Connecting the Subwoofer
IMPORTANT: To avoid damaging your equipment, make sure the subwoofer
and all components are turned off before making any connections.
Subwoofer Placement
Placement of your subwoofer will dramatically affect its performance. Your AR sub-
woofer is designed to work best when placed on the floor within 15 feet of your front
speakers. For detailed accurate bass response, place your subwoofer near a wall, but
away from a corner. If you prefer fuller, more accentuated bass, try placing your sub-
woofer directly in a corner. This will substantially increase bass response. When pos-
sible, place the subwoofer close to your system's front speakers to keep wire or cable
runs short. See "Surround System Configuration" on page 5 for more information on
speaker placement.
Since low frequency sound is omni-directional, the subwoofer can be placed anywhere
in the room. Use the Low Pass Frequency control and the Phase switch to adjust the
output. Use the subwoofer's Level control to adjust the volume relative to the place-
ment (this may require resetting the subwoofer's polarity switch). See "Subwoofer
Controls & Connections" on page 8 for details on adjusting these settings.
Connecting the LFE (Low Frequency Effects) Input
Connect a single audio cable from your receiver's LFE output into the Subwoofer LFE
input. This input bypasses the subwoofers internal crossover. When connected to the
LFE input on the subwoofer, you will have no control of the Low Pass Frequency Con-
trol (crossover). The "Large" position sends LFE signals to all speakers selected
"Large". The "Small" position sends all bass to the LFE output directly into the sub-
woofer and no bass to the surround speakers. The "small" setting is recommended for
the HD510 speakers due to their size and low-frequency output. For setting the Small
and Large speakers parameters, please refer to your receivers bass management section
in the owners manual.
NOTE: The LFE channel is not a subwoofer channel. It carries low bass effects
to any speaker that can handle low frequency content through the receiver's
bass management controls. If you would like control of the crossover, you can
connect the LFE output from your receiver directly into the Line-In inputs of
the subwoofer.
Connecting the Subwoofer Line-In
If your receiver does not have LFE output, but has a subwoofer output, connect an au-
dio cable from the Subwoofer output on your receiver to the Line-In inputs on the sub-
woofer. Note that the subwoofer has a left and right input, allowing it to receive stereo
bass signals. If your receiver has only one output, you can run a single audio cable into
either the left or right input on the subwoofer. Another option is to use a "Y" cable to
connect both the left and right inputs on the subwoofer.
page 6