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Wiring question : amp-sub-speakers

I am pretty new to audio world and am looking for an advice regarding wiring Denon PMA 2000 IVR integrated amp, Polk PSW 550 sub and JBL studio 530 speakers. Current wiring is, Amp to JBL using the main binding post and Amp to Sub using preout. It sounds great up to certain volume level and JBL 5" woofer starts over-excursion, aka bottoming out, at a higher volume(knob 11 o’clock & >90 decibel) to fast tempo low frequency sound like drum kicks. I am not sure how to improve this situation. Sub manual suggest "Speaker-level" connections, i.e., Amp to Sub and Sub to JBL. Is it connection issue, JBL issue, or Amp issue? Thanks in advance.
ubee67

Showing 4 responses by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
They are just capacitors. They will roll of the bass at 6 dB/oct. You would hook them up in series with your main speakers. The value depends on the impedance of your speaker at the cross over point. You can find charts on the net which will give you the right value, somewhere between 200 and 300 mfd. As im said go to Parts Express and order two.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Ubee. You take the pre amp outputs and plug those into the cross over. Then you take the bass outputs from the crossover and plug those into the subwoofers and you take the high frequency outputs from the crossover and plug those into the amplifier input on your integrated. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
ubee, It does not matter what speakers you have or get. In order to match up a subwoofer correctly the crossover has to have a high pass filter that rolls off the bass to the satellite speakers. Then you will not have a problem overloading them. This business of just putting the subwoofer on a low pass filter and doing nothing with the satellites is a cheap silly solution that as you have discovered does not work. You can get a stand alone cross over like the dbx DriveRack and fix the problem. Then down the line add a second sub and you will be in business. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
ubee, your problem is that you are not using a high pass filter in front of your amplifier. You need to get the bass out of your main speakers. The PSW 550 does not have a high pass filter in it's cross over. I believe your integrated has a preamp output and a direct amp input. You could use an outboard cross over in a loop using the preamp out/amp input. You would then disable the crossover in the subwoofer. The only other way to deal with this would be to put an appropriately sized capacitor in series with the woofers in your main speakers to roll them off at 6 dB/oct. 
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