Satellite system with separate woofer question

charmerci · « **on:** 25 Jun 2012, 01:23 am »

I have a pair of Cambridge speaker system with two mid-range/tweeter cabinets and its one woofer is in one separate cabinet.

The instructions say not to hook the woofer in a separate amp output from the two monitors. Why? Curious minds want to know!

JohnR · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Jun 2012, 01:47 am »

What model number is it?

timind · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Jun 2012, 02:00 am »

I have a Gallo system with the small round speakers and a separate subwoofer. Gallo wants the satellites run from the sub as the sub has a crossover which limits what the sats receive. The sats are not meant to be run full range and can be damaged by too much low frequency signal. My guess is the Cambridge system is similar.

charmerci · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Jun 2012, 02:34 am »

Quote from: JohnR on 25 Jun 2012, 01:47 am

What model number is it?

It's the Ensemble III. It has a tweeter and a 4" midrange. The woofer, I think, is a single 8" or maybe a dual 6".

Anyway, I did look up the manual on-line and it says that connecting them in series won't damage the system but "could seriously degrade its performance."

JohnR · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Jun 2012, 02:50 am »

This one?

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/media/i3d/01/A/man-migrate/MANUAL000030689.pdf

If so, it's talking about the old type of system that had switchable "A" and "B" speakers. If the sub input were in series with the sats then the crossover would be rewired into a series crossover instead of parallel... I'm sort of curious as to what makes it possible to connect both amp channels to the one subs though, perhaps the driver has two voice coils.