Sharing a sub between 2 systems

[John G]

I thought this might be of interest to some. My A/V system and 2 channel system share the same large open basement. Yesterday I did some experimenting with the A/V sub in my 2 channel system and find myself getting good results sharing the same sub between both systems.

The 2 channel system feeds the sub from the pre out on my two channel system shown in the 3rd and 4th photo. The sub is also fed from the sub out connection in the A/V System shown in the first photo.

The A/V speakers L, R, Center and sub are all part of the ATC Concept One system, the speakers in the 2 channel setup are ATC SCM-7's which are the same speakers used in my A/V system. It's nice to enjoy the sub in both systems without having to unplug things, I guess I just have to be careful not to play both at once.

Regards,
John

[Patt]

Now that is a neat idea.... Sort of a two for one thing...... :B

[Glen B]

A wireless remote switcher like the Sima SVS-4D can safely switch two sources to your subwoofer. It has a selectable auto sensing feature that detects an incoming signal. When either your 2-channel or HT system is turned on, the switcher will automatically sense the incoming signal and route it to the subwoofer. You can override the selection at any time with the either the remote control or one of the front panel buttons. I have one of these switchers my HT system and it works great.

Sima SVS-4D switcher: http://www.smarthome.com/8291.HTML

[John G]

A wireless remote switcher like the Sima SVS-4D can safely switch two sources to your subwoofer.

Right now I have the AV Receiver plugged into the right low level input and the 2 channel pre-amp summed to mono and plugged into the left low level input on the sub. It seems to be working fine and as long as I don't play both systems at once I think I'll be OK.

The A/V system seems to benefits much more with the sub and doesn't seem to be as neccesary with the 2 channel setup, I could easily live without it in that system.

Regards,
John

[CJ Paul]

John G, it seems to me if your sub actually has L/R inputs you should be OK. Worse case scenario is if they were both playing at the same time, the sub would interpret the home theater signal as the Left signal and the stereo signal as the right signal, but I cant see how it would damage the sub. If you were feeding it a stereo signal the signal could be different per channel and it wouldnt "blow up" the sub...

[John G]

John G, it seems to me if your sub actually has L/R inputs you should be OK. Worse case scenario is if they were both playing at the same time, the sub would interpret the home theater signal as the Left signal and the stereo signal as the right signal, but I cant see how it would damage the sub. If you were feeding it a stereo signal the signal could be different per channel and it wouldnt "blow up" the sub...

Thanks for the comment, it makes sense and I now feel better about how it's setup.

Regards,
John