Problem with PSW-10

[Deleted User]

Hello,
The problem is that as the crossover frequency becomes higher the wavelength becomes shorter and when it gets to be close to the distance between our left and right ear (around 8" for most of us) we can begin hearing enough directional cues that we can start to locate where the sub is. Also with a crossover around 200Hz the first fundamental frequency would be near 400Hz which is close to a very sensitive frequency range for human hearing. Any phase anomalies happening at this range are very noticeable. Even having a crossover at 100Hz has some risks at good blending.
Cheers, Ken

ROHfan

Wow, you people can't be serious.

jobbs

Hi Ken,

My broken sub amp came back from Polk. The line level input is still much lower volume bass than using speaker wire so I will continue to use speaker wire. The amp works good but now there is a faint hum when the amp kicks on. If I flick the back of the amp several times the faint hum stops only to return the next time I use the speakers. Any ideas?

Also I used the subwoofer setup on the Video Essentials disc with a sound meter to set the sub volume on my 2 RT1000I's. To get the same reading as the higher range of the speakers the volume was about 10 oclock but then when I used my Yamaha YPAO Automatic System Calibration after moving the RT1000is to 10 the bass crossover was set to 160hz as if it couldn't pick up the bass from the RT1000i's. I used the sound meter to see what volume YPAO set my PSW650 to and it was set about 6 dB higher than the rest of the speakers and this was using a FLAT EQ setting on the Yamaha receiver. So to get the RT1000i's bass to the same plus 6dB bass output as the PSW650 I moved the volume controls to 12 oclock. I then reran the YPAO with FLAT EQ and the crossover was set to 60Hz so it was now hearing the bass from the RT1000i's. Is it normal for a receiver to set the sub 6 dB higher than the other speakers?

jobbs

Hi Ken,

My broken sub amp came back from Polk. The line level input is still much lower volume bass than using speaker wire so I will continue to use speaker wire. The amp works good but now there is a faint hum when the amp kicks on. If I flick the back of the amp several times the faint hum stops only to return the next time I use the speakers. Any ideas?

Also I used the subwoofer setup on the Video Essentials disc with a sound meter to set the sub volume on my 2 RT1000I's. To get the same reading as the higher range of the speakers the volume was about 10 oclock but then when I used my Yamaha YPAO Automatic System Calibration after moving the RT1000is to 10 the bass crossover was set to 160hz as if it couldn't pick up the bass from the RT1000i's. I used the sound meter to see what volume YPAO set my PSW650 to and it was set about 6 dB higher than the rest of the speakers and this was using a FLAT EQ setting on the Yamaha receiver. So to get the RT1000i's bass to the same plus 6dB bass output as the PSW650 I moved the volume controls to 12 oclock. I then reran the YPAO with FLAT EQ and the crossover was set to 60Hz so it was now hearing the bass from the RT1000i's. Is it normal for a receiver to set the sub 6 dB higher than the other speakers?

decal

WTF has happened here? Seems like two different threads going at once.

Syndil

Yeah I noticed that too.

AbePhil

Ken,

Hi, so i have a question for you sir. It follows along the same lines as the OP but with a slight change. i finally got everything setup in my new home. my and my wife sat down to watch a blu-ray to hear our new surround sound. sounded amazing with great bass. now i wake up this morning and wanted to finish the movie. so i turn everything on as normal and now i have no bass. i checked the receiver connections and everything is great. nothing is grounded out. there is no hum to the sub just very very low volume. i always turn everything down before i power it off. when i unplug the sub cable, no sub at all. as it should be. when the male connector hits the female end the sub has a loud rumbling hum. the volume that it had last night. when it is plugged back in, same thing little to no volume. i have reprogrammed my receiver to factory settings and still nothing. i have also checked another cable and still the same thing. any ideas on whats going on?

[Deleted User]

Hello AbePhil,
Sorry you're having a problem. I always recommend the same procedure: first turn the volume down on the sub and remove your sub-cable from the back of the receiver. Then connect the sub-cable to either the right or left audio out of the Blu-ray player and begin playing a CD (not a video disc). Once the CD is playing turn the volume up on the sub, there should be plenty of bass at a very moderate volume setting. Let us know what you find.
Regards, Ken

AbePhil

i will try that! thanks for the quick reply. now if that doesn't work what would be the next step.

[Deleted User]

The problem could be with the sub-cable. If the CD playing test doesn't work then substitute any suitable coaxial cable for the connection between the DVD player and the sub. After turning the sub's volume back down, of course.

AbePhil

ok i can try that for sure. it will be kinda hard b/c everything is ran in the wall lol. looks like i'm gonig to have some fun tomorrow.

[Deleted User]

Sometimes it's easiest to bring the DVD player right beside the sub and plug it in. You can use any high level device as a source, portable CD player, MP3 player with a headphone out connection to the RCA in on the sub.
In fact, that's one of the ways to judge how a sub sounds, plug a CD player straight into it and listen to how it sounds just by itself. Then connect that same player/CD to the receiver/preamp and judge how the sound has changed. Most receivers add a layer of grunge to the sound that's not there when the player is directly connected.