Thinking of adding a subwoofer to a Yamaha A-S801

The A-S801 has 1 subwoofer out jack that attenuates signals over 90 Hz.
Revel F-206 has low-frequency extension –10dB@30Hz –6dB@36Hz –3dB@42Hz
I'm thinking of adding an SVS SB-1000 but do I connect it to the system at speaker level or LFE to the A-S801 subwoofer out jack?
Connected LFE prohibits any adjustments and the A-S801 has no auto-set-up routine.
Connected at speaker level requires low pass filter to blend with natural roll-off frequency of the F-206 but I'm not clear on the level/freq numbers.
Any helpful advice will be appreciated.
TIA

 

Speaker level and tune by ear. It'll take a bit to get it right, so be patient. You really shouldn't notice the sub until you turn it off. When you achieve that you've got it dialed in correctly.

 

You don’t necessarily have to set the sub’s crossover to the [LFE] position if using the LFE input. That setting is only telling the subwoofer that the crossover frequency will be set by the preamp. I would connect it that way and tune by ear as F1nut suggested. It’s the cleanest and easiest connection method.

You could use a Y adapter between the Yamaha and the sub, but I believe the Yammie sums both channels to the single subwoofer output.

 

As long as the sub has a two-prong power input, it's safe to connect it to a Yamaha's speaker outputs. That will allow you to set the crossover where you want and is the preferable way to connect a sub for integration ease. Only downside is having to run two additional pairs of speaker cable for both channels.

 

Thank you for the replies.

 

Just to be a contrarian, I run a subwoofer cable from my NAD integrated over to my sub. I set the sub crossover to overlap the -3 dB point on the speakers by an octave and adjust sub phase and level by ear. I may have tweaked the crossover point down a bit as well. It works fine.

 

Borrowed my 15 yr old JBL E150P from my HT setup to experiment. Connected it to the 801 with a subwoofer cable, did a fast tweak and I'm pleased with the result. Time for subwoofer(s) shopping, any suggestions? These will be connected to a 2-channel system, music only. Budget limit is 2k USD. And thanks again all for your knowledge.

 

Is there any way that the 801 can take spades? I moved the Yamaha into an system that is running a REL T3. I couldn’t figure out how to connect it’s speaker level inputs using the REL cable as they’re terminated with spades. I ended up using the subwoofer our and it’s working fine for me.

 

Unscrew the binding post, insert spade, tighten the binding post.

 

With that budget you should consider getting two $1K subs and running them in stereo. After acquiring a second sub I think I'd have a hard time returning to the sound of a mono unit. One sub improves bass extension, but two or more somehow seems to improve the entire frequency range.

 

If they're like the posts on my A-S500, only small-width spades will fit.

 

Entirely possible that I’m missing something, but these long black collars appear to prevent that. If you back the binding post out that much, it will fall off:



I was able to use the REL cord with my Rotel power amp.

 

Thank you for the sound advice.
Any subwoofer recommendations for music listening?

 

You put the spade in where the cut out area is.

 

Rythmic or Velodyne (once they are up and running again). You just can't beat a servo sub for music.

 

I would imagine REL will be the most recommended for music but I don’t know why ( I’ve never heard them) I use Sunfire EQ 10 subwoofers ( older but very potent). SVS I think would be fine, my motto has always get the most sub your wallet can stand. Very powerful subs are one of the coolest things in our hobby and great sonic foundations if you are in to them. I don’t run mine all the time either but when I want to rock they are on

 

I like Paradigm Seismic 110. It packs a punch, goes low (down to 18 Hz) and have the ability to do room eq to better handle room modes.

 

Do I presume correctly that
- The 90 Hz lowpass on the sub out is nondefeatable? If so, I'd connect high level to be able to adjust the crossover on the sub.
- There is no way with the 801 to highpass the Revels?
Question: do you just want more very low bass? Or do you feel your Revels are running out of steam? If the latter, you have a problem, because adding a sub won't reduce their bass load (or the bass load on the 801 amp). Unless you change the amp itself, then all you could do is try blocking the Revel ports to see if it helps. I do not understand why so much 2-channel stuff has no highpass provision; it's an all-too-common silly disease.

 

Blocking the Revel's ports would put greater strain on the woofer, not less.

Some subs do have built-in high-pass crossovers for the mains.

 

I can't imagine the REL spades would fit in that tiny opening, but I'll check it out tonight. Might be interesting to compare the subwoofer out (which I've been listening to for a month or two) and the speaker level setup.

 

The opening should be about 1/2", which will easily allow a spade terminal to fit.

 

Thank you for the recommendations.
Rythmic is on backorder for F12 and F12SE with speaker level inputs.
Velodyne is still in flux.
REL has no speaker level inputs.
Sunfire HRS10 and HRS12 their only subs with speaker level inputs but are discontinued.
SVS SB-1000 their only sub with speaker level inputs.
Paradigm Seimic 110 looks interesting but has no speaker level inputs.
Correct, the 90 Hz lowpass on the sub out is nondefeatable and no highpass to speaker option.
The Revels have plenty of bass but I want to fill in the bottom.

 

I think all REL’s have speaker level inputs, don’t they? It’s kind of their thing.

 

That's why I said as experiment, because yes you might gain excursion around the tuning frequency though you'll reduce pumping below it. As for built-in highpass, that won't do any good because the OP's amp has no main-in preamp inputs, so you cannot loop the highpass back into the amp. It's as though stereo amp designers just do not understand subwoofers, or more cynically that someone is just saying "stick a sub out, never mind highpass, our customers are too ignorant to care."

 

not sure what’s less standard: the REL spade or the binding post, but it’s not even close to fitting