No sound from PSW 10

braindoc

I just bought a PSW10 sub and hooked it up to a SONY STR-DE597 receiver. Use RCA cables from the Sub out connection in the Surround section of the SONY to the RCA input R/L of the PSW10 per manual. Complicating the situation is the fact that I am using a Mac Mini as a HTPC for music and movies.

I am getting no sound from the sub. Sound from my Bose right and left speakers is fine. Have tried all Volume and Low Pass control positions. Green light is on on back of PSW10.

I suspect the problem is the settings on the SONY. Anyone with a similar setup that could suggest anything?

pork

Just to clarify, did you plug your RCA cable into the Multichannel In subwoofer port or the Subwoofer port right next to the Front Left and Right clips?

comfortablycurt

That's what I'd suggest. You said you had the sub plugged into the surround section...which makes it sound like you have it plugged into the multichannel inputs on the back of your receiver. Make sure it's plugged into the subwoofer LFE pre-output, and not the multichannel input.

braindoc

comfortablycurt wrote: »

That's what I'd suggest. You said you had the sub plugged into the surround section...which makes it sound like you have it plugged into the multichannel inputs on the back of your receiver. Make sure it's plugged into the subwoofer LFE pre-output, and not the multichannel input.

Thanks for the help. No, I have it plugged into the correct place. The SONY manual is not very well written or organized for the non-audiophile, so I suspect I have set something wrong.

I should get subwoofer output even from stereo (not 5.1) input, correct? That's why I don't think the problem is with the Mac input, which is playing fine through the right/left speakers...

TNRabbit

Many processors will not play the sub in stereo unless your main speakers are set to "small"....

braindoc

TNRabbit wrote: »

Many processors will not play the sub in stereo unless your main speakers are set to "small"....

Yes, I saw that in the subwoofer manual, but I can't find a comparable setting on the receiver. Can anyone out there with a similar SONY model point me to the menu or confirm this can be done?

comfortablycurt

My parents have a similar receiver, though it's an older model. On theirs, you just have to press the "setup" button on the front, and cycle over until you hit the speaker section. There's a setting for either "micro sp." or "normal sp.". I'm not sure if it's the same in your case...but that's what I'd try. A lot of receivers won't send an LFE signal if your fronts are set for large.

braindoc

Thanks to all for the help.

The problem was with the AVR settings. I reset the receiver settings (hold down power on restart for 5 seconds) and was then able to access the subwoofer settings. So now there is a signal to the SW.

The settings menu is very confusing. Although the manual lists all the settings that can be changed, there is no diagram of the menu "tree" to get to each setting, and the manual steps do not work consistently. It appears that if certain settings are chosen, others become inaccessible or unchangeable.

Currently, for example, I can't get the speaker setting off "Large". I plan to search the SONY site (or perhaps some user sites) to find a menu diagram or recommended settings.

comfortablycurt

In my experience, Sony receivers are never very user friendly. The menu systems they have in them are really confusing. It's hard to get to even the most basic adjustments.

cnh

You have to cycle through the menu items (speakers) with your remote until you see sub and select yes...this is not easy to do, it involves using your remote and the circle buttons in the center of it.

Even after you tell the Sony that there is a sub there. It will NOT activate the sub in two channel stereo. You have to look at that row of buttons on your remote. I'm not sure what they are labelled but I think one of them is something like AUTO or AFD...you need to select that on whatever source your playing so that the Sony will turn the sub on and play.

I know this is sketchy because I'm trying to do this from very old memories. I know exactly the problem you are talking about but really need to have that Sony remote in my hand to be more specific.

I'll try to find a picture of the remote and maybe I can explain this better. Because as Curt said the setup for this receiver is a bit counter-intuitive and the manual s..ks

cnh