Audio speaker semi-technical question

[pjpjpjpj]

I know there are better places to post this (audiophile/speaker forums), but this place is a wealth of knowledge and I don't want to join a new forum just for one question and be laughed at as a total noob....

I have some old speakers from a rack stereo system, from the mid-90s. They are from the era of "big floor-standing speakers that are like furniture", with a nicely-finished wood box. However, as we don't have much room in the place I'd like to put them (see my other thread about my home theater plans), I would like to reuse the "guts" in a much smaller box, or maybe even as ceiling speakers in the dropped ceiling tiles of the room.

The main speakers are 3-way, 8ohms, 140W max. See the attached sketch for the wiring inside. Safe to say that blue, yellow, and red (the actual colors of the wire insulation, BTW), are "hots" and the blacks are neutrals.

That old system did not have a subwoofer - the woofers in these speakers took on that role. However, my new system will have a subwoofer. So:

1) If I buy a new (separate) subwoofer, could I simply snip the wires to the woofer, and reuse the midrange/tweeter together, with that same wire jack circuit board?

2) If so, is there any way the woofer(s) could be repurposed as a subwoofer? I skimmed the wikipedia article about woofers and it sounds like there's a LOT more that goes into woofer/subwoofer design than a speaker mounted in a box - but then again, I'm not an audiophile at all and I could reuse the large speaker box for just the woofer (since it's designed size-wise for the woofer) if my idea would work.

[samgreco]

Since the speakers are 3-ways, and the crossovers are designed for that, I think you'd be very unhappy using just the mids and tweeters without the woofers. Typically you'd see the crossover point between woofer and mid at somewhere in the 500hz range. That is unfortunately well into the human speech ranges.

Your mids were probably not design to go much below that either. So if you managed to change crossovers to suit a 2-way and tried to use the mids for normal satellite range, you would probably damage them, as satellites and subwoofers usually crossover in the 80hx to 150hz range.

Lastly, the old woofers might be usable as a sub, but the box volume (internal dimensions) need to be correct for the speakers. You would need the original specs for those woofers to real get the box size right.

Honestly, you'd be better off selling them and getting more suitable replacements.

[Fuzzy]

Or mount them in the garage for some nice music out there. Seriously, if you are going to have a subwoofer, then there is no need for the large woofers used in older 3-way boxes. I'll second the recommendation to move to a newer speaker system, once that is more in tune with a home theater (mids&highs all around, and the sub providing the non-directional lows). Personally, I've got a set of Yamaha speakers that have 4 4-inch mids w/ a 3/4 inch tweeter at all corners. I think each speaker is 120W, but that is a lot of power for just mids-highs. I believe is the model number for the set. is NS-AP9500. They are an old speaker, larger than most systems for sale now, but I did just look it up and there are some of these for sale on Overstock.com for a VERY low $135 (Yamaha NS-AP9500 6-piece Surround Sound Speaker System) They pair perfectly with my Yamaha YST-SW030 sub.

[pjpjpjpj]

Thanks guys. I had a feeling it wouldn't work, but I just wanted someone to tell me for sure.

As I said above - this place is a wealth of knowledge.

[Tomahawk51]

And for what it's worth, if you are shopping for new:

I lurked on AVSForum long enough for me to feel OK about my last 2 speaker purchases. I really lean towards Value and not spending much money, with that said, I like to buy what is generally recommended as the best value for money and am willing to spend a bit more for the recommended products.

For my family room, I wanted smaller speakers that fit well in my media furniture. I got the Energy Take series, and an odd sub recommended on Slickdeals.net: Acoustic Audio HD SUB12.

For my recently renovated basement, I put in Zone 2 and Rear in-ceiling speakers: Monoprice 8" and 6.5" (I can share more info). I combined these with the Pioneer FS51 and CS21 series front 3 speakers. I need a sub and will buy the Bic America F12 at some point, but need a couch first.

[pjpjpjpj]

Shocking as it seems, I read good things about Monoprice's surround speaker system - even C|Net gave them a very good review as a "budget" speaker system.

So the receiver I am considering has a subwoofer "preout" which looks in the photos like a single female RCA port. But some subwoofers I see have L/R RCA ports. Someone please explain what's going on there. Does "preout" mean I don't necessarily need a powered sub? Would I just use a splitter (mono to stereo) and standard RCA audio cables to connect from the AVR to a sub with two jacks rather than one?

And if I got a sub with spring clips (like the Monoprice), I guess I'd need to get a single RCA cable, cut and strip one end, and pull apart the hot and neutral wires to plug into the clips?

[samgreco]

Personally, I always go to a real audio store and listen to as much as I can before I buy speakers. And they need to have a return policy that is no questions asked. Speakers will sound different in every environment, so you need to feel like they sound good in your space and have the ability to return them if they don't. Free standing of course. Can't do that with ceiling speakers

Of course, I am an audio guy. I used to be a manufacturer's rep in the audio biz and am a sometimes recording engineer.

I am REALLY picky

[Paul H]

A pre-out is a line-level output. There is no power amplification.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by Paul H

A pre-out is a line-level output. There is no power amplification.

So if I have an AVR with a preout (single RCA jack) and a subwoofer with a "line in" that is TWO RCA jacks (left/right?), how would I connect? A mono-to-stereo "Y" splitter?

[Fuzzy]

most likely, the sub just mixes the left and right input together, so you don't need to duplicate them first with a splitter. Just connect it to one of the inputs, and it should work fine. (You should check the manual for the sub, odds are it lists which port to use if only sending a mono signal). Specifically, what monoprice sub are you talking about?

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

most likely, the sub just mixes the left and right input together, so you don't need to duplicate them first with a splitter. Just connect it to one of the inputs, and it should work fine. (You should check the manual for the sub, odds are it lists which port to use if only sending a mono signal). Specifically, what monoprice sub are you talking about?

This deal is the one that was mentioned above, that gets good reviews.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I'm no audiophile and my home theater is a small area in my basement so I won't need roaring, booming sound. From the Cnet review, these should suit me fine, and I can't complain about the price.

The woofer alone is here:http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...#specification
It being monoprice, no online manual is available (that I can find) - if you see anything on there that seems like a problem, do tell me.

[routerunner]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

I'm no audiophile and my home theater is a small area in my basement so I won't need roaring, booming sound.

The thing is, when you're making a proper dedicated home theater is not for listening music but essentially for watching movies, so you don't really need to spend a lot of money on audiophile grade equipment, but believe me you do need a proper sub-woofer to give you the "slam" when is necessary if you see what I mean .

In order to choose a proper sub-woofer I can give you this small advice. If the room is 100% movie only usage, get a good ported sub-woofer (like the Monolith if you can get it delivered in the USA), less musical, but will give you the extra "slam", but for a 50% music/50% movie, get a good sealed XXLS400 which is more musical, but still a good slammer...I've got the latter and it fills a 20 square meters room at half power shaking the sofa, which is what you really want .

Eddy

[Paul H]

Or you coulduse BUTTSHAKERS. . . .
http://4seating.com/audio_buttshaker_amplifiers.htm

Standard Butt Shaker

Hang on tight while the mammoth T-Rex stomps across the big screen. Brace yourself for the jolt of the Titanic as it hits the iceberg. And most importantly, affordably transform your living room into a high-tech movie theater. These Butt Shakers have brought sound to life. The Butt Shaker is a low frequency device that enables the person sitting in the chair to feel rather than hear the low end (bass) of movies and music. Not a vibrating massage chair, the Butt Shakers are musically accurate and respond precisely to the bass track of movies and music, or the .1 and LFE channels on 5.1 systems. Butt Shaker equipped chairs connect easily to any home theater system and can be installed by consumers and professionals. Unlike a subwoofer or speaker, the Butt Shaker doesn’t make the room overly loud or carry the sound throughout the entire house or apartment complex. This isolation of the low end within the seating makes Butt Shaker equipped chairs a favorite of wives and neighbors. Designed by musicians and studio engineers, the Butt Shaker is musically accurate with a tight, “on-the-beat” response that is not just for movies and special effects, but is equally enjoyable with all types of music. It connects easily to and works well with most any sound system, from a CD player to a complete home theater system. Video games come alive when played in a Butt Shaker enhanced seating and an unparalleled level of realism and excitement awaits gamers who use these chairs. 90 Day Warranty.
Specifications:

* Power handling Capacity: 12 watts.

* Impedance: 2 ohms.

* Usable Frequency response: 20 to 100 Hz.

* Fs: 42 Hz.

* Force Nominal: 10 lbs. per ft.




Buttshaker Installation Information
Installation Diagrams

1 Row of 3 | 2 Rows of 3 | 1 Row of 4 | 2 Rows of 4



Amplifier Hookup Diagrams

Single Volume Control (mono) | Dual Volume Control (stereo)



RP Buttshaker Amp

Stereo Install Diagram | Mono Install Diagram

Buttshaker Receiver To Amplifier Hookup Diagrams

Standard Amp Hookup | RP-Series Amp Hookup



Mounting Instructions
Step 1. Lift the the flap on the rear of the seat. - View Image
Step 2. Mount the buttshaker - View Image

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by Paul H

Step 2. Mount the buttshaker

C'mon... admit it... you know you noticed this.

[Paul H]

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by Paul H

Step 1 should be "cut a hole in the chair".