My power keeps blowing my subs out (1 Viewer)

[Lanny_B]

The guys at the store would tell me to get a Monster power bar. Is that what I should do? Sounds like a decent idea since they say Monster would cover anything that died that way.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

When you say "power" do you mean the electricity supplied to the sub?

If so, the Monster appears as if it would regulate the power to ensure the surges don't kill future subs. Then again, why is just the sub getting fried and none of the other components?

 

[Jon W.]

Lanny I hate to speculate but I work with a guy that blew his sub and 2 or 3 of his bookshelf sized speakers. They were all cheap Kenwood HTiB speakers and sub but thats not the point. The point is that I had been to his house and listened to his system right after he first got it and he cranked the thing up so loud that the sub and speakers were all bottoming out. Some people just aren't able to hear distortion it seems. What I'm getting at is could you possibly have overdriven both your subs to the point of boom without realizing it?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Lanny,

What exactly are you talking about? The title of your thread makes it sound like your sub keeps blowing because your amp is too powerful. Then when we open the thread it sounds like you’re saying it’s getting fried because of electrical problems. Help us out here.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Lanny_B]

I think it's electrical problems. I have an Onkyo SR600 receiver, and I have the Sub set on the normal settings - not high or low.

 

[Jimi C]

Are you talking about a powered Subwoofer or the subs in your main speakers?

 

[Chris Quinn]

What subs? Have you calibrated them with a set-up disc such as Avia's?

 

[Geoff L]

Lanny

You have thread that asked about 250.00 subs running here also. ~{You brought it back up}~ older thread and people have responded to it.
UPDATE you said:
Your sub broke/stopped working. I asked a number of questions along wth some basic advice in regards to that thread.

I see today, rather last night late, you start another thread about blowing subs.

Concluding and assuming allot here between the 2 threads, but sounds like you might be over driving your sub/s. May not be the case, but just not enough info to diagnous anything...

With out answers to questions posted here by others and also the same in your other thread (250.00 sub), it's very hard to say what is going on.

If it was a house electric problem their would be a good chance that anything else (on that line thats plugged in), "other components", might/could/should suffer some type of problem also.

If you supply more information in this thread regarding, how many subs have blown or stopped working, are they all the same brand and model, have you calibrated the system properly "and not by ear", along with what others have asked & "will ask", it would be much easier to trouble shoot the problem....

Regards
Geoff

 

[Wayne Ernst]

If the house is susceptible to power surges, more electronics could be close to having issues.

I know a person who just had a whole house surge protector installed at the electrical panel for under $200.

 

[Lanny_B]

Geoff, you're right, I have a thread saying "Why do my subs keep blowing out" and another one looking for a good sub to replace it.

Sorry to take so long to write back to fill in the blanks.

I have a Dayton 10" subwoofer that I got from PartsExpress. I also have an Onkyo SR600 Receiver. Now, there is one clue I haven't mentioned. A while ago there was a power outage and everything shut off. Since then, my subwoofer hasn't sounded the same. It seemed to me a little "rattle-y" when it got into the strong heavy lows and was pretty annoying.

It's been a couple months since then, and now, just a couple days ago, when I tested my speakers using a test from my receiver, little to no sound came out of the subwoofer. Now, this is different because before I could definitely hear it. I cranked up the volume level through the receiver, and then cranked up the volume on the back of the sub, and I can hear a faint hum. Then I put the levels back to normal. I popped in my LOTR FOTR:EE disc and put it to the part with Sauron exploding in the beginning, and the sub still does make sound, but it's noticeably different than it has been. It used to be perfect, then it got rattly, and now it's just kind of wimpy.

I checked the cables and things are still fine. I do hear sound from the subwoofer if it's on while I'm unplugging the cables and touching them to the sides of the connections.

So, I hope it's not the receiver, but everything else from the receiver seems to be fine. I don't know how I would know, but so far my guess has been that it's the subwoofer.

 

[Tom Steele]

I have had a similar, but more precise, problem with Yamaha YST-800 subs. My failure is total and instant. The sub still powers up, but does not make sound. I have a thread on this elsewhere.

I talked with a local Yamaha dealer and they suggested the Monster Power Strips as well, because they are seen as insurance more than anything.

My question would be: How hard is it to actually get paid if you have a failure? A lot of times that sort of thing sounds really good but is more hassle that it is worth, or they try very hard to make it impossible to collect. Anyone have any experience?

Thanks

 

[Chris Quinn]

I'd use the speaker inputs and hook the sub up in place of one of your mains to test if it is the sub or the receiver. I suspect the sub amp got damaged in the power outage. A surge supressor would be a good idea. Is it still under waranty?

 

[JamesCB]

I read a thread a while ago about this. I think it was on avsforum.
Bassically, you need to prove that EVERYTHING was plugged into the Monster component. That means EVERYTHING. Even the coax for cable/sat must run through the Monster component. If they investigate and find that any component was plugged directly into an outlet, or anything other than the Monster component, they will not pay for damages. They don't pay as often as you might think.

James

 

[Charlie C]

"It seemed to me a little "rattle-y" when it got into the strong heavy lows and was pretty annoying. " your 10" dayton is fried. replace it. thats all.


"I talked with a local Yamaha dealer and they suggested the Monster Power Strips as well, because they are seen as insurance more than anything." I dont know how a 'power
strip' would have anything to do with a fried woofer.

 

[Chris Quinn]

A good reason to have a whole house surge protector. Nothing to contest, all power in the house goes thru the sugre protector. I had one put in during construction and it was $200.

 

[Tom Steele]

"I dont know how a 'power strip' would have anything to do with a fried woofer."

Well, in my case I was at home on the computer. The power went out. I went downstairs to read by a window in my family room.

I was sitting there when the power came back on. I had a YST-800 and I always kept it in the "on" position. I didn't like having to wait for it to sense a signal (sometimes a little while after sound was applied) to come on. I can afford the electricity it draws sitting idle I figured...

As I'm reading the power comes back on. I heard a sound like something powering up in the sub, then a sound like a match lighting. I figured this couldn't be good and turned on the Yamaha 2300 receiver and checked to see if the sub was working.

The green led was on, but the sub no longer made any noise.

This is the second (and last) Yamaha YST-800 to do this to me. I was on a Panamax SP8C protector.

NOTHING ELSE in the house suffered any kind of problem from the outages, including my Velodyne CHT-12 in my master bedroom.

I have no idea what could cause this, and Yamaha has been absolutely no help whatsoever.

If it has happened to me twice, in different homes, it has probably happened to others. I would bet Yamaha has an idea what causes this. But so far, no luck in figuring it out.

And no, it is not under warranty. I don't want to get into that here, as it gets away from my main beefs with Yamaha:

1. That I've had TWO YST-800's fail this way;
2. They offered no help in figuring out the problem.

 

[Lanny_B]

So I have two questions:

1. Parts Express - should I approach them for any reimbursement? Like I said I bought it back in March.
2. What to do in the future to prevent this. This is the 2nd sub I've replaced for this reason.

 

[Chris Quinn]

1. Yes! It has a five year waranty.
2. We need more info. What was the other sub and why did it stop working? I read a lot of amp failure stories with these cheaper subs. Do you have a sound meter and a set-up disc?

 

[Lanny_B]

Really? Hurray! I forgot how long the warentee was and I haven't been able to get home before they close to call and ask them. So, is this going to be a quick and painless fix through Parts Express? I'm trying to get my sub problem fixed before Star Wars comes out next week.

A sound meter - no. A setup disc - no. I have an Onkyo SR600 amp - that's all I know. Would getting a Monster Power Strip for like $200 solve this?

 

[Michael R Price]

Tom, I'm guessing it must be a poorly designed subwoofer that can't handle fluctuations in AC voltage while turned on. I have an old Altec Lansing computer speaker system that does something like that - whenever the power goes out then comes back on, the sub makes a really ugly "boomp" sound and sometimes you have to unplug it or let it cool off before it will work again. The way you describe it, the "lighting a match" sound might be the sound of a DC offset coming up after the amplifier failed, before the internal fuses blew. If you can, try checking the woofer and the fuses of the amplifier. There is a good chance that the woofer is OK and you just need a couple of cheap parts in the amplifier replaced. However, I would look towards eventually getting a new subwoofer.