Magnifi Max SR Subwoofer Issue
XmasRoseFL
Posts: 1
This is a bit embarrassing to admit but recently, we happened to notice we weren't getting any sound out of our rear speakers even when we knew we were playing a movie where we should. It's embarrassing because we don't know exactly when it started other than it's been a long time since the last time we remember hearing anything from them.
I did some research and found out that most likely they just needed to be re-synced. No problem. Found those instructions in the manual (and verified they hadn't changed by researching online). When we tried to re-sync the subwoofer after getting the tone from the soundbar, pressing the sync button on the subwoofer did nothing. No green light at all. We even tried changing rooms with our other Magnifi Max SR system. When we moved the one from the bedroom to the living room and plugged the subwoofer in, we noticed right away that subwoofer green light was blinking and we were able to sync the subwoofer and surrounds to the soundbar. When we followed that process again and plugged in the subwoofer to the system we're having problems with, we get no green light at all.
I could be misunderstanding how things technically work, but I came to the conclusion that if the subwoofer isn't synced to the soundbar first, the surround speakers won't work which would be the reason we haven't heard anything from the surround speakers.
I don't know why we're not getting a blinking or solid green light on that subwoofer. I checked the outlet it was plugged into to make sure it was getting power (the outlet is was plugged into is on a an APC UPS system with surge protection and nothing else plugged into one of those outlets had a problem.)
Any ideas or help would be appreciated.
I did some research and found out that most likely they just needed to be re-synced. No problem. Found those instructions in the manual (and verified they hadn't changed by researching online). When we tried to re-sync the subwoofer after getting the tone from the soundbar, pressing the sync button on the subwoofer did nothing. No green light at all. We even tried changing rooms with our other Magnifi Max SR system. When we moved the one from the bedroom to the living room and plugged the subwoofer in, we noticed right away that subwoofer green light was blinking and we were able to sync the subwoofer and surrounds to the soundbar. When we followed that process again and plugged in the subwoofer to the system we're having problems with, we get no green light at all.
I could be misunderstanding how things technically work, but I came to the conclusion that if the subwoofer isn't synced to the soundbar first, the surround speakers won't work which would be the reason we haven't heard anything from the surround speakers.
I don't know why we're not getting a blinking or solid green light on that subwoofer. I checked the outlet it was plugged into to make sure it was getting power (the outlet is was plugged into is on a an APC UPS system with surge protection and nothing else plugged into one of those outlets had a problem.)
Any ideas or help would be appreciated.
Answers
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You're right about the signal chain: on the Magnifi Max SR, the sub has to connect first, and then the surrounds get the signal. There are no rears without a sub.
The most important thing to note is that the same sub works fine when moved to the other system. That pretty much rules out the sub, the power cord, and the outlet. If there is no green LED (no blinking or solid) when you connect it back to the problem soundbar, that means the soundbar's wireless module isn't sending out sync at all.
If you haven't already, here are a few things you could try:
hard power reset: unplug the soundbar and sub from the wall, wait 5 to 10 minutes (not seconds), and then turn on the soundbar first.
Try syncing the soundbar when it's in standby mode and when it's fully on. This makes a difference with some firmware versions.
Just to get rid of any grounding problems, plug the soundbar directly into the wall instead of going through the UPS.
If none of that works to wake up the sub LED, the soundbar's wireless board is probably broken. That's not uncommon on older Polk Audio units, and you can't fix it yourself. At that point, you can either get it fixed under warranty (if it's still under warranty) or live without rears. It's frustrating, but your troubleshooting so far is good.
