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blackviper90210

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Hi all,

I have an Onkyo Tx-SR507 amp.

I recently bought a brand new set of speakers and passive sub woofer, unfortunately due to lack of knowledge I didn't realise that my amp needs a powered amp not a passive one.

Can I use any powered sub woofer with my amp, or do I need to get a specific one?


TIA:)
 
Hi all,

I have an Onkyo Tx-SR507 amp.

I recently bought a brand new set of speakers and passive sub woofer, unfortunately due to lack of knowledge I didn't realise that my amp needs a powered amp not a passive one.

Can I use any powered sub woofer with my amp, or do I need to get a specific one?

TIA:)

You just need an active sub woofer.
What passive sub did you buy another option is buy and amp to run the passive sub of your onkyo.
 
You just need an active sub woofer.
What passive sub did you buy another option is buy and amp to run the passive sub of your onkyo.

The sub woofer is an Onkyo SKW-338.

Apologies for my lack of knowledge, but does that mean I don't need my 507 amp or do you buy an amp just to power the sub? :facepalm:

This is my first time dabbling in this.
 
Hi Im no my phone so hard to tell at the moment but Im pretty sure you could buy and amp like a behringer nu1000 which has got plenty of power for this sub.
You would need to use your onkyo and this.
Cost is about 150ish with cable and connections Cost.
The other option is sell the onkyo sub and buy bother sub with amp built in like a wharfedale sw150 which is about the same money.
What budget do you have.
 
IMO you won't get an amp up to the job to power a subwoofer for very cheap. It's feasible to just ditch the passive subwoofer and buy an active one as an alternative. If you really wanted to get a set up powering a passive sub, you could use something sort of PA amp like the EP2500, but that would cost quite a bit and only people who really want to build their own powerful passive subs go down that route. I'm sure you can pick up a relativistic subwoofer for your system for a good price on auction sites.
 
^^ Beat me to it Scott xD

To answer the OP's follow up question; most AVRs don't provide amplification for the subwoofer, so you will need to provide an alternative method of amplification for it. Whether that's an active subwoofer with the amplifier bilt in it, or a separate amplifier to power a passive sub, is entirely up to you.
 
Thank you all for your advice.

I don't have the money to buy expensive amps for the sub I already have, so I'll sell my passive and buy a 2nd hand active one.

Cheaper and easier for me at this time.

Thanks again gentleman :)
 
Thank you all for your advice.

I don't have the money to buy expensive amps for the sub I already have, so I'll sell my passive and buy a 2nd hand active one.

Cheaper and easier for me at this time.

Thanks again gentleman :)

That's cool and to be honest alot easier. My advice is just buy the best you can afford or you will only want to upgrade every 2secs.
 
You can also just wire your passive sub up to the front LR channels until you have enough money to buy an active sub:)
 
Is that in place of a left or right speaker then?

Is that safe to do with the amp?

Lol!! no you can either wire the + of your sub to the + on your left speaker or the + connection at the amp and the - to the - on the right speaker or at the - at the amp depening on where you want to position your sub.
 
Last edited:
Lol!! no you can either wire the + of your sub to the + on your left speaker or the + connection at the amp and the - to the - on the right speaker or at the - at the amp


:facepalm: lol, told you I hadn't a clue :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Cheers for putting me straight, I'll give that a go.


Thanks again :thumbsup:
 
:facepalm: lol, told you I hadn't a clue :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Cheers for putting me straight, I'll give that a go.


Thanks again :thumbsup:

lol no problem! i'm then thinking that when you turn up the volume on your receiver/amp the sub then should have more spl = (louder) output also.
 
I wouldn't advise doing such, as you will present an abnormal load to the amp, which may cause it to heat up and cause unhealthy problems for it. You want to stick with your 8ohm speakers or whatever they are, as a load to the amp rather than adding a sub to the load as well.

Not saying it won't work, but it's not very good practice to do so, also yo will have your sub trying to scream out a female high pitched vocal due to the lack of a cross over.
 
Thinking about it, You *may* be able to connect the subwoofer with one of your speakers in series, which increases the resistance applied to the amp output (>8ohms), without blowing the amp up, but the channel with the sub connected to it will become considerably quieter. You will need to go in to your level controls and turn it up a bit, to get them equal again after the sub. You can present a higher impedance to the amp than the amp can accept, but you cannot have a lower impedance speaker connected to an amp requiring a higher impedance speakers. e.g. an 8ohm amp will not work well with 4ohm speakers, but a 4ohm amp will work with 8ohm speakers. Adding two drivers together in series increases overall impedance (i believe) so it should work.

Again, not something I would do, but seems possible (someone please correct me if i'm wrong)
 
I wouldn't advise doing such, as you will present an abnormal load to the amp, which may cause it to heat up and cause unhealthy problems for it. You want to stick with your 8ohm speakers or whatever they are, as a load to the amp rather than adding a sub to the load as well.

Not saying it won't work, but it's not very good practice to do so, also yo will have your sub trying to scream out a female high pitched vocal due to the lack of a cross over.

yeah on second thoughts dont do what ive subscribed in my last post as there maybe impedance anomilies which may trip the receiver falesafe and/or damage the amp stage etc my opoligies.......new sub!
 
as said its not a great idea as it will cause an unbalaced load on the amp which can cause allsorts of issues, this sub is no good for the job you want it for.
 

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