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Connecting A Sub To A Stereo Amp?


JTM

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Ive just purchased a nice cambridge A1 mk3 amp ad a pair of TDL Nucleus KV1 bookshelfs which are rather lovely. Ive not recieved the amp yet but im assuming these bookshelfs will need a little bass to compliment them. What I wanted to know was is it possible to connect a active sub to this system?

heres the back of the amp:

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Yeah it is, but if you get the right bookshelf speakers you shouldnt need a sub..

Heres how mine works (theres also a phono style cable which you can use to plug it in, however it doesnt seem to do anything)

[attachmentid=2569]

EDIT: the think black lines would be speaker cables..

post-2-1136045177_thumb.jpg

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I have exactly that setup (A1 Mk3 + Nucleus speaker, I'm not sure if they are the KV1 or the KV2s though. They have yellow cones). Like Tom said, you probably don't need any extra bass. It's certainly nothing I've ever worried about (then again I'm not a dance-whore :P ), in fact I think they have pretty awesome bass. I would see how it goes with them for a bit, I think wiring up a sub to a normal stereo amp is a bodge-job anyway...

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In no dance whore thoooooooooomas lol. I havent even tried them yet as I dont have the amp. Hopefully I wont need one then :) The speakers are lovely tomm. Mine have yellow cones aswell, these?

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I was thinking that it was a bodge way. As in car audio (which i know more about) using hi/low inputs is considered rather hoop. I might end up trying it though for somthing to do. Only a small 8in jobbie. Something like an Eltax atomic. Just to go say 20hz lower.

Where are your speakers situated tomm? Stands? Got them bi-wired?

Edited by JTM
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They look about the same. Because my room is so damn tiny they are just on a shelf above head height so far from ideal, but I can't put then anywhere else. My room sucks. The are raised up on spikes though. Well I say "spikes", I mean ball bearings. I don't think the amp is capable of bi-wiring :(

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They look about the same. Because my room is so damn tiny they are just on a shelf above head height so far from ideal, but I can't put then anywhere else. My room sucks. The are raised up on spikes though. Well I say "spikes", I mean ball bearings. I don't think the amp is capable of bi-wiring :(

All amps are.. its arguable whether bi wiring makes that much difference though.. :huh:

Just for the record I realise wiring up a sub like that is a bodge (and since I got new speakers I dont use it any more anyway), but if you dont have a line out for a sub then theres no other way (even though my amp does it doesnt seem to work :()

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Ive been told that the A1 Mk3 is bi-wirable??? Hmmmm

They still peform well though?

Mine are situated like this at the mo

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Might have a sligh jiggle about yet and the wires you can see will be gone when I can get hold of a drill lol.

They should be ok I think. Do they need space to breathe behind them?

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Some amps have dedicated poles for biwiring though don't they? I don't really know. If not, there seems absolutely no point in bi-wiring them, as the signal will be the same? I'm pretty sure it is a bodge, stereo amps are made for two speakers (hence "stereo"). But meh, I don't really know. Mong, your setup looks nice, if you have the speakers at the same level as your ears, then you get the right combo of bass/treble, whereas where mine are I get a bit more bass than I should. It's not the end of the world, but it's not ideal.

They probably need a bit of space to breathe - turn up the bass and you can feel the air pounding in and out of them from behind. I've only got an inch or two behind them though, I don't know that it would really make that much difference. Probably depends how loud you have em :)

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Got the amp today. All working after a few teethig problems......

Sounds very nice and I doubt ill be eeding the sub thankfully.

One question tomm, have you earthed your amp???

No. I dunno if there is any advantage in doing that. It'll surely be earthed through the power lead, no? I've not earthed it and it sounds fine :P

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