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Just starting out and need advise for sub woofer connection

Hi I’m a rookie you guys are the big leagues so I am asking for your help.
I recently purchased a Canton K9 bookshelf speaker and stands. This speaker has a set of speaker cable posts for high and midrange and another set for the bass with jumper bars attached to the two sets of posts. Adrian the seller was so kind to include a Jamo c80 sub in my purchase. Which I hooked up as Paul McGowan the PS Audio poobah suggested by running speaker cable from my amp to the c80 cable posts for both left and right channels. Given this set up since both my main Cantons and the sub are receiving bass frequencies and both are playing them, this seems to be a duplication of effort and seems wrong. I was wondering could I, should I remove the jumper cable from my Cantons and attach my speaker cable to the terminals marked high and midrange? I assume doing so stops my Canton drivers from having to play bass frequencies. That Would free up these speakers from bass responsibilities? Is that a good thing? Should I do this ? and what must I be mindful about if I do this? Do I have to do anything to my subs crossover a knob reflects 40HZ to 200HZ  The canton literature mention a cross over at 3000 hz which to me woulld mean at the very least the difference between 200HZ and 3000 hz would be lost or should I forgetabout using the sub? The c80 also has what look to be RCA connectors titled Line left and right in and left and right out. Finally there is a LFE connection which is the same as the RCA left in. Thank you in advance for your help. Regards Scott
scott22
bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 
@scott22 

Yep you just have to play around with it. Sub positioning and adjustments in terms of cut-off and gain is not an exact science, as again, every room is different, and also the speakers you are 'marrying' them to. 

As your Canton's dive down pretty deep, I would not think you want the Jamo set much higher than 60, and I'm just guessing, but lower is probably better. But again, gain and placement all come into play. 

Im sure your wife would want them to disappear ;-) So, you may be more limited in it's placement. Just do the best you can, and try a variety of different things. Believe me, this could take a while, so be patient. 

Also, for music, don't discount the feeling that the sub itself is not doing much. That can be a good thing, and turn it off, listen, then back on to see differences it may actually be making. Pick a good wide range dynamic selection.
jrpnde
271 posts
 
   Sub setup is one of the most challenging in audio. All others in this post have offered excellent suggestions. Without the aid of components such as active crossover, room correction equipment, etc, your most usable tools are cutoff frequency and, most important, placement. As others have explained, sub placement is paramount. It can be the true meaning of trial and error.   Many recommend the "crawl" technique. With the system running, crawl around the room until you reach a location where the bass sounds best. Then place your sub there. Only tried that once when I had my ex crawl around the room. One of the reasons she left among others.   Joking aside...experimentation is the key.Good Luck.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Sub placement with just one sub is so crucial (read: difficult) because of room modes. Moving the sub location around moves the modes around but does nothing to alter the fact of having those same few mode areas. Modes being areas where the bass reinforces and sounds too loud.  

The main reason you want to run your mains full range is because they also produce modes, just the same way as a sub. Only difference being the mains need to be positioned for stereo imaging. Still they add two bass locations so the sub makes a third. With low bass more is always better. 

However good you get it with your speakers and one sub, if you want really exceptional bass then try adding a couple more. With four subs it hardly matters where they go, all the different modes average out, and the resulting bass is so smooth, articulate and deep you can hardly believe it.
hleeid
219 posts
 
+1 on the multiple sub sources.
I had no luck using a sub in a small (10x12 minus closets) room.
Bass got to boomy as soon as it was audible.
Tried four subs as millercarbon indicated.Great results. Fast, tight and articulate bass in a much greater listening area.
More sub locations also improves the midrange and openness of the sound stage.
Made that small room "sound" a lot bigger.

scott22 OP
263 posts
 
When you do the craw or put the sub in your listening position do you shut down the main speakers, I would think so. Sadly I am limited to placement options, given wife factor. Multiple subs would not be heard over the distortion caused by my wife's screams followed by my untimely demise. 
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