Subwoofer and AV Bypass

Home Theatre
1

Hi folks,

I’ve ordered myself a REL S/510 which I will be connecting to the speaker terminals on my 606s. So from a Hifi perspective that’s fine.

However I also use my speakers for front L/R when watching the telly, using AV bypass from my Marantz Cinema 70s to my NAC 252. So the REL will be engaged for TV use too.

I also have a cheap sub connected to the Marantz currently, so it only gets used for TV/cinema duties.

So…

Do you think I should keep both subs in the game via the different connections? Or will that muddy the bass when watching TV?

Or should I just remove the old Sub and let the REL do it’s thing via the Hifi connection. Is a high level connection like this good for cinematics? or just hi-fi?

Or should I also connect the Marantz to the REL via the low level connector. I’m not sure how this would work as it would be receiving 2 feeds when watching TV.

thanks for your help!

2

Just remove the old sub altogether, as in don’t even leave it in the room.

Once you set up your new sub correctly for music use, you can then consider what to do about the .1 LFE aspect separately.

FYI, I run a 5.0 system for cinema, specifically because truly full range L&R does enough bass for me in cinema mode.

PS: I assume you have a calibrated microphone for setting up your Marantz?

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3

Good point about the microphone. I’ll run the setup again once I’ve got the new sub in place.
Thanks for the reminder!

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4

A mild word of caution: the calibrated microphone on my Denon AV amp does a fairly good job with the 5.0 speakers, but it always sets the sub bowel-crushingly loud. Have to back it off at least 15dB before I can hear myself think.

I hope your mileage varies!

Mark

5

You should try connecting the Rel high level to your speakers and the .1 input to the AV amp LFE output. Otherwise you won’t get the low frequency special effects from your AV system.

6

So the sub will be getting 2 feeds at the same time when watching a film then (because AV bypass)

Is that OK? Will it prioritise the LFE input if active and ignore the high level? Or blend them together?

Edit: I just found an article about connecting high level and lfe at the same time on the rel website, so hopefully that will answer my question. thanks!

7

Well the signals are fundamentally different. Does the sub have a switch to flick between them or is it auto sensing? If the latter, then really you should just pick one method. Otherwise you risk bonding signal grounds between two different systems which is a sure way to compromise the main system.

If you like the sound of the subs on the stereo system I would leave just the high level connections. Configure the AV amp with no subwoofer and it will downmix the LFE into the stereo main speakers. So you will still get LFE via that route. It won’t simply discard it.

2 Likes
8

Thanks everyone.

I’m going to start with the simplest method for a couple of months while the sub runs in.
So this will be High level connection only, with no sub configured in the receiver, and speakers set to full range.

Once it’s run in and I’m happy with the crossover and gain settings for hi-fi, I’ll experiment with the option suggested by REL in this video: (hopefully link allowed since it is instructional?) : https://relsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004649548-How-do-I-use-LFE-1-input
This uses both the high level and LFE connections in ‘REL Theatre Reference mode’. I’ll be interested to see if I can hear (or feel) a difference!

9

It’s fine to use both the high level and LFE connections simultaneously, as explained in the product manual!
I think it’s a good idea to sort out the high level connection first as this is critical for integration with the HiFi system and getting the sub position (and therefore the cable length and routing) right is essential. The LFE setup is less critical, so add that later once you’re happy with the stereo integration.