Sub Wiring


I currently run separate speaker wire from my amp (Luxman L-590AXll) to each of my stereo subs (Hsu ULS-15 Mkll). I use the same binding posts to run my speaker wires in what I guess would be considered shotgun fashion. A fellow audiophile told me he just piggybacks off of his speaker binding posts to each sub in his system. 

I hadn’t thought of doing that, but it seems reasonable- less wire in my living space,  and less chance of RFI being picked up along the way. I should add that the run from amp to speakers/subs is long- about 23 feet. My subs are within two feet of each speaker (Spatial Audio M3 Turbo S).

I am extraordinarily happy with the sound I’m getting, and this is really more of an aesthetic/RFI concern question. I’ll throw in that I wonder if electically this different hookup presents a different load to the amplifier?

This may fall into the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” category of things. Just curious if anyone else does this…

james_edward

OK, kind of confirmed what I thought. Still just dipping my toes into the Agon forum. So far so good. Thanks all.

Chuckt, 

You’re striking out… The C26 is just a preamp, so it doesn’t really have any power to drive a passive speaker ( speaker without its own amplifier). I looked at your preamp- the output you are referencing just would not work with your center channel- it would need to go to a power amp of some kind first.

Ah! More education. Another question: I have a Mac C26 that has a center channel output using a phono plug (like headphones) but the center channel speaker has positive and negative terminals. Do I use a splitter of some sort or are the two not compatible? I'm using a Mac 2100 amp.

Only caveat is if you're using an Audio Research tube amp.  ARC has its own, slightly different, recommended configuration for driving full-range speakers & a sub from the same outputs.

Chuckt,

What you propose is different- the subs are powered and designed to show a very high impedance to the amplifier. By doing so, it does not impact the amplifier’s output in any meaningful way.

I don’t think what you want to do would work out well, but I’ll leave it to the technical people here to advise.

 

This is why I read Agon. I learn almost every time I read the forum (almost). I have a center speaker, Polk LsiM 706c, that has 4 posts in the back. Could I run wires from the L and R speakers to these posts w/o harm? Thanks.

Rewired things this morning- all is right in the world. Probably no difference soundwise, but a little neater for sure.

Thanks for the replies.

+1 on cleaning up the listening room with less wiring. The speaker inputs are 300kOhms (very very high) so will work really well either way with nearly zero current draw on the main amp.

It won't affect the playback of your main speakers at all.

Your fellow audiophile is using the better method . Either way works. But you will use less cable running from the speakers to the sub!

It is the wire to the driver directly that has to be short. You are wiring to the higher impedance of the amplifier input so it should not matter. If the subs have a balanced input it is far superior to run a balanced cable from the preamp.