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Post subject: Add powered subwoofer to Passport 500?
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:40 pm
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Hobbyist
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I have had a PD500 for almost 4 years now which I totally love and it still performs like new. Earlier this year I purchased a PD500 Pro with the subwoofer output but simply did not like the sound compared to my old PD500 without the subwoofer output. I sold it and took a loss on it but it simply did not compare to my older unit.

So now my question is how can I add a powered subwoofer to to my older PD500 which does not have the sub output? I find that by running a lot of base through my unit after an hour or so it will start clipping or getting choppy. It was explained to me that because bass takes a lot of wattage it may even damage my system over time. Sure enough I've already had to replace a diode in the unity that supposedly is a common problem on these older units.

Is there a way I can add a subwoofer to my PD500 set up and filter only the lows from my PD500 to my powered subwoofer? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!


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Post subject: Re: Add powered subwoofer to Passport 500?
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:51 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
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The only way I can imagine doing this would be if you could find a line-level mixer to do all your mixing on. My 400 watt Gemini sub-woofer takes line level input through two XLR inputs (one labeled "Left" and one labeled "Right"), has an internal crossover filter so that I have two knobs on the subwoofer. One changes the frequency of the split between what the subwoofer plays and what the amp after the subwoofer plays. The other knob is the volume control for the subwoofer. Apparently, this is common for powered subwoofer design.

There are two LXR "Thru" ports on the subwoofer (one for "Left" and one for "Right"). You should be able to patch these two into your PD500. The Fender Web site doesn't list the Passport PD500 among the owners manuals posted there, so I can't know exactly what kind of ports that it has. They have the Passport 500 Pro and the PD250, but not a PD500.

If you are running all mono, there's no problem. Plug either of the two XLR Thru port outputs from the powered Subwoofer into any one of your XLR inputs on the PD500. Done.
If you are wanting stereo output, and if the PD500 has stereo input channels (the 500 Pro does), then you might need female XLR to 1/4"TRS (or TS) cables to plug each of the two XLR outputs from the powered Subwoofer to the two 1/4" inputs of channels 7 or 8 (or whatever the stereo input channels are) on the Passport.

The point is, you are using the external mixer to mix volume levels and set EQ for each channel, then you are running two lines to the subwoofer, which monoizes the bass and plays it through its own internal subwoofer, then leaves the midrange and treble in stereo and sends it on to the Passport. The crossover happens in the Subwoofer because it is equipped to do that. The Passport is not.

I hope this description is clear enough.

You can't use the Passport's internal mixer for bi-amping (separating out the bass sound) because it is not equipped to do that. The Passport 500 Pro has all that built in for the "Sub-Out" port, but the PD500 doesn't.


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