"Sharing" a subwoofer between systems?

[Mouldy Old Dough]

I have a REL T-Zero small subwoofer on my cinema kit. I only have a small room so it does the job. This has a low level and a high level input, and I am curious as to whether I can share this between my cinema system and my hifi. Or is there a good chance that I could overload it and blow it?

It did come with a high level Speakon cable that I could utilise.

[timster]

I have a REL T-Zero small subwoofer on my cinema kit. I only have a small room so it does the job. This has a low level and a high level input, and I am curious as to whether I can share this between my cinema system and my hifi. Or is there a good chance that I could overload it and blow it?

It did come with a high level Speakon cable that I could utilise.

No worries. I do exactly that with my T5. They say it's not an issue, it's only mixing the low level and hi level that's a no-no, so as long as your cinema kit uses the LFE, it'll be fine.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

I have a REL T-Zero small subwoofer on my cinema kit. I only have a small room so it does the job. This has a low level and a high level input, and I am curious as to whether I can share this between my cinema system and my hifi. Or is there a good chance that I could overload it and blow it?

It did come with a high level Speakon cable that I could utilise.

No worries. I do exactly that with my T5. They say it's not an issue, it's only mixing the low level and hi level that's a no-no, so as long as your cinema kit uses the LFE, it'll be fine.

So using the high level Speakon connector with my hifi, and the .1 / LFE input would be fine, but not the high level input that is next to the LFE?



Next question is how would I connect my 4100 to the bare wire on the end of the Speakon connector?

[timster]

I have a REL T-Zero small subwoofer on my cinema kit. I only have a small room so it does the job. This has a low level and a high level input, and I am curious as to whether I can share this between my cinema system and my hifi. Or is there a good chance that I could overload it and blow it?

It did come with a high level Speakon cable that I could utilise.

No worries. I do exactly that with my T5. They say it's not an issue, it's only mixing the low level and hi level that's a no-no, so as long as your cinema kit uses the LFE, it'll be fine.

So using the high level Speakon connector with my hifi, and the .1 / LFE input would be fine, but not the low level input that is next to the LFE?



Next question is how would I connect my 4100 to the bare wire on the end of the Speakon connector?

Edited the above as I believe you meant the low level.

Yes.

Connect yellow and red to left and right bass channels +ve, and the black to one of the -ve.

IMG_1953.jpeg

[Mouldy Old Dough]

Yes, I was looking at the Hi/Low level marking above the left hand Low Level control.

What happens if both happen to be in use at the same time? All my tv and media runs through my Sony AV amp, so it's just in case I happen to switch my hifi on when the tv is on.

Also, does it make any difference that my amp has Aktiv cards in it?

[timster]

Yes, I was looking at the Hi/Low level marking above the left hand Low Level control.

What happens if both happen to be in use at the same time? All my tv and media runs through my Sony AV amp, so it's just in case I happen to switch my hifi on when the tv is on.

Also, does it make any difference that my amp has Aktiv cards in it?

Not a problem. It can handle LFE with another feed simultaneously. I had my Linn driving the fronts of my AV system all the time.

No difference with Activ cards, just make sure you use the bass ones.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

Not a problem. It can handle LFE with another feed simultaneously. I had my Linn driving the fronts of my AV system all the time.

No difference with Activ cards, just make sure you use the bass ones.

Perfect. That'll be a job for the weekend to go through the bags of cables in the attic to find it.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

I spoke to REL earlier and they advised not to share the sub between my hifi and cinema kit. They said it could possibly overload it.

She did, however, mention that I can use both the LFE and High Level inputs for my cinema kit, so I'll give that a bash. She said that should give an improvement.

[timster]

I spoke to REL earlier and they advised not to share the sub between my hifi and cinema kit. They said it could possibly overload it.

She did, however, mention that I can use both the LFE and High Level inputs for my cinema kit, so I'll give that a bash. She said that should give an improvement.

That's confusing. If you can use both LFE and Hi-Level for cinema, you can use both LFE and Hi-Level. Period.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

That's confusing. If you can use both LFE and Hi-Level for cinema, you can use both LFE and Hi-Level. Period.

I suppose it must be because both inputs would be getting the same signal if it was coming from the same amp, but to have two different signals coming from different amps could cause issues? Anyway, I don't want to risk blowing it. I might hook it up to my hifi just to see what kind of difference it would make, and I could buy another if it is worth it. I am pushed for space but I could stack one on top of the other.

[timster]

That's confusing. If you can use both LFE and Hi-Level for cinema, you can use both LFE and Hi-Level. Period.

I suppose it must be because both inputs would be getting the same signal if it was coming from the same amp, but to have two different signals coming from different amps could cause issues? Anyway, I don't want to risk blowing it. I might hook it up to my hifi just to see what kind of difference it would make, and I could buy another if it is worth it. I am pushed for space but I could stack one on top of the other.

This is directly from the manual

20240523_150728.jpg

The last paragraph is the exact use case we are talking about!

[Mouldy Old Dough]

That is odd! I just thought I had better check with them as I have had enough problems with kit recently.

I could see why it might cause an issue if it was receiving both signals at once, for whatever reason.

I'll maybe just test it on my hifi and see what benefit it brings.

[timster]

I could see why it might cause an issue if it was receiving both signals at once, for whatever reason.

If mixing hi and low level, it would. LFE is on a different circuit.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

I have a REL T-Zero small subwoofer on my cinema kit. I only have a small room so it does the job. This has a low level and a high level input, and I am curious as to whether I can share this between my cinema system and my hifi. Or is there a good chance that I could overload it and blow it?

It did come with a high level Speakon cable that I could utilise.

No worries. I do exactly that with my T5. They say it's not an issue, it's only mixing the low level and hi level that's a no-no, so as long as your cinema kit uses the LFE, it'll be fine.

So using the high level Speakon connector with my hifi, and the .1 / LFE input would be fine, but not the low level input that is next to the LFE?



Next question is how would I connect my 4100 to the bare wire on the end of the Speakon connector?

Edited the above as I believe you meant the low level.

Yes.

Connect yellow and red to left and right bass channels +ve, and the black to one of the -ve.

@timster
When you say black to one of the negative, is one of the negative bass binding posts ok?

I’ve just bought a REL T5x, dedicated to the hifi rather than sharing the T Zero.

[timster]

I have a REL T-Zero small subwoofer on my cinema kit. I only have a small room so it does the job. This has a low level and a high level input, and I am curious as to whether I can share this between my cinema system and my hifi. Or is there a good chance that I could overload it and blow it?

It did come with a high level Speakon cable that I could utilise.

No worries. I do exactly that with my T5. They say it's not an issue, it's only mixing the low level and hi level that's a no-no, so as long as your cinema kit uses the LFE, it'll be fine.

So using the high level Speakon connector with my hifi, and the .1 / LFE input would be fine, but not the low level input that is next to the LFE?



Next question is how would I connect my 4100 to the bare wire on the end of the Speakon connector?

Edited the above as I believe you meant the low level.

Yes.

Connect yellow and red to left and right bass channels +ve, and the black to one of the -ve.

@timster
When you say black to one of the negative, is one of the negative bass binding posts ok?

I’ve just bought a REL T5x, dedicated to the hifi rather than sharing the T Zero.

Yes, although I'm not sure what other option you may be considering? All three connect to the amp speaker outputs .

[Mouldy Old Dough]

Just last minute nerves

Got it hooked up, so just need to fine tune it.

Are there any recommended settings, or is it just down to tuning it to my setup?

It’s a bigger beast than I expected, even though it’s not that much bigger than the T Zero I have.

[timster]

Just last minute nerves

Got it hooked up, so just need to fine tune it.

Are there any recommended settings, or is it just down to tuning it to my setup?

It’s a bigger beast than I expected, even though it’s not that much bigger than the T Zero I have.

I just followed the guide in the instruction manual as best I could.
Other than positioning (there's only one place mine can be!), the idea is to start with volume and xover at their lowest then bring the volume up until you can just hear it (using a track with a repetitive bass line).
Then bring the xover up until it's "obviously too high" (which I took to mean overwhelming the main speakers), then bring it down again "to the appropriate lower setting" (unhelpful!). I just turned it down a couple of clicks from there.

[Moomintroll]

Can I add that it should be possible to “ Tunedem” the placement of a sub? I would listen to it on its own and see how in tune you can make the bass.

Dave

[Mouldy Old Dough]

Can I add that it should be possible to “ Tunedem” the placement of a sub? I would listen to it on its own and see how in tune you can make the bass.

Dave

I'm afraid I am very limited in that respect. It will go as far behind an armchair as it can, and due to my miscalculations in the size of it, even that is stretching it. For some reason I had it as being the same size as the T Zero I already have, which is only ably 240mm square. This T5x is about 300 square, but looks much bigger. I have read that it is possible to stack subwoofers, so the T5 would go on the bottom. Is that advisable?

[Moomintroll]

Can I add that it should be possible to “ Tunedem” the placement of a sub? I would listen to it on its own and see how in tune you can make the bass.

Dave

I'm afraid I am very limited in that respect. It will go as far behind an armchair as it can, and due to my miscalculations in the size of it, even that is stretching it. For some reason I had it as being the same size as the T Zero I already have, which is only ably 240mm square. This T5x is about 300 square, but looks much bigger. I have read that it is possible to stack subwoofers, so the T5 would go on the bottom. Is that advisable?

I’ve no experience of sub stacking, but no reason it shouldn’t as far as I can see. You may be limited in where you position them, but you can try rotating them a small amount to see if there’s an improvement.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

Looking at my Linn account under Manage Systems, I notice there is the ability to add a subwoofer. It asks whether it is a Front Left & Right Subwoofer, Front Left, or Front Right. Would I select the F L&R Subwoofer since it is only a single unit? It also asks about the wiring, with speaker output 1 to front left and output 2 to front right. Is this the standard configuration?

[timster]

I've just had to move my sub to just behind and between the fronts. Rel say it should be behind but in the corner (assuming a box room I guess). That just isn't possible for me.
I originally had it between but in line and that sounded pretty good. Then I moved it to the side but in front of the speakers. Terrible.
I'll see how this goes, but I'm curious why orientation would matter for downfiring subs?

Edit: you can't stack downfirers, which the T5 and T zero are. You may be able to stack a front firer on a down but that sounds like a mess imo.

[Mouldy Old Dough]

I've just had to move my sub to just behind and between the fronts. Rel say it should be behind but in the corner (assuming a box room I guess). That just isn't possible for me.
I originally had it between but in line and that sounded pretty good. Then I moved it to the side but in front of the speakers. Terrible.
I'll see how this goes, but I'm curious why orientation would matter for downfiring subs?

Edit: you can't stack downfirers, which the T5 and T zero are. You may be able to stack a front firer on a down but that sounds like a mess imo.

Good point about the stacking!

[Moomintroll]

If that’s directed at me @timster , I was assuming front firing subs. You’re right, probably no benefit with bottom loaded ones.

[timster]

If that’s directed at me @timster , I was assuming front firing subs. You’re right, probably no benefit with bottom loaded ones.

No, @Mouldy Old Dough mentioned it as possible. I have seen front firers stacked so he's not wrong.