# 2.2 Active Monitors/Subwoofer Setup Question



## akjackson009 (Feb 22, 2014)

I've gone from 7.2 to 2.2 and have specific questions on EXACTLY how to hook up the 2 active monitors and 2 subwoofers. I've read tons of forums, spoken with professionals, spoken with Guitar Center, and still have no hard and fast advice on exactly what to do.

For the purpose of this question, let's use my Onkyo 8050 as the reference for best practices. The Onkyo is perfect for 2.1 with active monitors because it has a preout for both L/R and one dedicated for the subwoofer. Here is what I ended up doing and someone here can tell me if this is correct. In the room with the Marantz 2230, I only have the left and right preout.

On the Onkyo, I've taken the RCA out of the left preout on the Onkyo to the XLR in on the left channel of the left sub which has XLR out to the left speaker. I did the same on the right side from the right preout. I did not use the sub out. Did I create a true stereo bass doing this?

I have Adam A7xs and two Dynaudio BM9s and so far is sounds good. The alternative is to use the preouts straight to the left/right speakers bypassing the subs internal crossovers, use the subwoofer out to the left subwoofer, and daisy chain to the right sub using the slave mode.

Yet another alternative is to run the preouts to the first subwoofer, the XLR outs on the first subwoofer to the L/R speakers, and then daisy chain the second sub as the slave.

Since there are so many ways to do this. Anyone have any advice on what would technically produce the best sound?

Thanks,

Adam


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

Welcome to the Forum, Adam!

To answer your question, no connection scheme will result in a sound quality penalty. That said, your first one makes the most sense, practically speaking, since it’s straightforward. That one will also get you stereo bass, if that’s what you’re after, even though there is technically no such thing since bass is omnidirectional anyway.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## akjackson009 (Feb 22, 2014)

Thanks Wayne!

I suspected there was probably no real exact way to do it. I think I will leave it be and enjoy my psychoacoustic stereo bass (I tried all the configurations tonight and really didn't hear any differences between any of them.)

Issue #1 

In my insanity of trying all the different configurations, I noticed when I moved one of the subs behind the seating position, which is close to the wall, the bass behind me became somewhat annoying. I tried all the best tips, including mid wall front and back and the best sound I am getting is keeping the subs as humanly possible close to the main speakers...I did the bass crawl with the sweeping tones and the best bass is the two mid wall positions, but when sitting down and actually listening, the bass behind me is obnoxious. I am guessing that room geometry comes into play and interferes with the principles of the bass crawl, since the sub is located somewhat in the middle of the room and does not have the gains from being put close to a boundary. 

Issue #2

Crossover point between mains and subwoofer seems to be a guessing game. I have three options using the sub's internal crossover, 60 Hz, 80 Hz, or none. The Adam speakers go down to 40 Hz or so at -3 dB and do a very good job of producing the low end, almost not needing a sub. The 80 Hz sounds weak, the 60 Hz sounds good, and the none sounds muffled, but none of the options sound just right. Is it worth the money to buy an external crossover to get it just right? The room will never be treated and I'm stuck with dealing with it. 13x31 with 11 foot ceilings is not ideal.

Issue #3

Since I am using active monitors, what is the best setting for the volume on the monitors and subs? I set the Onkyo to a particular reference volume, say 60 out of a 100 scale, setup a microphone, did a test tone, and turned up each individual speaker and sub until it registered 75 dB at the listening position. What I noticed is that the sub's gain is really low relative to the Adam monitors, which are both setup almost dead middle, with the sub a hair past zero. Does this matter?

Nice to hear from a fellow Houstonian. I live close to Katy off Greenhouse and Katy Freeway.

Thanks for the advice.

Adam


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