PSW10 Auto on not working

Bubsy54

I bought a PSW10 to connect to my onkyo sr353. I do not have Y subwoofer cable but just the single cable. I connected the sub wire to the L-in on the back of the sub and into my receiver's sub out. I turned the low pass all the way clockwise to 150 and raised the gain to just over half way. I then placed the sub in the auto position in order for it to turn on automatically when it receives a signal. In my receiver, the crossover frequency to 100 after doing the auto calibration.

I am not getting the PSW10 to turn on automatically with this setup. In order to get sound, I need to manually turn on the sub. I played a scene from a movie and the sub didn't auto turn on. I replayed the same scene after manually turning the sub on and i could hear the bass.

Why is the auto on not working? I have searched this issue online and have seen that others have this problem too but I never came across a solution.
Thanks

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Welcome to Polk's forum. Sometimes the problem is caused by the program source not having any signal content below 100Hz. As a test, turn the volume of the subwoofer all the way down, then remove the sub-cable at the receiver's end and connect it to either the right or left audio output of your DVD player (assuming you are using one), then adjust the volume on the subwoofer to the 9:00 o'clock position and begin playing a full range CD. Now see if the auto on functions correctly.
Regards, Ken

Bubsy54

It will be hard for me to do the test as you suggested because I am only using my cable box and a PS4 which does not allow me to directly connect the sub to either one.

I was playing a movie from my cable box. When I turned the Sub On, I heard the bass, so there was a frequency being sent below 100Hz. I turned the Sub Off, then switched it back to Auto On, and the sub never turned on when playing back the same exact scene.

Since I made this post, I did a work around, but I am not sure if this is an okay method (in terms of distortion or whatever).

What I ended up doing was adjusting the sub speaker level in my receiver. It was initially set to 0 dB. I raised the sub speaker level to +6dB. By doing so, I am assuming that the receiver is outputting a louder(stronger) signal to the sub. This in fact, turns on the sub during the same scene that I was testing before.

I usually have my receiver's main volume to somewhere between 20-45. I noticed that if I set the receiver volume to 35 and leave the sub speaker level at +6dB, everything works okay (at least it is appearing to). If I lower the volume on the receiver to something around 20, the sub does not turn on. I was thinking of raising the sub speaker level again, to something like +10dB in order for the sub to turn on at lower volumes.

Does this make sense? Is this how it should sort of work? If so, if I raise to sub speaker level from 0dB(where is was originally set) to +10dB (where I think I would like it to be), should I then adjust the gain knob at the back of the sub in order to compensate for the receiver raising the speaker level?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

Yes, having the sub-out level set to "0" was the cause of the problem, there was nothing to trigger the auto on function.
Yes, use the sub's volume adjustment to get the level of bass you prefer.

befuddle

A alternative solution for a failed or flaky sub auto on/off switch is to use a extension cord with a built in rocker switch and leave the sub in its on position.This also provides for a means to be able to turn the bass on or off in preference to your needs.After a failed auto off switch over heated my first sub rendering it useless I've been using this method ever since.In using a pair of 8 inch Velvodynes in my bedroom system I've found it particularly convenient to have the option to be able to turn off the bass in instances where i find it undesirable.And while this method may be considered sacrilege to some audiophiles.In comparison to directly plugging into the wall I've noted no performance difference
Also as a means to remind me that the subs are powered on is to plug into the extension cord a small wall plug in nite lite with a red bulb but other methods such as a lava lamp or rock light etc will obviously work too