Balance not fading speaker

Ckoffend-

You are correct, when I disconnect the sub(Bob Carver Dominator)the correct balance adjustment returns. My only concern is that there is no negative effect on the music playback or the equipment.

Before doing this hook-up I talked with both ARC and Carver tech reps plus a post here and all said that wiring the sub directly with the regular speakers to the amp is fine since the ARC equipment does not have a separate sub input/output.

The sound seems very satisfying, just doesn't seem normal when the balance isn't functioning the way one would assume it should.

No Y cables but they were recommended as an option on an earlier thread I previously started . One of the responses I received was:

"Right, you can't use the 'tape out' connections because they're not controlled by the volume control on the preamp, meaning the volume coming from the sub wouldn't change as you adjust the volume to your main speakers.

If you do want to split the preamp output you can use one of the devices Steuspeed recommended. He suggested one from Audioquest and there's another from Monster. Click here to see what the one from Monster looks like. Both it and the Audioquest version are solid connectors, no wire involved.

You shouldn't worry about using the speaker wire connection method, though. The subwoofer amp won't be pulling any substantial power from your main amp and won't overload it at all. That connection method is the one recommended by both REL and HSU, makers of some of the better subs out there. You should definitely do what you're most comfortable with, however, it's your gear."

There was a long discussion about the dual wire hook-up and everyone(incl. ARC) seemed to think it was perfectly fine, but maybe not?? The sub manual does address the Y adapter hookup but others poo-poo'd it for various reasons. Maybe it is the way to go??

Think I got it. Reviewed the Carver sub guide and a third option is to go from the pre out to the sub line in, sub line out to the amp. The higher frequencies pass through to the amp and main speakers while just the low freq is processed by the sub.

Now balance works correctly and sound is very good once again.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction.

Yes Carver states that the sub passive crossover is "keeping" the less than 70hz signals and sending the rest to the amp. They also state that this is the preferred method if there's no LFE Output, using smaller speakers (Focal Chorus) and tube amp.

Carver also shows the dual wire set-up I was using. They do note that the amp needs to be "common-grounded" because the two negative posts in the sub's amp are also. I talked to ARC about this and they said the amp would be fine.

Anyway, sounds good and the balance is correct but think I'll also get a pair of Y adapters and see how that sounds. Then I will have tested three different methods.

Installed RCA gold plated plug-in splitters. The solid type with two outputs, no wires. Works very well. Not sure if there's much defference in sound and it's kind of a pain to easily switch out between the different set-ups.

Will go with this for now. Much better than it was regardless. Thanks again for the inputs!