Acoustic Research S115PS Sub got hit by lightning * has power but no sound output (1 Viewer)

[Dodie]

A friend of mine gave me his AR S115PS Subwoofer that got hit by lightning. When I tried to hook it up to my receiver and powered up, the green light came on meaning it has power but I can't hear no sound. This actually happened to him too.Is it possible for me to change the subwoofer amplifier, a partsexpress amplifier (part#300-794) or is the woofer damaged too? How can I check the amplifier and woofer if they are still working?

 

[Cam S]

Chances are good that the OEM amp had some sort of boost built into it at certain frequencies. Adding another amp may or may not make it sound better so it's really hard to give you an answer. Btw, how did the sub actually get HIT? Or did it just get the surge of electricity when it hit the house?

 

[Dave Milne]

Dodie,
It's not likely that the woofer is damaged, but if you can get to the back of it (probably by removing the driver), pull the leads off and hook a flashlight battery to the leads. You should hear a click. If you use one of the little 9V square batteries you should also be able to see the cone jump in or out.

Troubleshooting the amp is a lot more difficult. Since you have a green light, most likely the power supply is OK. I would guess that the output transistors are also OK because otherwise they would short the rails and pull down the supply. There's probably an IC in the upstream circuitry that got zapped. This will be very hard to isolate without a schematic. You might get lucky and actually be able to see a burned or cracked component.

Good luck

 

[Dodie]

thanks for the reply.