Sub keeps blowing fuses during high impact scenes...help? (1 Viewer)

[Michael John R]

Example: During the scene in T2 when the city gets destroyed and Linda Hamilton is watching from behind the fence...the fuse always pops.

During dramatic low freq. scenes I always lose the sub.

What can I do? Switch to a higher amperage fuse?

Help?

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

nonono, never use a fuse rated higher than what the manual says. You will almost certainly damage the amplifier.

I don't blow fuses often but I think your sub is drawing more power than the amp can handle, therefore the blown fuse.

A solution can be easy as buying a new sub amp. Or turning down the gain on the subwoofer.

Maybe ppl can help more if they know about the subwoofer and amp? Like the name, and how many watts are they rated at, what receiver are you using etc.

oh yeah, did I mention never to use a higher rated fuse than you're supposed to?

 

[Michael John R]

Duh....Sorry...

I have a Yahama RX-V595 Reciever and a Klipsch KSW 12 Subwoofer.

Sorry about that, I should have included that in my original post.

 

[Jason Wilcox]

What level is your sub at on the receiver? Try to keep it below 0 and adjust the subs volume to compensate.

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

What fuse is blowing? The fuse inside the subwoofer itself? If so then your subwoofer might have a defect, but more likely is that you are simply overpowering it.

How big is your room and what is the approximate SPL level right before the fuse blows?

--Steve

 

[John Garcia]

Question #1 is have you calibrated your system so your sub is set to roughly the same level as the rest of your speakers? It sound like you have it turned up too high for the volume you are asking of it. Try turning it down.

 

[Harold_C]

Blowing your fuses during loud passages is a certain indication that you are signficantly overdriving the 105 watt amplifier in your subwoofer.

If you were attempting to play at full Dolby reference levels or above, you would most likely be hearing gross distortion from your main speakers on those musical peaks because the Yamaha (like all "100 watt per channel receivers lacks the power to drive normal speakers to those levels.

Therefore, my assumption is that you must have the subwoofer level set way too high. This is very common. I would bet that most people who attempt to set the sub level "by ear" end up with it being 6dB to 12db too loud. This would require 4 to 16 times more power for the sub than it would if it were set properly. You can see that it would be pretty easy to overdrive the sub amp and blow fuses if your amp is capable of 105 watts and you are asking it to deliver 1600 watts.

You should run to your nearest Radio Shack and spring for the $39 analog SPL meter. Then, calibrate the levels for your system, getting the sub level back where it belongs and finding out what position on your volume knob produces Dolby reference level output. Once you've done that, your system should operate pretty effortlessly at any volume up to about 6dB below that Dolby reference level in a normal sized room.

What you are doing to your subwoofer right now would be considered extreme abuse. It can't sound very good.

There are other Dolby Digital features which can also be used to prevent overdriving subwoofers on peak program material. However, until you have properly calibrated system levels, there's not much point in going into those.