i can now answer my own post. i tried connecting the sub to the tape-in inputs on the amp, which are right next to the preouts, and now i get sound out of the sub. so cambridge audio wired the thing wrong. next i'll have to test whether the preouts in fact work as the tape inputs, except i'll likely never get a tape player.
hopefully this post will be useful to someone else with a CA 840a that encounters this problem.
hopefully this post will be useful to someone else with a CA 840a that encounters this problem.