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Most common subwoofer input?

I just bought a new house and I plan the build a 5.1 system in my family room. When I talk to my builder today, he suggests me to build a in-wall stereo cable for my rear speakers and subwoofer, so there will be no cable running around my family room. I know that rear speakers use normal speaker cable, however subwoofer have so many different type of input, such as: RCA, speaker wire, phono input or Neutrik Speakon. Which type of input is most common use for sub?
thx.
audiorichard
nuguy
195 posts
 
RCA is probably the most common hookup. To get the sonic characteristics of your power amp you would run speaker cable to the high level input on the sub. There is no need to run speaker cable back there if you go that route, you can tap into one of your rears. Having a biwire speaker terminal and using jumpers will be the easiest way to go, then jump from a rear to the sub...or run the speaker wire to the sub first then jump over to a rear. Ahhhh, what the heck, run the rca.
shiva
181 posts
 
the most common cord for a subwoofer is to use the RCA interconnect. That way, you can plug it into the standard subwoofer output on receivers and have control of it through the receiver.
hthf's avatar
hthf
16 posts
 
Agree with the above, however if you have a very long run to the sub or want more placement flexibility (eg/not near a 120 outlet) you might want to consider a system such as Velodyne's Subcontractor series, where the sub is separated into its two components: amp and speaker. The amp sits in your equipment rack, connected via RCA from your receiver's LFE output as mentioned above, and then connects to the separate speaker (or pair of speakers!) via standard speaker wire. Very flexible.
audiorichard OP
21 posts
 
Thx for the suggestion!!!

Just want to make sure, I just NEED ONE RCA input (not a pair) right?
(amp -> RCA cable -> into one side of wall input -> output from wall -> RCA cable -> sub)

But I am wondering, if I don't have a receiver, and I only
have a stereo amp, can I still use RCA for my subwoofer?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
hthf's avatar
hthf
16 posts
 
For an A/V receiver: yes, just the one RCA connection.
For a "stereo amp" you'd have to be more specific. For example, if it has a set of variable pre-outs you could run two RCAs, or coax cables, to the left/right imput of your sub. Or you could run a second set of speaker wire from the amp's speaker posts in parallel with the speakers, if your sub has high-level inputs. But seeing as you originally mentioned a 5.1 system, I wonder where you're going with all this. You might want to consult a custom installer, as these are fairly basic issues.
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