Question Subwoofer Crossover with Marantz PM6004.

RichD

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Hello,

I have a Marantz PM6004 amplifier with Pro-Ject Box 5 speakers.

I was considering getting a Wharfedale SW150 subwoofer, or the Wharfedale SPC10.

However, as far as I can tell, the PM6004 does not have a crossover setting, and neither does either of the Wharfedale subwoofers (such as the Kanto Sub-8).

I would be very grateful for any advice or experience. I have never used a subwoofer before.

Thank you very much.

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
PM6004 is stereo amp and doesn't have dedicated subwoofer pre-out. So, no crossover etc is needed. All settings what you need, are bass and treble buttons.
Because of that, you can't connect active subwoofer properly - you can, if subwoofer has separate speaker connections (these Wharfedales have this connection), but why spend money for extra amplifier?
Cheaper option for stereo systems is to buy PASSIVE subwoofer.
 
Dear citywalker,

Yes, I see your point. I am confident that the PM6004 would be sufficiently powerful to drive a passive subwoofer. I had noticed that the Wharfedale does have speaker level connection, but then I noticed that there was no crossover setting control on either the amplifier or the speaker, so it made me wonder whether it might result in too much boom.

Can you recommend any passive subwoofers? I will have a browse myself.

Thank you very much for your help. :)

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
Can you recommend any passive subwoofers? I will have a browse myself.
Sorry, last time for me with passive sub was more than 15 years ago... I'm using receiver and active subs.
 
You really need a sub with it's own crossover otherwise you will be getting low end voices etc from the sub, if you do get a sub with a crossover, set it to about 50hz and see how it sounds, should sound ok but be prepared to do some fine tuning.

Adam.
 
Dear Adamgbiggs,

Thank you very much for your response.

I'm assuming that you have in mind an active sub with a crossover. I imagine that there is no such thing as a passive sub with a crossover.

I have been browsing and the ones made by Rel and Bowers and Wilkins look very good. I think that BK subs may also have a crossover. I would be very grateful if you, or anybody, could recommend any others.

Thank you very much for your help.

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
I'd suggest the BK Gemini II sub which has a Neutrik high level input that has its own crossover filter. You'd connect the stereo integrated amp's speaker output to the Neutrik input on the sub and a sub pre out would not be required. The Gemini is more expensive than the other options mentioned though, but not so expensive as to rule it out:

Gemini


Note that all of BK's active subs have this arrangement as do subs made by REL.
 
Dear dante01,

Thank you very much for your help. Ironically, I originally had my eye on BK subs, but I then was unsure as to whether they would be compatible with my amplifier, and the Wharfedale was cheaper and had fantastic reviews. I'm guessing that a sub pre out is some kind of interface adaptor, a bit like a preamp? I will look into it.

Thank you very much for your help.

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
Dear Everyone,

Okay, so I have done a bit of reading. I'm sorry, it was my mistake. I had misread the message from dante01 and I thought that he had said that "a sub pre out WOULD be required". In any case, a "sub pre out" is an output (as opposed to an amplifier or adaptor).

My understanding from the diagrams I have seen is that I would connect the existing set of speakers to the amplifier via one set of speaker outputs, then connect speaker cable from the second set of speaker outputs to the subwoofer via the existing speakers (sort of "in series"). I would be very grateful if anybody could confirm whether I have understood this correctly.

The recommendation of the BK Gemini II seems a very good one. I know that it's a bit decadent, but I was also tempted by fairly new BK P12-300. Does anybody have any experience of either sub (or both). Also, it may be worth mentioning that my interest is more in music than home cinema. I wonder whether the BK subs might be more suited to home cinema?

Also, I have investigated the Wharfedale speakers a bit further. I was clearly not looking at the pictures properly. It appears that the SW-150 does have a crossover setting (at 10 Hz) intervals. The Wharfedale SW-250 and the SPC-10 both also have crossover settings (possibly less approximate than the SW-150). The SPC-10 looks very atrractive as it does not take up much floor space.

dante01 - I am assuming that you recommended the BK for reasons of sound quality, rather than for practical reasons in terms of connecting to a stereo amplifier?

I would be very grateful if anybody could share their experience of any of these subs.

I would be reluctant to spend more than £400.00 (this is the approximate price of the BK P12-300).

Thank you very much in advance. :)

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
Hi Rich. I have used bk subs, and to be fair they are pretty excellent at their price point. I would personally buy the best you can affort within your budget, the P12. I used the xxls400 with a stereo amp Yamaha as-500, and although the amp has a sub out I didn't use it. The avr connected to the sub with the rca, low level, and my stereo amp connected to it with the 3 core high level lead. Then you use the gain(volume) control on the sub, and also the crossover to match with your front speakers.

The subs were used both in a cinema and hifi set up hence the avr and stereo amp.
 
Dear Steven,

Thank you very much for your help, and I think I will go for the P12, once I have saved up for it.

Just one question: is it correct that the speaker cable has to run from the stereo amplifier to the front speakers, then to the sub, or does the speaker cable run from the amplifier directly to the sub. I would be very grateful if you could clarify this.

Many thanks again.

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
Hi Rich.

you connect speakers as normal to the stereo amp, then you use the high level cable which has 3 bare wires at one end and a speakon connector at the other. The speakon connects to the sub and the3 wires connect one to left positive, one to right positive and the other connects to EITHER of the negatives. These are connected to the back of the stereo amp.

Capture.JPG
 
Dear Steven,

That's very helpful, thank you. So it will not be necessary to run the speaker cable from amplifier to sub via the front speakers. Simply connect directly from amplifier to sub.

Thank you very much.

Best wishes.

Rich.
 
I suggested the BK sub because of both the quality of its performance as well as the fact it has a high level Neutrik input. It has a dedicated crossover that can be applied to this input and this input can be used from the speaker outputs of a stereo integrated amplifier.
 
Thanks dante01,

Although I had thought otherwise, it turns out that the Wharfedale subs do have crossover settings. I am now struggling to decide whether to get one of the three Wharfedale subs (up SPC 10) which are cheaper, or one of the BK subs. I may save up for an extra few months and end up getting the xxls400.

Many thanks for your help.

Best wishes.

Rich.
 

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