I have the option of purchasing a sub from someone at work. The sub in question is a Technics SB-AS500. Not sure how it rates, but I was figuring that a sub was better than no sub (and it is cheap).

However reading the manual I found on the Panasonic website (Panasonic SB-AS500 Support and Service Information) it suggest it takes a single mono input.

However the issue is my Arcam A85 amp does how have such an output - even the current range of DiVA stuff doesn't. Therefore I am a little confused as to how one goes about connecting them together - or is it simply not possible?

Cheers,

Matt

Looking at the manual your amp does have a stereo pre-out which I think you could plug the sub into one side of.

As your amp is just a stereo one I'm not sure how well this will work.

I saw the pre-out, but is stereo... so that would mean the sub was working on just one channel which would be a bit gash!

you can run a sub off one channel just fine i'd say. and how cheap is cheap?

Or could I fabricate a cable with a couble of diodes in?

you can run a sub off one channel just fine i'd say. and how cheap is cheap?

£20

Or should I bail out while I still have the chance?

possibly, but remember a co-ax cable has two cores as such so you'd need to split each co-ax and fit the diodes without shorting the cables and then sealing it again meaning 4 diodes would be required but yeah it should work fine and get you full range to the sub as just one channel might miss the odd bit out if all the action is one one side

go for it as £20 is nothing, i paid £100 for my cheapo jamo sub 5 years ago from richer sounds in the sale but tbh it does the job for us and can kick out some surprising bass

possibly, but remember a co-ax cable has two cores as such so you'd need to split each co-ax and fit the diodes without shorting the cables and then sealing it again meaning 4 diodes would be required but yeah it should work fine and get you full range to the sub as just one channel might miss the odd bit out if all the action is one one side

I think the pre-out in via a 3.5mm jack plug so..... Would it not just be two diodes?

Amp side Sub side

L -> diode }

R -> diode } --------------- feed to sub

common ------------------ common to sub

Err why would diodes help :confused: low / line level (non amplified) audio signals are still ac

It's really not a problem having just one channel of a stereo pair. Bass is so "mono" anyway. Chances are the 50Hz - 120Hz is the same on both channels

Err why would diodes help :confused: low / line level (non amplified) audio signals are still ac

Oh, well that blows that idea out of the water then.

See my edit. Just take the left or the right.

In fact, take one, do some listening, then switch over to the other and listen again. If you hear a difference, I'll be impressed

Err why would diodes help :confused: low / line level (non amplified) audio signals are still ac

It's really not a problem having just one channel of a stereo pair. Bass is so "mono" anyway. Chances are the 50Hz - 120Hz is the same on both channels

Thats exactly what I was thinking as well...

arh cool...

With my Arcam stuff I can tell the difference between copied CDs - even when they are written are different speeds - and different media! But the sub stuff is all new to me.... I'll pick up the sub tomorrow and see if I have time to have a play tomorrow evening (if I have the right cables), otherwise it will have to be the weekend when I am next at home.

Cheers

so even if an explosion is on the right for example the left channel would still get the low level?

I guess that might depend on my old Yamaha prologic surround sound amp. Maybe it is time to upgrade the Yamaha and A85 and T51 into one surround sound amp/receiver, but hard to justify the cost, especially if I went the Arcam route.

mine didn't cost that much, £250 i think.

My A85 cost about £750 when new, so we are talking a relatively large chunk of cash :-(

However I could free up some space under the TV I guess 3 boxes -> 1 boxes

Pre amp feed from the A85 was too low, however I did find a feed on the back of my old Yamaha prologic decoder. Means the sub only works when the I am using the decoder, but that is fine, as it was bought for when I watch films, rather than music.

Thanks!