[xluben]

Right now I have a dual 2.1 setup with a pair of Dayton BR-1's in the Main terminals of my reciever and a pair of Panasonic satellites in the Remote terminals. I have an RCA 12" 200 watt subwoofer connected to the Pre Out.

I can press Main and get the Daytons and the sub or push Remote and get the Panasonics and the sub. The only problem is that the speakers have different sensitivity and sometimes I don't want the sub on at all.

My main goal is to have an easy on/off for the sub (the reciever can't do this). But as long as I'm doing that I figured it would be nice to be able to control the sub's volume (it's volume control is on the back of the enclosure and impossible to reach). My reciever does have bass/mid/treble controls but I'm pretty sure the bass control will also affect the Dayton's, so I want seperate sub control.

So here's my idea:

Cheap Enclosure
RCA Jacks
Toggle Switch
Potentiometer
Knob

I also have the ALPS RK097, 10KΩ pot from Tangent (which has a built in switch). Would this be suitable for this application?

I am mostly looking for some guidance on what switch/pot will work for this application.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Creek OBH-10

 

[xluben]

I'd rather spend 10x less an make my own.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben I'd rather spend 10x less an make my own.

Understood. I just thought you might want to know what you're reinventing. But yeah, even if it's more expensive, I understand the desire to make it yourself.

 

[xluben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk Understood. I just thought you might want to know what you're reinventing. But yeah, even if it's more expensive, I understand the desire to make it yourself.

It doesn't really surprise me that this already exists, but from what I see online the one made by Creek costs $250! I would hopefully be able to make one for less than $25 (10x less). I am looking to save money here. I just want to get this done as cheaply as possible.

I need to know what value pot and what type of switch to use.

OK, I had an idea, so this is what I've set up:

1/4" to 1/8" adapter in Headphone out of reciever
mini-to-mini from there to PA2V2
mini-to-RCA cable to subwoofer

Is there something wrong (bad for my equipent) with this setup? Would it be better if I went from the Pre Out to the Pocket Amp? Should I just build my original remote? What pot/switch?

 

[xluben]

I made my remote, and it's working great.

Here's a pic:

Here's the parts I used:

Enclosure
RCA Jacks
SPST Rocker Switch
100K Stereo Audio Pot
Knob

It was all under $20:

Shopping Cart

You may have noticed that I got a SPST switch and a stereo pot. I didn't realize my mistake until I got home, so I just decided to work with it, and make the volume control mono, which wouldn't matter because I only have one subwoofer.

My next problem was figuring out how to wire up the pot (which Radioshack has no info for). It was an ALPS 100KA2X which is not on the Alps website, and I couldn't find a datasheet at Digi-Key or Mouser or Google. I eventually figured it out, and wiring it up caused no problems.

The switch I got uses a 3/4" hole and I only have upt to a 1/2" drill bit, so I had to dremel out the rest. Luckily it ended up looking fine.

The enclosure I got was the smallest availabe, and getting everything in was kind of tight, but I think it ended up being the perfect size.

I went back to Radioshack later and got:

Y-Split RCA Cables (2)
Split Tubing

to finish off the project.

It is working exactly as I hoped (set the sub to full volume and the remote goes from 0 to 100% volume, and the switch totally stops the signal to the sub).

And I think it turned out looking pretty good!