PSW 120 No sound, green light comes on and goes off. help please

perry2011

Double post; mod feel free to delete my same post in the other wrong area, my sincere apology

Hi folks, my problem is with a PSW120 Polk Audio, powered sub-woofer. This sub has worked successfully for 12 years; I bought it new from circuit city. PSW 120 has been a champ, a bulldog!
Has it ran its course, is just done, or can it it be repaired?
How can I confirm it?s not my AVR?
Sub does not produce sound/ vibrations/hum when system is turned on and source is played.
Green light comes on 4-6 min {I ll get an exact time later } then green light goes off. No sound. No vibrations, zip nada. Just the light comes on, light goes off.
I have tried 2 different cables.
I then took off the face plate to the sub, checked the fuse, appears intact not blown-the wire or whatever it?s called inside the glass fuse is not in two pieces or burnt} un plugged the woofer, plugged woofer back in, turned system back on.. Same results, green light comes on stays on for 4-6 min green light goes off.
I ran a speaker system check through my AVR bought new 1 year ago {2 year mfg. date pioneer SC 25} results read speaker error { obvious yes, me will I am oblivious and frustrated..} no sound/noise from the test through the sub with both cable used in two test.
Frustrated! Should I repair, or, I can buy a used one for 50 bucks. I really don?t want to spend the money on a new right now.

Please help! And thank you!

[Deleted User]

Hello,
I'm sorry you're having a problem with your PSW120. The first step is to determine if the problem is with the sub or the receiver. To do this you would:
1). turn the volume of the sub-woofer all of the way down.
2). remove the sub-cable from the back of the receiver and connect it to either the right or left audio output of your DVD/CD player.
3). begin playing a CD (not a DVD) and turn the volume, of the sub-woofer, up very slightly.
There should be plenty of bass at a moderate volume setting. Let us know what the results are.
Regards, Ken

perry2011

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hello,
I'm sorry you're having a problem with your PSW120. The first step is to determine if the problem is with the sub or the receiver. To do this you would:
1). turn the volume of the sub-woofer all of the way down.
2). remove the sub-cable from the back of the receiver and connect it to either the right or left audio output of your DVD/CD player.
3). begin playing a CD (not a DVD) and turn the volume, of the sub-woofer, up very slightly.
There should be plenty of bass at a moderate volume setting. Let us know what the results are.
Regards, Ken

Ken, thank you! I will try this tonight and get back to you Monday.

[Deleted User]

Sure, no problem, glad to be of help.

perry2011

Ken, I did what you said to do in your reply to me.
Results were plenty of bass at a moderate volume setting.

Okay, so whats next?

Thank you

Perry

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Thanks for the additional information, I believe the sub is working fine. Go into the receiver's setup menu and check to make sure the "sub-out" function is on. The owner's manual should go over how to check this out.
Regards, Ken

perry2011

Ken, thank you that worked!
Added to say if anyone else has same problem as me, this is what worked for my problem with Kens help.
The speaker settings on my AVR, for the subwoofer to work in concert per say, for my system, two mains and one sub-woofer. {I have surrounds for movies only}
1- The setting of ?large or small" for your main speakers. I had to choose small.
2- The level of sub- woofer frequency {Hz} settings in the control speaking setting for your sub on your AVR
The subject my PSW 120 sub. Which ranges from 60 hz {?} up to 160 hz.
A- In my case if I set the speaker setting to "large" on my AVR, whereas this in fact by passed my sub-woofer thinking the large speakers would handle the low hz, hence my problem.
B-I had to set the Hz setting on my AVR sub-woofer speaker setting control below 50 hz, or the signal would again by pass the sub woofer.

LOL, I could be incorrect but thats how it ended up working.Thank you again, I am still confused in the amount of options I have on my AVR system but closer to understanding more.
Your help is fantastic.

Kind Regards

Perry

PS
Another questions, what setting should I use on my sub in regrads to phase control or the other?

Thank you again.

[Deleted User]

Hello Perry,
That's great, I'm glad you were able to get things working. The polarity/phase control, on the sub, is intended to allow the owner to compensate for different distances from the listening position to the sub-woofer and the main front speakers. Some owners end up with their sub very close, for example, with the result that the energy produced by the sub would reach the listener a fraction of a second before the sound from the main speakers. The opposite would happen if the sub were further away from the listener than the main speakers. The problem with this situation is that at the crossover frequency, shared by the sub and the main speakers, there could be reduced energy due to cancellation. By reversing the sub's polarity this cancellation would be reduced. The ideal way to determine which position to have the switch would be to have some way of producing the same frequency as the sub-out crossover frequency. In your case 50Hz if I am correct. Then with a pure 50Hz being played you would switch the polarity and choose the setting that gives the greater output.
Most owners don't have that ability and try and judge the sound quality by having a friend switch the selector to see which setting they prefer. Usually if the sub and your main speakers are in the same general areas of the room you can leave the selector in the "norm" position with fine results.
I hope this is helpful information.
Enjoy, Ken