Sub-woofer connections to Yamaha Receiver

[jaydee999]

Sorry if this is explained somewhere, but I've gone to the FAQ's and read the articles, and I can't find any explanations on this point.

I'm thinking of getting the Yamaha RX-V361, which as far as I can tell has a phono sub-woofer output on the rear.
Question1. Does it need an active or a passive sub-woofer? Or can it take both?
Question 2. My current active sub-woofer has "standard" cabling with bare wires at either end. Assuming the Yamaha can take an active sub-woofer, can you buy cabling with bare wires one end, and a phono jack at the other, so that I could use this sub-woofer with it? I've never seen such a cable.

Thanks for your patience if this is an oft-repeated dumb newbie question.

[chrisgeary]

1. Active would be better - a passive subwoofer would add another load to the amp which it wasnt designed to deal with
2. Bare wires (presumably speaker wires) indicate that your sub is designed to take output directly from the amp speaker terminals. You would not use phono to speaker wires. Does your sub not have a low level (phono or perhaps headphone socket) input?

Chris

[Warpaint]

The Yamaha (and every other AV amplifier I know of ) needs an active subwoofer. (an active subwoofer has an amplifier built in)
There is no simple adapter to convert your passive sub to work from the 'sub out' socket on the Yamaha.
The simplest thing would be a separate amplifier connected between your sub and the Yamaha output.
I suspect that your current sub came from an all in one system and as such is probably not that great. See if you can borrow an active sub from someone and try it in your system.

[jaydee999]

Originally Posted by Warpaint

The Yamaha (and every other AV amplifier I know of ) needs an active subwoofer. (an active subwoofer has an amplifier built in)
There is no simple adapter to convert your passive sub to work from the 'sub out' socket on the Yamaha.
The simplest thing would be a separate amplifier connected between your sub and the Yamaha output.
I suspect that your current sub came from an all in one system and as such is probably not that great. See if you can borrow an active sub from someone and try it in your system.

Yes it does come from an all-in-one, but it's fine for my needs. but I presume you are therefore saying it's passive? As you can see from the receiver I'm looking at, I'm not into spending megabucks. Are you saying that if I bought a new active sub-woofer I could buy a cable to connect that to the receiver?

[jaydee999]

So I guess an active sub-woofer comes with a phono input to connect to the receiver phono output, rather than the bare wire terminals I am used to on stereo speakers?

[dazzler9000]

Originally Posted by jaydee999

So I guess an active sub-woofer comes with a phono input to connect to the receiver phono output, rather than the bare wire terminals I am used to on stereo speakers?

That sounds right to me.

[jaydee999]

"I can see clearly now the brain is on"