Rotel RSX-1056 and REL Strata 3 - help? (1 Viewer)

[Matte Black]

Hi everyone - Yup, I'm a newbie looking for some words of wisdom. I've been into hi-fi for many years, only recently got into multichannel, so if anyone can shed some light on this I'd be most grateful.

For starters, here's what I'm running :
Rotel RSX-1056 amp
Castle Severn floorstanders on the front
Castle Keep centre
Vintage Castle Richmond bookshelfs on the rear

And I've just picked up a REL Strata 3 subwoofer, mainly for movies but also as a boost to the whole system. So, I've hooked it up with a stereo RCA cable to both the sub pre-outs on the amp, told the amp that there's a sub attached, set all the other speakers as "small" - and nothing happens. The sub seems not to be getting much of a signal at all from the sub preamp outputs, whether in music or movies, DTS or Dolby Digital. If I hook it up to the "front" pre-outs and send a full-range signal at it, it's quite happy to rattle the windows and have the neighbours banging on the walls - but that sort of defeats the object of all the bass redirection that's supposed to be going on, and I don't have the benefits of a separate LFE channel.

I've tried setting crossover points, connecting to one or the other or both of the sub outputs, every combination of "large" and "small" speakers, and the amp just seems not to be sending anything to the subwoofer. I'm reluctant to believe that the subwoofer outputs could be blown, so there must be something I'm not doing. I've gone through the manuals, searched the internet, done just about everything short of resetting the amp to factory settings. I'm not happy about machines getting the better of me - does anyone have any clue why I'm not getting results?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Matte! Welcome to HTF!

I'm going to move your post to the receiver forum as Rotel is a bit advanced for the Basics area.

I assume you have found the LFE output setting in the Rotel menu system? Right?

 

[Matte Black]

Hi Bob - thanks for moving me to the right place!

If by LFE output setting, you mean the level adjustments via the "test tones" menu, I've had a look there - but with the subwoofer turned all the way up and a +8db level adjustment, it still only just makes a noise. I suppose that indicates that the outputs are at least active, but I'd think that it shouldn't be necessary to push everything to the max. I really don't like the idea of turning up the volume on the subwoofer all the way to the top - if something went "pop" I'd probably lose an eardrum as well as a speaker

Edit : I've got the amp hooked up to my studio PC and it seems there is nothing at all coming from the sub output, so it was probably just crosstalk and noise coming through at full volume. Which is interesting. Still hopeful...

 

[DavidUL]

are you using the main sub out ? or pre outs ?

 

[Matte Black]

As far as I'm aware, there are no "main" sub outs on the RSX-1056, and the only way to hook up a sub is through the preamp outputs. Which seem not to be working. Though why only the sub outputs should not be working, I don't know.

 

[DavidUL]

are you using the sub 1 out than up by the positive of the center channel spkr cable...
and check your zone settings.. also ..

other than that ... the amp on the sub could be bad ??

http://www.rotel.com/support/pdfs/manuals/RSX1056.pdf

 

[John Brill]

Only connect it using 1 sub output, the top one marked Sub 1

JB

 

[Matte Black]

Thanks for the suggestions - I've tried one, two, either, or, and all combinations of the cables, without success. There just seems to be nothing coming out of the sub outputs - not even test tones.

The subwoofer itself is fine - if I hook it up to my CD player directly, or to any of the other preamp outputs, it rumbles away quite happily. I'm fairly sure the problem is in the amp - but where? I'd be very surprised if any of the outputs were actually blown, so I suspect a logic issue somewhere - though I've done a factory reset and that hasn't helped. I haven't read anything that suggests this is a common problem, and it's not mentioned in any of the firmware updates.

Am I going to have to find somewhere to get it serviced? The manual's starting to fall to pieces, I've looked through it so often without success.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I own this very receiver and you have it hooked up correctly (at least the same as me). Your troubleshooting analysis looks sound. If you had somehow messed up and got the zones confused or made some other setting error, the factory reset would have taken you back to a workable condition. I believe you need service.

Note: Is there a fuze in the circuit anywhere? I've never had my receiver open so I don't know. You might look (if you already haven't).