My Paradigm PW-2200 blew ( arrgghh ) (1 Viewer)

[Daniel I]

I can't believe it! My 3 week old Paradigm PW-2200 SUB blew! It makes a crackling noise at moderate volumes during really low frequency effects ( e.g. the beginning of the Haunting DTS DVD ). Wow, at first I thought the sub was just bottoming out, but then I played some older DVD's I am more familiar with, the same sound appeared where it shouldn't. I am really hoping this isn't going to re-occur with the brand new replacement I am currently breaking in. Arggg. Anybody else run into this? How long should I break this one in?

- Daniel I

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

There shouldn't be much of a *break in* period. But it is important to properly calibrate the subwoofer. Doubly so if you intend to run bass heavy DVDs at loud levels(like haunting DTS).The pw2200 is a very good subwoofer...but abused...it might not last as long as hoped. How large is your room?

TV

 

[Daniel I]

My HT is in the open basement of a 2 story house, unfortunaltey I do not have a SPL meter yet. I run the sub at about 3/8 volume. The receiver is kinda of horrible ( :b A Sony HT in a box receiver ) it claims quite 100 watts a channel, but I know I'm lucky if its 50 watts. I never run it past about the same 3/8 volume. The sound was occuring during moderate sound levels. I am very careful with my equipment as my wallet cries out with every purchase. The reciever is handling cross-over management ( subs x-over is set to 150hz and all speakers are set to small ). Any ideas?

Thanks for any comments.

Daniel I

 

[Daniel Martin]

Daniel,

Could you describe the sound a bit more? Is it comming for the woofer or the enclosure ?

Some PW2200 heatsink grills on the back loosen during transport or over time. When loose they will emit strange vibrations during loud sections. You can easily identify this by applying pressure with your hand on the heatsink.

If this is the problem, you can either send it back to your paradigm dealer, or open the sub and tighten the grill from inside (note that this will probably void your warranty...).

Daniel.

 

[Daniel I]

Thanks for the replies!

It sounded like the cone itself. It almost sound like during loud segments the back of thr driver was hitting something.

Daniel I

 

[Greg_R]

The PW2200 has bass limiter circuitry built in... I don't think it's possible to bottom the cone (it just limits the output). Also, your receiver's power has nothing to do with the sub (it's amp is built in). I haven't heard of anyone else breaking their PW2200... you must have gotten unlucky and received a defective unit (rare).

 

[Daniel I]

It was working fine for 3 weeks. Seems like an unlucky break for me. My dealer replaced it the same day so I can't complain too much. I never heard it bottom out before that problem, so I had a feeling it was defective.

Daniel I