Subwoofer not working (1 Viewer)

[wiuman83]

Hello, Just got a Yamaha RX-V371 receiver, and have a powered subwoofer hooked up using a single RCA cable, from the Sub out on the receiver to the white RCA in on the subwoofer (the manual said that was cool to use one or the other on the back of the sub) I can get sound when I run a test, however when I use any of the inputs on the receiver, the sub wont work, its not even lit up on the receiver front (where it has what speakers I'm using) Any help?? I'm new and don't have a clue what to try...thanks!!!

 

[gene c]

The simple stuff first . Do you have your speakers set to Small in the speaker setup menu? Also, make sure the subwoofer is set to Yes. Make sure the volume for the subwoofer in the speakers setup menu isn't turned all the way down (also called the trim level) and that the volume on the back of the sub itself is turned up. Maybe the problem is the sourc itself (dvd, cd disc). On some receivers the sub is in-active on stereo signals. Try changing to Dolby proLogic.

 

[wiuman83]

THANK YOU!!! I set the speakers to small and it worked!! So that leads me to my next question...why would anyone set them to large? Only if they don't have a sub hooked up? Also, my subwoofer has a on, auto, and off setting...I originally had it set to auto, but it wouldnt "automatically" come on when needed so I switched it back to on when I needed it and back to off when I dont...what is the auto for? Thanks again!! HUGE help!

 

[gene c]

For people with our level of equipment speakers should never be set to Large. Set them to Small and let the sub do what it's designed to do. Auto is exactly what you thought it was. It should recognize the signal and turn on automatically but it sounds like yours isn't. On a related note, mine sometimes reverts back to Standby when watching tv (because most tv shows lack deep bass most of the time, except action series of course) and when it needs to spring into action it takes a while and is usually a little late returning to On. So I set the sub to On instead of Auto, hooked up a surge protector near my chair and simply turn it on and off with the protector. That way it's always On and can't revert back to Standby in the middle of a show. BTW, all of your equipment should be plugged into a surge protector. Doesn't need to be expensive but you need them. And make sure the equipment is turned off, particularly subs and tv's, when pugging them in otherwise they can be seriously damaged.

 

[wiuman83]

Awesome, Thanks again!!!

 

[Kirb-dog]

I picked up a used RX-V673 for $75 the other day and ran into this exact same issue. So thankfull for this post and Gene C's wisdom...Yamaha's DSP/bass management was really a mess during this era. Like y'all, I spent hours fiddling with the setup trying to understand why I was getting such a pathetic sub pre-amp signal. There are enough different menus and parameter settings to spin you around, making it hard to zero in on the real problem.

As noted above, speaker size settings are indeed the key. But I want to shed just a little more light on the topic in case there are additional budget minded folks out there who love to pick up a bargain on an older (but still richly featured) Yamaha receiver. Plus I'm not sure whether or not more recent generations of Yamaha AV receivers behave any differently.

The item which makes a night and day difference is the center channel speaker size setting. Try toggling this back and forth using the manual speaker configuration menu. For some reason, Yamaha concluded that if you have a large center speaker, it should steer 90% of the low frequency signal away from the sub pre-out and into the center channel (and of course that speaker is never designed to handle the low end).

There is less impact on the sub output when toggling the front speakers between large and small. However. When you set them to large, it enables a previously grayed out menu item (at least on the RX-673) titled "Extra BASS". This parameter can be turned on or off. It acts sort of like the traditional loudness button, perhaps a little more subtle. But still noticeable.

Be attentive if running YPAO, as it may change your speaker sizes to large - Again, if center is set on large there will be almost no bass signal running to your subwoofer pre-out.

As a final note: I installed the latest FW version half way through this "learning session" and it did not change the bass management behavior. So I'll conclude that Yamaha did not attempt to remedy this situation at any time via code changes.

 

[Warble]

Just wish to say came across this too and found it invaluable. Couldn't find anything on any Yamaha documentation, big thanks.