Using a Subwoofer for Music with Sprout

Hello,

I am purchasing a subwoofer for my Home Theater setup and before I install it, I would like to connect it to my Sprout in my office setup to see how I like a subwoofer in that spot. My question is - will the linked subwoofer below work and if so, how do I connect it? I have seen a couple of subwoofer posts here but unfortunately I am still unsure.

Link to product page…

https://emotiva.com/products/subwoofers/basx-s8

Here is a picture of the subwoofer…

Emotiva BasX S8

Thanks for your help!

Patrick

I just found in the manual where I need a 3.5mm to RCA adapter cable to connect a subwoofer using the Analog Out connector. So I will try that. Please reply if you have any other thoughts or input on using a subwoofer with the Sprout.

Thanks!

Hey Patrick,

Congrats on the sub purchase! You’ve figured it out correctly: use a 1/8" stereo headphone plug to RCA cable. It’s the common “Y” splitter type of cable. Connect the 1/8" stereo plug to the “Analog Out” on the Sprout, and the RCAs to the top two jacks on your sub, labeled Line Level In. Don’t worry about the LFE-- if you were using a home theater receiver you would just connect the one RCA since LFE is a mono signal. With the Sprout we are letting the subwoofer combine the left and right channels so you want to connect both.

Our CEO Paul has a good method for finding the right spot for a subwoofer. Get a long enough “Y” cable that you can place the sub temporarily where you want to listen to music – right where you want it to sound best. Then put on some bass-heavy music and let the whole system crank. Walk around the room and listen for areas where the bass sounds nice and balanced. The best sounding spot will be the best location to place your sub.

The best sounding place is often not the best looking location, so if you’ve got to compromise on the location, you can still make adjustments with the phase control. Start it at 0 if you’re using the method above, or if you have to place it somewhere and it doesn’t sound great, flip it all the way to 180 and see if that helps.

Cheers!

Duncan

1 Like

Duncan - I’m thinking about connecting my Sprout to a vintage Velodyne sub (ULD-12). The sub is equipped with a separate controller that has an RCA mono input. So, I thought if I just go from the analog mini to RCA it would be a clean, easy connection. Would this connection work?

That would be perfect. Duncan moved on to greener pastures.

Thanks Paul. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy my little Sprout. I stream Tidal, I enjoy my CD’s, I connect it to the little Elac’s, I hook it up to my La Scala’s, and even went so far as to find an old B&O turntable to revisit vinyl! I’m just enjoying the music again!