Difference in Sub hook ups

[pwned32]

I had been using an old sansui 6060 stereo receiver from the late 70s and have had my 12" JBL powered up attached through the speaker level inputs. With the gain on the sub at half and the crossover at about halfway, it put out decent bass with the reciever on a flat EQ. I just bought a brand new Onkyo TX-8555 Stereo receiver to replace it. This has a dedicated sub preout. when I connect my sub to it using this way, the sub is barley functioning and now i have to increase the volume on the sub to almost full, but it still wasnt producing like it had before. I then unplugged the pre out and hooked it up through the speaker level in from the new reciever and it sound just like it had before. Why is it that one connection has a stronger single than the other, and which way should I have my sub hooked up?

[TheHills44060]

Is there an output level for the sub somewhere in the receiver's setup menu? It's been a while since I used one but my last receiver was an Onkyo TX-DS656 and it had an adjustable subwoofer output level in the surround menu. It allowed you to increase/decrease the output for the sub to match the output with the front two channels independent of the volume setting on the subwoofer itself when connected via the sub preout.

Connecting the sub using the speaker level inputs would bypass the setting completely.

[pwned32]

I just read the manual entirely and went through all of the menus and there doesn't appear to be an option to change anything with the sub. Is suspect that this may be due to the fact that it is only a stereo receiver. I guess ill use speaker level inputs so that i can adjust the crossover better on the sub itself

[This Guy]

I just read the manual entirely and went through all of the menus and there doesn't appear to be an option to change anything with the sub. Is suspect that this may be due to the fact that it is only a stereo receiver. I guess ill use speaker level inputs so that i can adjust the crossover better on the sub itself

Have you tried a different cable? Maybe the one you have is damaged. I say that because I've had a similar experience. I switched to a better (not damaged) cable and the signal was much stronger.