Outdoor sub with speaker wire only, amp has RCA

[everleigh1]

It appears there is no solution, but let me know my options...can I go RCA out from amp to the sub's speaker wire? If not, is there a conversion box I can use (without buying another amp). Or do I have to downgrade my amp to an older one with speaker wire out for the subwoofer? (note that the only decent outdoor subwoofers only have speaker wire, so I can't change that option...)

 

[faalin]

some pictures or make and model of everything would help. But you can do this, grab and old pair of rca's and cut one end off strip back the plastic, the braided wire will be the negative and the wire on the very inside that you will have to strip will be the positive. That should run the sub, do you know the ohms of the sub and what the amp is rated for? If these are off set to much you will ether underpower the sub or the amp may be unstable at a low ohm rating.

 

[Eduello]

If your AMP has an RCA output, it means that it's not in fact an amplified output, but a pre-amplified output. That means that it can only be connected to a a dedicated subwoofer AMP that can then be connected to the subwoofer with normal speaker wires (or if your sub has a built in AMP, you can connect it to that).

EDIT: This is all assuming that we're talking about some bigger speakers, not about 4" 'subwoofers'.

 

[everleigh1]

The subwoofer is the Polk Audio Sub10 (a hefty woofer!). It is designed to run parallel with the mains, but according to specs you can run it solo too. (I'd run it in parallel, but the sub is on one side of the deck, and the speakers are way above on the other side. The amp is just an older Sony, nothing special.

 

[Eduello]

Pics?

 

[americanaudiophile]

An outdoor sub would never have a built in power amplifier. You will need to connect it to to the same terminals that the satellites connect to. Manual shows this. If it is easier you can connect the amp to the sub and sats at the sub instead of at the amp.

 

[everleigh1]

An outdoor sub would never have a built in power amplifier. You will need to connect it to to the same terminals that the satellites connect to. Manual shows this. If it is easier you can connect the amp to the sub and sats at the sub instead of at the amp.

So I'd have 2 wires ( the sub and a main speaker ) connected to the same regular L/R speaker terminal? I didn't know you could do that. That's brilliant! And simple! Hooray!