PSW505 - No Sound at ALL

candjhuntley

Receiver: Onkyo HT-RC160
Speakers: Klipsch Quintet 3
Sub: Polk PSW505

I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I just unboxed a BRAND NEW PSW505 and hooked it up to my system with an RCA cable going from my receiver's "Subwoofer Out" to the Sub's "LFE" in put. After getting it set up, i removed the grill in the front to take the foam out - while doing so the Sub gave a low pop as i found out the RCA cable wasn't able to form a solid connection to the sub (it was a Monster cable [i know - i got it from my b-i-l] that had some kind of special end piece that has been loosened and is no longer effective - i didn't realize it).

I didn't figure it was a big deal - so i turned it off (the receiver actually was still off) and finished getting the foam from behind the grill. I then turned it back on, popped in a movie... and nothing.

I then went to the speaker settings page from my receiver - and when it went through the speakers i got nothing from the sub.

This is frustrating as i just got this to replace a Klipsch Sub-10 that was doing the EXACT SAME THING. But i gave the Sub-10 to a buddy to figure out what was wrong with it, and he couldn't - so i know in that case the sub was out. Is this a sub problem? Is this a receiver problem? Did i blow the amp the one time that metal touched the LFE in and it made that noise? Do i need to send this back to Newegg? I'm pulling my hair out in frustration as this was supposed to be an easy install.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Chris

EDIT: Ok - i went into the speaker setup page where you can manually change their db ratings (which is where i was before and figured i had nothing with the sub). It turns out if i put the sub all the way up to +12 db, i can get a very low rumble from the sub. If i change the volume knob on the back of the sub all the way to max, then it gives me some bass in the movie. It's not anywhere what i was expecting, and doesn't compare at ALL with the Klipsch Sub-10 i had before - but there IS something coming out. So is this defective in some way? Is there a problem with the setup? What do you guys think?

kuntasensei

Do you have your other channels crossed over to the sub in your Onkyo, or are you running LFE only?

candjhuntley

I'm not positive what you mean by the question - still kind of a newb - but i THINK there's only LFE - that is the only cable coming from the receiver to the sub

kuntasensei

Go to the speaker settings menu. If all your speakers are set to "Full range", then no bass is being redirected to the subwoofer, so the sub only get the LFE content. Set all your speakers to 80Hz and see if you start getting more bass from the sub.

wutadumsn23

One other thing also, check to make sure you have it plugged into the right input on the back of the AVR. I know you said you had it hooked up to the "Subwoofer In" on the back of your AVR, and that is the correct one, but tere are two inputs on the back that are the same color and may be labeled Sub. One is the connection you want it in, the other is for the 5.1 analog input. I had it hooked up wrong at first and never knew it, lol. That 505 is a beast and is going to put out plenty of bass, so I susbect it may be a hookup/setting/defective or broken part. Good luck and hope you are back up and running soon. Also you can give Polk CS a call and see if they can be of any help, those guys are awesome. Good luck and welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

1-800-377-POLK (7655)
9AM-5:30PM EST Mon-Fri

candjhuntley

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

One other thing also, check to make sure you have it plugged into the right input on the back of the AVR. I know you said you had it hooked up to the "Subwoofer In" on the back of your AVR, and that is the correct one, but tere are two inputs on the back that are the same color and may be labeled Sub. One is the connection you want it in, the other is for the 5.1 analog input. I had it hooked up wrong at first and never knew it, lol. That 505 is a beast and is going to put out plenty of bass, so I susbect it may be a hookup/setting/defective or broken part. Good luck and hope you are back up and running soon. Also you can give Polk CS a call and see if they can be of any help, those guys are awesome. Good luck and welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

1-800-377-POLK (7655)
9AM-5:30PM EST Mon-Fri

Thanks for the post Wut - though i'm a little confused as to exactly what you're referring to. When you say the Subwoofer In on the AVR, did you mean Subwoofer Out, or did you mean Subwoofer In on the back of the sub? There are two subwoofer outputs on the specific AVR that i have, but that is because it's capable of 7.2 surround - and both send out the same signal. Of course, there are two places (well, three) on the back of the Sub - one is for LFE, the other is for a filtered pass or something like that (not sure, at the office now and can't see the back). I'm just wanting to make sure i understand you.

The sub seems to be working much better now, though it doesn't seem as tight when it gets to lower frequencies - and doesn't seem to handle them as well as my old Klipsch - but perhaps that will take some wear-in time and perhaps some more adjusting - or re-wiring if i have mis-configured something.

Oh - and about your television you're looking for -are you looking to replace your Sony because of coloration issues? You're probably already aware of the issues with optical blocks on Sony's KDS lines - but in case you're not, here's a link for you...

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=277&mdl=KDS60A2000

Hope it helps!
Chris

wutadumsn23

Hey Chris, sorry for the confusion. You got it right, the cable will go from Sub Out on the back of the AVR to the LFE In on the sub. Glad it is working better for you, give it time you have to make a lot of adjustments to subs sometimes and move them around to see where they sound the best. Thanks for the link to the article, thanks to a member here (billbillw) I found out about the issues with the optical block a few weeks ago, called Sony and I got it fixed here at a local repair shop free of charge. They picked it up on a Tuesday, fixed it on Wednesday and dropped if off for me on Thursday. It is as good as the day I bought it and am now second guessing my choice to get a new TV, IMHO the picture quality on those Sony SXRD's is as good as any current model Plasma/LCD.

-Jeff

candjhuntley

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

It is as good as the day I bought it and am now second guessing my choice to get a new TV, IMHO the picture quality on those Sony SXRD's is as good as any current model Plasma/LCD.

-Jeff

I wholeheartedly agree! I suppose yours isn't an XBR1 if they're repairing it - but i have a feeling it won't be too much longer and they'll be doing these kinds of offers with other SXRD sets as well.

I'm still waiting for the replacement i got from Sony (should be here Tuesday or Wednesday i'd imagine) - but i'm also concerned the picture won't be as good. I can't comment on Blu-Ray too much (a. the television was 1080i max - and i didn't get a bd player until after the tint started showing up) - but the picture for 1080i hd television progamming was unrivaled! Better than any of my friends' sets who have newer LCDs - and better than my current plasma. But alas - it will not be fixed.

Glad to hear yours is as good as new! Hopefully it will last a good long time before you have the problem again (i've heard it's inevitable).

Thanks again for the help and good luck with your tv!
Chris

wutadumsn23

No, mine isn't an XBR. I love the picture on my TV and like I said I am now second guessing my thoughts of buying a 65" Panny plasma, lol. I have heard that it is only a matter of time with the light engine/optical block to go, and even after it is fixed it can/will go again. Hopefully if it does, it will be inside the 6 year window, lol.

-Jeff