard about XLR vs. 1/4" is mainly that XLR eliminates humming. It's like ported vs. sealed, there are die hards on both sides who all know much more than me, so it's a bit confusing. I've already blown budget on this project and I have a couple 1/4" cables and adapters, so if I don't have to buy XLR cables that would be nice, but really isn't that big of a deal, especially if XLR is really the way to go.

Sorry for all the "noob" questions. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm new to this stuff. I started out with DIY projectors and screens, and now I have recently discovered DIY speakers and subs :bigsmile:


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

> "I assume from your diagram that you've figured out that you can drive both channels from a single input (parallel mode)." Unfortunately, no I'm not that smart about this stuff to have figured that out. I was_assuming_ I could run a single cable from receiver to BFD and BFD to EP2500. But I wasn't really sure.


You'll find on the back of the EP2500 a set of DIP switches that look like this:







​

Numbers 4 & 5 are for parallel mode. Check the manual for how to set the DIP switches. If you set the switches for parallel mode you can drive both outputs from a single input - i.e., it accomplishes the same thing as a "y" cable, but the "y" is not needed. 



> My ED subs are the dual 2 voice coils. It is my understanding that these are only capable of approx. 650w RMS where as the dual 4 would handle 1100w RMS. Does this sound right or do I have it backwards? Can I even run these Dual 2 speakers at 4ohm each?


To run the dual 2s at 4 ohms, connect them like this:







​



> The things I've heard about XLR vs. 1/4" is mainly that XLR eliminates humming.


Without going into a lot of technospeak, XLRs are mostly used where the cable runs are really long. You get a lot of this in professional or commercial settings, but seldom in a domestic setting. Unless your cable runs are over 100 ft. there's no real need for them. If you already had them I'd say use them, simply because XLRs are a higher-grade connector. But no reason to go spend money on them if you don't.

Regards,
Wayne


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

Thanks so much for that info. Wayne! Also thanks for taking time to go to ED's website and look at the drivers. It is all really appreciated.

I will connect the speakers like you show in the diagram, red to black and black to red. Is that called parallel? 

Any thoughts on having 2 Y connectors coming off the 'sub out' port on the receiver?

Thanks again!


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

> I will connect the speakers like you show in the diagram, red to black and black to red. Is that called parallel?


Series. The red to red, back to black you had before is parallel.  Series sums impedances, parallel divides. 



> Any thoughts on having 2 Y connectors coming off the 'sub out' port on the receiver?


Well I couldn't exactly follow all that, but generally splitting outputs is fine. If you split them out enough you do lose signal strength (i.e. voltage) eventually, but that's why amps have gain controls. 

Regards,
Wayne


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

Thanks again Wayne. I've gotten more figured out on this site in less than two days than in a couple of weeks over at the other place. I may be packing my bags and moving over.

I'll post pics, graphs, and all that good stuff when I get the new system going. Oh, and I'm sure I'll be asking about a thousand more questions during the process


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

dradius said:


> ... here is my concern with that. My receiver only has 1 "sub out" rca port. I have the two sonotubes, a ED a5-350 sub, and a couple of aura bass shakers (yeah I like bass lol.) So, I currently have a Y adapter on that "sub out" splitting the signal between my current ED sub and the other one going to an old receiver that powers the bass shakers...


No problem :yes: ... my AVR also has just one sub out, I'm using "Y's" to connect two subs, buttkicker amp and also to connect the sub cable to subs (most of the time the manual recommends connecting to either L or R input on sub; but in most cases if you connect them to L + R you gain a little more output :yes


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

salvasol said:


> No problem :yes: ... my AVR also has just one sub out, I'm using "Y's" to connect two subs, buttkicker amp and also to connect the sub cable to subs (most of the time the manual recommends connecting to either L or R input on sub; but in most cases if you connect them to L + R you gain a little more output :yes


Good to know I won't be the only one with several adapters hanging off the back of my receiver  Thanks for the reassurance.


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