subwoofer?

[Wellh]

Hi guys i bought a new Energy S8.3 subwoofer and hooked it up with rca cable to my yamaha htr-5840 receiver.The sub has no sound in surround mode only in 6ch mode.Ive set all the correct inputs in the receiver menu
thats available but still only plays in 6ch stereo.Any thoughts im stumped?

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by Wellh

Hi guys i bought a new Energy S8.3 subwoofer and hooked it up with rca cable to my yamaha htr-5840 receiver.The sub has no sound in surround mode only in 6ch mode.Ive set all the correct inputs in the receiver menu
thats available but still only plays in 6ch stereo.Any thoughts im stumped?

I'm not familiar with the setup on this unit, but if it has audio EQ settings, make sure the volume isn't set low in surround modes. It will be working - just inaudible.

Same thing happened to me yesterday - I bet it's a setting you think looks OK, but is just too low.

[CAB]

What are the R/L, center, and surounds?
Did you configure your receiver with the size (usually small or large) of the 5 main speakers?
What is the crossover set to on your pre/pro?
Does your sub have volume, crossover, and phase dials? If so, what are the crossover and phase set to?

[Wellh]

Yeah this is the first sub ive had so i am new to this.The sub has crossover
and its own phase control,and i set them at their half way position,according
to the instructions your suppose to tune them to your own liking so i have
no idea yet where they should be set at.Also has power mode on,auto,off
switch.X-over mode either a or b.Power mode is set to auto and x-over to b
position which is crossover bypassed.The volume on the the sub is set at half.
My receiver's settings are set for large for the front speakers and small for the rear speakers,bass out to the sub,no center speaker.
The subs crossover controll can be set from 50hz to 110hz.Ive set it at 90.
Again when im watching a movie and switch from 6ch stereo to surround mode it takes a few seconds then the light on the front of the sub goes off
no signal.Crossover on receiver is set on 100hz also.Thx guys.

[saprano]

i thought if connecting to the lfe input there's no need to adjust the crossover on the sub, and it bypasses the subs internal settings and go's by the receivers.

[emacs]

Originally Posted by Wellh

The subs crossover controll can be set from 50hz to 110hz.Ive set it at 90 ... Crossover on receiver is set on 100hz also.Thx guys.

increase the LFE setting on the subwoofer to its maximum and the receiver (using the crossover noted above) will send all audio frequencies below 100Hz to the subwoofer.

[Wellh]

Originally Posted by emacs

increase the LFE setting on the subwoofer to its maximum and the receiver (using the crossover noted above) will send all audio frequencies below 100Hz to the subwoofer.

I will try that,thx.

[blindcat87]

Some subwoofers have an auto on setting that doesn't work well. I would try just turning it on instead of auto. I would also be sure you are using the right input on the sub, some subs have stereo inputs and require that users that only use a single LFE out cable use only the left or right input. Since that covers about 99% of users, a lot of people with subs set up this way run into the problem. I had a Cerwin Vega sub years ago that did this to me.

It also still may be a setting in the receiver. Receiver sub settings can be really weird. Some of them have sub on/off settings that all have to be set to on in a couple of different places. Also, you should set all of your speakers to small unless you want your mains to handle all of the bass sent to them. Personally, I would only set mains to large if I was using tower mains with their own powered woofers, but that is a personal choice. My mains are capable of going down to 40 Hz before starting to roll off, but I set my crossover to 80 Hz anyway because it makes my mains work less on the non-directional frequencies and I find that this improves midrange frequency performance. The difference isn't really that much, but hey why not use every tweak that works?

While it may be one of the issues at the sub, I really think that the problem is somewhere in your receiver settings. I think if it was the auto on or the input you are using that it would not work in any mode.

Chris

[Wellh]

Ok here's an update,i set the sub's crossover to max 110hz no difference.
My rear surround speakers are Energy rc-mini's the instructions say to set
them at 120hz on the receiver,so thats where i set them.I also set the sub to
on instead of auto,but there is still no sound in surround mode.So i im guessing its probably the somewhere in the receiver set up correct?
There is only 1 sub input for the receiver that is clearly marked.Dam did'nt
think it would be this hard to hookup a sub,lol.Thx guys i appreciate the help.
Anything else i should try?
I will try setting the front towers to small in the morning see if that does anything,thx.

[blindcat87]

It is almost certainly a receiver settings issue then. You know the sub works since it at least works in one mode. You know the source works since you get bass at least with the one setting.

If it was a hardware problem either with the sub or with your sub output, you would not get any bass with any setting. So, the problem must be with some setting. Like I said, go through each and every settings sub menu in the receiver to be sure that there isn't something there muting the subwoofer out or telling the receiver that you don't have a sub when in other modes.

There is one possible source issue I can think of that would fit what you are experiencing. If your player has bass settings and thinks there is no sub, it might be failing to send the LFE information out to the receiver at all. Make sure there is no audio setting in your player that is causing it to think you don't have a sub. I don't think this is the problem, because, even if it sent the bass to the reciever without the LFE info, the low frequencies from the other channels should be sent to the subwoofer in accordance with the receiver's crossover setting. But it never hurts to check every option.

Because there are so many different possibilities involved in speaker setups, bass management has to be very flexible. Unfortunately, flexible usually equals complicated as well. The solution is hiding somewhere in your settings, it is just a matter of hunting it down.

It is like experiencing weird computer problems and spending hours trying to figure them out. Eventually you figure out that it was all because one little checkbox in some obscure little subsection of an out of the way options tab was checked or unchecked when it should have been the opposite.

I once spent three days trying to get a subwoffer to work, and then figured out that the receiver had two different areas where I had to tell it that there was a sub. If it wasn't set correctly in both areas, it wouldn't work. Every time I upgrade equipment, and I have been doing this for over 10 years now, I think that this time will be easy and simple, and every time there is some little hassle (or big hassle) because of something that I didn't anticipate or that is different from any of my previous equipment.

Just keep telling yourself that it will all be worth it once it is all working correctly.

Chris

Originally Posted by Wellh

Ok here's an update,i set the sub's crossover to max 110hz no difference.
My rear surround speakers are Energy rc-mini's the instructions say to set
them at 120hz on the receiver,so thats where i set them.I also set the sub to
on instead of auto,but there is still no sound in surround mode.So i im guessing its probably the somewhere in the receiver set up correct?
There is only 1 sub input for the receiver that is clearly marked.Dam did'nt
think it would be this hard to hookup a sub,lol.Thx guys i appreciate the help.
Anything else i should try?
I will try setting the front towers to small in the morning see if that does anything,thx.

[Wellh]

Ok here we go i set the front towers to small on the receiver and set the
crossover at 90hz and the sub stayed on threw the whole movie in surround mode,yeah!I noticed at one point the 2front speaker icon on the receivers
front display was only showing,now all 5 speakers are showing,2front 2rear
and sub, humm.Cool thx for the help fella's much appreciated.

[kingofgrills]

Originally Posted by Wellh

Yeah this is the first sub ive had so i am new to this.The sub has crossover
and its own phase control,and i set them at their half way position,according
to the instructions your suppose to tune them to your own liking so i have
no idea yet where they should be set at.Also has power mode on,auto,off
switch.X-over mode either a or b.Power mode is set to auto and x-over to b
position which is crossover bypassed.The volume on the the sub is set at half.
My receiver's settings are set for large for the front speakers and small for the rear speakers,bass out to the sub,no center speaker.
The subs crossover controll can be set from 50hz to 110hz.Ive set it at 90.
Again when im watching a movie and switch from 6ch stereo to surround mode it takes a few seconds then the light on the front of the sub goes off
no signal.Crossover on receiver is set on 100hz also.Thx guys.

First of all, only use the sub crossover settings in your Yamaha receiver. On the sub, turn the crossover point to it's highest setting, and set the volume at the level appropriate for your room.

Second, please explain exactly what sources you have connected to your receiver and how they are connected? Oh, and which model Yamaha receiver is it? It sounds like you might have your component audio connections a bit messed up, but it's hard to tell without more detail.

[Wellh]

My receiver model is yamaha htr/5840.My ps3 is hooked up to the receiver via
optical cable and i have my digital cable box hooked to my receiver also via
digital rca cable.I set the ps3 to pcm audio.I will update my receiver in the late spring to either the onkyo 605 or denon 788.There is'nt a crossover setting for
every speaker there only seems to be one general crossover function in the
receivers menu and ive been through the menu a hundred times,well seems
like it,lol.Thx man.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Wellh

My receiver model is yamaha htr/5840.My ps3 is hooked up to the receiver via
optical cable and i have my digital cable box hooked to my receiver also via
digital rca cable.I set the ps3 to pcm audio.I will update my receiver in the late spring to either the onkyo 605 or denon 788.There is'nt a crossover setting for
every speaker there only seems to be one general crossover function in the
receivers menu and ive been through the menu a hundred times,well seems
like it,lol.Thx man.

set the PS3 to bit stream for optical output to your receiver not pcm. PCM output is only 2 channel over an optical cable that is way you had all the problems turn settings down on the sub volume control then try again you should see icons for 5.1 on your receiver now