Properly installing your powered speakers and passive subwoofer is not complicated.
The idea of hooking up your new powered speakers and passive subwoofer to your home theater might make you cringe. You might fear doing it wrong and, possibly, damaging them. But it's a job you can do. Powered speakers, which contain internal amplifiers, do not rely on the stereo receiver for amplification. The passive subwoofer is able to use its crossover to determine the level of equalized signal to send to the other speakers.
Instructions
1. Place the speakers and subwoofer in the proper locations throughout the room. It is best to try to create a stereo image by placing the speakers in a symmetrical location on the right and left sides of the room. Placing the subwoofer between this stereo field is optimal but not required.
2. Strip a 1/2 inch of the speaker wire insulation on all three wires that you will need with the wire stripper tool. You will need two for the powered speakers, and one for the subwoofer. If you placed the speakers within 10 feet of the receiver, use 10 gauge speaker wire. If more than 10 feet, use 16 gauge or higher.
3. Connect both of the wires on each end to the two powered speaker "Left" and "Right" terminals. Usually, black- or white-colored cable represents the left channel, while red represents the right. Most likely, the terminals will unscrew and allow you to insert the cables into place. Remember to tighten the screws back into place.
4. Attach the other ends of the two cables from the powered speakers to the back of the subwoofer. Make sure that you insert the left-channel cable into the left speaker output, and the right to the right channel. Since the speakers are powered, they will only receive musical signal and not amplification.
5. Set the crossover on the subwoofer to about 80Hz, to apply a filter to the frequencies that are being sent to the speakers. This can allow the subwoofer to represent the low end, while the highs and mid-range will be output by the powered speakers.
6. Connect the receiver or power amp to the subwoofer with the remaining speaker wire. The wire should go from the "Audio/Sub Out" on the receiver to the "Audio In" on the subwoofer.
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