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2 interconnects or y-cable?

have a 2.1 channel system for music. I will be connecting my subwoofer to a two channel analog pre-amp. Would it be better to run two interconnects into the subwoofer (about 8 feet of distance) or should I use a y-cable at the pre-amp and a dedicated subwoofer cable. I have a Harmonic Technology subwoofer cable which is mono at the pre-amp end (designed for a pre/pro) and has a built in Y at the subwoofer end. My sub has "L" and "R" inputs, but nothing else gets connected to the sub.

Thanks!

Thanks.
dgaylin

Showing 3 responses by ozzy

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,582 posts
 
If the question is;

1. you are taking both left and right outputs from your preamp and then summing them together using several Y's.
that is not a good idea.

If the question is;

2. taking just one output and using a Y to connect a subwoofer cable that would be alright.
Except, the stereo sound may be off balance since one output would be feeding 2 amps.I also dont like that idea.
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,582 posts
 
One more senerio.
If the question is;

3. you have dual outputs on your preamp and you are using Y's to summ the signal to use one subwoofer cable. That is also a bad idea.
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,582 posts
 
I have the exact same arrangement with my Pass Labs XP-10 Preamp.
I would not use a Y plugged into both left and right RCA outputs leading to one interconnect and then with a splitter plug at the other end plug it into the subs left and right inputs.
I think there is too much chance that you may affect the stereo image coming out of the balanced XLR's. I dont care if they are "buffered".

I would use seperate interconnects.

Perhaps, I am a little too cautious , because inside the sub, the left and right inputs are probably connected together anyway.
But I still would use seperate cables.
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