My experience with Lava Subs.... (1 Viewer)

Hi all! Spent slot of time reading threads before joining and this is my first post. After reading a good number of reviews and suggestions here and on other sites, I decided to go with a Lava 8" sub to complete my renovated upstairs family room. Since this is a small room (about 175 sq. feet), the 8" should be sufficient to go with my Energy Take Classic 5.0 speakers. Purchased the sub last Monday morning and hoped to see it shipped same day (as advertised on their site). No dice, sub didn't ship until Wednesday. Okay, a few more days without a sub, I will survive. Received this past Tuesday and immediately opened it up with the excitement of a kid on Christmas! Now my excitement has turned to anger and frustration. Sub powers up and recognizes signal being received from my Denon receiver. No sound output at all, with any input connection. Checked my settings on the receiver, everything is set as needed. After trying multiple potential solutions, I got nowhere, and since it was now late at night, I gave up. Wednesday PM I took the sub downstairs to my basement home theater (all Paradigm with a Denon receiver). My PW-2200 is booming away perfectly, so connecting the Lava with the same power cord and sub cable should tell me where the problem lies. Unfortunately, the problem continues. Nothing I change will give me output with the Lava. I call customer service, and come to find out the person I need to speak with is at lunch, but he will call me back ASAP. This was at 2pm CT Weds. I did not get a call back. Called again today (Thursday), and he was on another call, so we will have him contact you as soon as he is free. It has now been ANOTHER 4 hours without a response. I am really starting to think they don't care. I am debating packing up the sub and taking the $25 loss to ship it back and move on to something else. If they don't care about customer service, I don't need their (apparently) crappy product. Guess I should've went with the Velodyne I first had in mind...

Matt, Sorry to hear about your issues with Lava, I was going to get the Lava as well replacing my old Mirage sub. I had posted I found a great deal on a Mirage but nobody seemed to think it was a great deal and had people recommend the Lava. But after your post no way will I get a Lava, thanks for the input because I was going to pull the trigger soon. I wish I could afford the SVS but I'm going with the Mirage.

Mark, I will try to keep updating this thread as I (hopefully) hear back from Lava. I heard great things about them from all over the net, so hopefully this is an isolated incident, but it sure is frustrating.

Finally, after my third call, I was connected to Cary (sp.?) in technical assistance. I walked him through the issues and he suggested opening up the sub by removing the amp. Being very familiar with car audio wiring, seems like no big deal. He assured me that I would not be voiding warranty despite notes to the contrary in the users guide. Upon removing the amp and checking the connections, everything was secure. Amp must be bad. Contacted Lava again to let them know my findings, and they offered to send a new amp. I am not enthused about repairing at home, since we can't be 100% sure this was the problem. I was promised a call first thing tomorrow morning to coordinate the return shipping and discuss replacement. I have tonight to decide if I just want a refund or would be willing to give them another shot. I really like the size of the Lava and heard a lot of good things about the sound quality, it's just that I am now concerned about reliability. Guess that's the nature of a 12 year Toyota salesperson....

Sorry to hear about your frustration with Lava. I have two and have had zero problems with mine or with their CS. I would at least wait till the new Amp arrives. Its a much better sub than people give it credit for.

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