Will I need another subwoofer? (Connecting PC to home theater)

[SteveSmith1980]

Hi. I don't use this forum very often, but I have a question.

Basically, I would like to plug my PC to my TV via a home theater. I already have a home theater. Problem is, it is a old non-HDMI model (Sony STR-K700). My video card has HDMI by the way.

So I thought that I would solve the problem by buying a new home theater receiver. But then I noticed something. The connector for the subwoofer for pretty much all home theater receivers on the market is different than the type of wire my subwoofer has. My current subwoofer uses a small wire just like all the other speakers. But these receivers on the market need something that look like a composite cable connection.

Now I read this kind of connection is not compatible with my type of subwoofer? Do I really need to buy another one? If that's the case, this is getting more expensive that I initially thought. Is there any way to tinker something to make it work?

Just using stereo sound would be much simpler and less expensive, but I really like surround sound. My current home theater has a coaxial digital audio free connector on it, so I wonder if I could connect my PC with this? Or is there any other solution?

 

[ien2222]

Hey,

So, your old sub is non-powered, today's AVR's assume that the sub is powered (active). Basically you need an amp for your old sub, which, fortunately, you do have. What you can do is use the old K700 as your sub amp, you connect the AVR sub out, to a line in on the k700....say the DVD or CD in, on the left channel (any RCA cable you have is fine). Then connect your main left output (not the sub channel) to the sub.

So that is a solution, be careful with it though, I can't really find any details on the speakers/sub specs. If anything sounds distorted, turn the volume down. Also, you'll have to find the right crossover frequency for the AVR...if you have room correction software with it, the setup will give you a good idea where you should set it. Otherwise you can use a frequency generator and guess where the speakers start to fall off, start at around 300Hz and slowly lower it until you hit a point where they start sounding quieter, that's about where you should set the crossover.

If you have questions, I'll be online til wed morning but then won't have access for about three weeks.