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Dual-Use Subwoofer?

Not quite sure where to put this question - hope it’s in the right place.

My HT and audio systems are separate because my ’good’ stuff is reasonably good, my ’ordinary’ stuff is pretty ordinary, and I don’t want to ’taint’ the good stuff with ordinary stuff.

HT ’boxed’ system:
HK AVR254
Infinity surrounds & sub (sub fed by LFE from the AVR)

Audio:
Krell KRC-3
Bryston 4B-ST
Martin Logan reQuest
Polk PSW650 (signal fed by the preamp)

Because I live in a space-constrained home and want to give the ML’s the ’breathing room’ they really need, I’m wondering if it might be possible to ’consolidate’ by using only one Sub. The Polk unit is the more musical, definitely more than adequate for HT, has both LFE and Left/Right analog inputs, therefore would be the obvious choice.

Do you guys think it would be possible - or at worst, risky - to use the LFE input from the AVR and use the L/R analog inputs from my preamp for the higher-end stuff? I just don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground about electronics and don’t want to risk burning anything out in either the sub, the receiver or the preamp.

Thanks in advance!
parabolic
james633
1,047 posts
 
Yes this can be easily done. 

I have teo JL E112s and I have a two channel system passed thought for home theater. To make it even more complicated I low pass the mains and send the low effect signal to the subs at the same time for movies. The subs manage both signals. 

On the JL audio subs the left and right inputs are summed. From the two channel each sub gets a speaker level output from the preamp and from the receiver each sub gets a 0.1 channel output. 

This setup allow the subs bass outputs to be adjusted up using the 0.1 signal from the recover while still low passing just the front speakers at the volume of the sub settings. 
asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,710 posts
 
I'm running a Polk sub that accepts the outputs from both a receiver (mono out) and my main 'pile' (L&R) without any issues.

I don't run both at the same time, but haven't tried it either.  *L*  I could send two entirely different program sources to the Polk which could be amusing to listen to for awhile...

I'd think it'd rattle itself over to me and inquire if I'm pissed at it, or merely on drugs. ;)
parabolic OP
106 posts
 
@asvjerry  that's exactly the kind of configuration I was asking about, and exactly the kind of response I was hoping to hear - or a warning not to do so - either way would have been fine.

Thanks to all!
erik_squires
16,242 posts
 
You might want to consider using a miniDSP solution. If I understand correctly, you want 1 sub hooked up to 2 sources?

MiniDSP will let you do this AND will let you do EQ and crossovers separately for each source.

Best,

E
parabolic OP
106 posts
 
I think a mini-dsp is more complicated than this requires.

My plan is to set the tonality of the SW to the audio system, and use the AVR to conform to that adjustment since the outupt on the receiver is variable.

My worry was simply with the possibility of signal from the Krell damaging the receiver, or vice-versa.

We're good to go.  Thanks!
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