One Subwoofer - Two systems

[kach22i]

One Subwoofer - Two systems

I have my 2-channel main system and separate Home Theater in the same room.

I have one dual coil subwoofer.

The subwoofer has one pair of RCA interconnect inputs and a bunch of speaker wire clip connections available.

I had;
The sub hooked up to the HT processor with a single RCA (not pair).

I have:
The 2-channel preamp outs (pair of RCA interconnects) are hooked to the subwoofer.

I attempted:
I tried to use a "Y" RCA connector at the subwoofer so that 2-channel and HT could share the subwoofer. However there was a loud hum in the left channel of my main speaker. I even tried using a pair of "Y' connectors with an additional RCA interconnect going to the sub from the processor.

Problem Statement:
I know how to hook up the sub for 2-channel and for HT, but not at the same time without hum.

I'm open to suggestions.

Pulling interconnects every time switching from 2-channel to HT is not something I want to do.

 

[timm]

George -- not sure what kind of sub you have etc... I'm no wizard - but is there any possibility you are getting some type of ground loop.... I would just try using a cheater plug on the sub.. see if that fixes it.... My descent used to be real picky about my connections as well - until I figured some things out.

To Sunfire amp owners: you know you can daisy chain the sub off the back of the amp inputs right? It is equivalent to their bi-amp setup - as the second set of inputs on the back of the amp acts as a passthru.

 

[kach22i]

M&K MX-90 Powered Subwoofer
http://www.jemsite.com/av/m&k/mx90.htm

 

[zaphod]

i have a similar sub dirver from adire that has dual coils. adire's recommendation in a passive install was to have separate binding posts for the seperate coils. they supplied a brass coupler to jumper them together.

their intent was, among other things, to support L/R channel hookups.

what i'm getting to is that if you have a dual coil sub, can you drive one coil from the HT and one from the 2 channel?. you'll havve to do a bit of funky wiring, and supply a second amp, but we all have a spare amp kicking about don't we?

of course the other solution is to replace the M&K with a ML sub that allow for dual hookups

 

[kach22i]

what i'm getting to is that if you have a dual coil sub, can you drive one coil from the HT and one from the 2 channel?.

I was using only one RCA input for the HT anyway, maybe I can use the other input from the 2-channel preamp via "Y" connector at one end.

I'll look into it, thanks.

EDIT:
Hot dang!

It works, I now have the subwoofer for 2-channel and HT modes of operation.

I think that my speaker wire connections on the back of the subwoofer are controlled by the band pass frequency dial on the back, and the RCA connections are not (could be straight through). This means the HT signal which is the .1 in the 5.1 system is already a low frequency. However the RCA connection coming out of the 2-channel preamp is not filtered and full a frequency signal is reaching the one coil of the subwoofer. I could be wrong, and I don't mind because it sounds good to my ears (for the moment).

Baby's got Bass.