The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Grevlin

The 75% was for a few seconds while playing an audio CD - it sounded LOUD, but clean- no static/popping

It's always set at 50%, with my 606 sub level set at 0 and movies played at around 42-45, set to the thread recommendations.

As I told you in an earlier post, I heard a loud popping sound a few times about a month ago. I could not tell where it was coming from. It was from the rear of the room in the direction of a 15" DIY subwoofer. I have 4 subwoofers in the room and I wasn't playing anything very loud. The level of the subwoofers are less than 50% and the gain in the receiver is +1. A couple of times I heard it when the system was on and the volume was extremely low because we were having a conversation.

I haven't heard it for the past couple of weeks. Unless I can determine where the sound is exactly coming from, I suppose there isn't much I can do about it.

[Grevlin]

I wouldn't be surprised if my blu player was sending some wacky signal to the sub. The sound is not really a pop that's louder then the other speakers- its more like a repeating static/crispy sound for a few seconds. Like the lowest levels of bass are too much. Just for extended low bass scenes- and only for intense movies.

Wow - odd.

I wish I had some other components to swap out to troubleshoot further. I still feel it's something outside the sub.

[potee]

My CS2 arrived yesterday then newegg put it on sale for$119.00 Called and they gave me a rebate. This is the black one. Now for the sub.

potee

[dongtrumpet]

Well, some of you dudes should be on the AA payroll. This thread convinced me to take the plunge on a HD SUB10. I upgraded my fronts to Jamos with dual 8" woofers and thought I wouldn't need a sub, but action movies are completely worthless without one. Music is fantastic sans sub, but anyway...

So I've had a few subs in my day from Polk, Boston Acoustics, and JBL, but none claimed extension this low (or measured this low as seen in BD's chart) so I'm eager to give it a shot.

Oh yeah, I made a best offer for $140. Hope it doesn't suck.

[callas01]

I have a question, HOW can you blow up a sub amp?? I went to watch 'Underworld' today and I was like, WOW, there should be more bass then this I would think given how loud the mix seems. That is when I noticed that the sub was turned off. So I paused the movie, turned it on and then restarted the movie. NOTHING. I looked at the gain, all the way down, Hmmmm I always have it at 50%. Looks like someone was playing with it and turned it off and messed with the knobs. So I turn the gain to 50%, NOTHING! Turn it to 100%, I get about 25% of what I would get at 50% turned up.

If someone had turned it off while it was being used, could that have short circuited the amp, or have blown the amp or blown the woofer???

I did check the gain on the reciever and its normal. Any suggestion?? Thoughts?? Or am I F'd?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by callas01

I have a question, HOW can you blow up a sub amp?? I went to watch 'Underworld' today and I was like, WOW, there should be more bass then this I would think given how loud the mix seems. That is when I noticed that the sub was turned off. So I paused the movie, turned it on and then restarted the movie. NOTHING. I looked at the gain, all the way down, Hmmmm I always have it at 50%. Looks like someone was playing with it and turned it off and messed with the knobs. So I turn the gain to 50%, NOTHING! Turn it to 100%, I get about 25% of what I would get at 50% turned up.

If someone had turned it off while it was being used, could that have short circuited the amp, or have blown the amp or blown the woofer???

I did check the gain on the reciever and its normal. Any suggestion?? Thoughts?? Or am I F'd?

It is possible for a power spike or short circuit to do some some damage. Are you sure your kids haven't done something crazy? Who else would turn the level down or turn it off? Make sure it is the sub that is causing the problem and contact the company for a replacement.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

It is possible for a power spike or short circuit to do some some damage. Are you sure your kids haven't done something crazy? Who else would turn the level down or turn it off? Make sure it is the sub that is causing the problem and contact the company for a replacement.

Well, my kids know not to touch the BDs or any of my equipment, even the 2 yr old who I had to scolled a while ago for pulling the insulation out of one of the Energy towers, but since then she won't touch anything over there. That I know of.

The other day my Wife had the neighbor kids over while I was at work and she called me to let me know that receiver wasn't processing sound, turns out someone had switched the speakers from A to B. So I am wondering if one of them had messed with my stuff...

All my other speakers work great, sound great as always, crossover settings are still the same, I have checked all the connections and they are all hooked up tight.

I put in my Incubus BD and John Mayer CD, both things I know well, and the bass at 50% gain wasn't there, at 100% I get a little but the speakers overpower the sub. I put in Live Free or Die Hard, tunnel sceen, at 100% gain, I get the Low rumbling bass when the car flips, at 50% gain it cuts out short it seems to me, when the tow truck hits the column, at 50% & 100% it seems the sound is primarily coming from the speakers and there is no real punch from the sub.

I will keep testing, Please any other suggestions I will happily take.

[dongtrumpet]

I've got major buyer's remorse. Someone tell me this thing isn't going to be crap, please.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Originally Posted by dongtrumpet

I've got major buyer's remorse. Someone tell me this thing isn't going to be crap, please.

From reading through this thread over the months, it seems to be that this particular sub needs some time to break in and warm up. I would suggest running some test tones and other music while gone out of the house to speed up the process to loosen up that driver.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by dongtrumpet

I've got major buyer's remorse. Someone tell me this thing isn't going to be crap, please.

"This thing isn't going to be crap."

[dongtrumpet]

Heh, thanks guys. To clarify, I'm not expecting this sub to challenge the HSU, Bag End, etc names in the business, I'm just hoping to add some extension without losing definition in my current setup. Here's the front of the room -



See that little shiny box next to the left? That's a 8" JBL down-firing sub which is probably good to ~ 32hz or so. It's not great, but as long as it isn't pushed too hard it doesn't bottom out and complements my towers well.



They sport two 8" woofers and could probably be crossed at 40, but I went for 60 anyway. The bass blend is totally seamless and better defined this way. Here's the side wall again with a better view of the little guy -





The driver is a cheesy paper cone with foam surround -



The enclosure has a nice heft to it, though, and its dimensions are roughly identical to the Sub 10's.

Like I said, once I get the Sub 10, I'll likely run it in this spot, but I may yet run the JBL in this back corner, in the vicinity of the easel and the Martin -



So I'm 99% sure this will be an upgrade, for me at least. 63 pages of mostly happy owners should've been enough to convince me anyway. Thanks again.

[vega2K]

Originally Posted by dongtrumpet

I've got major buyer's remorse. Someone tell me this thing isn't going to be crap, please.

Are you basing this remorse on your opinion of the sub's performance after listening to it OR on some of the reports of problems with the sub? If it is based on what you hear, well there is nothing anyone can do about that. Just know that in mine and several others view, the sub seems to work the best as a second sub, coupled with a more dynamic/musical/high fidelity sub. Also note that for every one person experiencing a problem, there are probably 10 who have not.

I personally have not had any problems (other than still not knowing what the hell that auto off switch position is). Also, I love it's low end peformance as a second sub, with my first sub coving the "higher" lows and clarity.

Good luck and always remember what you paid for it.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by dongtrumpet

I've got major buyer's remorse. Someone tell me this thing isn't going to be crap, please.

I don't think my issue is something you need to worry about. I think my issue has to do with a child screwing up something. The children my wife had over have no idea what the equipment I have is and prolly just started messing with things, my daughters no not to touch, children are trainable, I think the kids up the street that only see a 26" crt and $40 dvd player started playing with my reciever and sub and who knows what else.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by dongtrumpet

Heh, thanks guys. To clarify, I'm not expecting this sub to challenge the HSU, Bag End, etc names in the business, I'm just hoping to add some extension without losing definition in my current setup.

Like I said, once I get the Sub 10, I'll likely run it in this spot, but I may yet run the JBL in this back corner, in the vicinity of the easel and the Martin -

So I'm 99% sure this will be an upgrade, for me at least. 63 pages of mostly happy owners should've been enough to convince me anyway. Thanks again.

You should be fine. The sub will give you the low frequency extension that you are looking for. Both of my AA subs work fine without any problems and I have owned them over 6 months.

With electronic equipment (computers, receivers, players, speakers, cameras, etc), many things can go wrong. In fact, one of my computers crashed about a week ago for no apparent reason. I was only using it as a backup computer. After further testing, I found out that it is the video card.

Which model subwoofer and color did you get? I need to update the list of owners.

[callas01]

BD, on the sub I am getting mostly rumblings when playing movies and no real punch or kick from the sub, music is pretty much non-existent bass, I emailed the deep discount, hopefully they will replace it. What do you think could be the issue?? is it just done...

[Dave3000]

I noticed there's an HDS10 here for about half the cost of the SUB10's and SUB12's that everyone is raving about in this thread... Are there any significant differences between the HDS10 and the HD-SUB10 for example? In other words, is the lesser priced one still a valuable investment or would I be sacrificing significant quality? I'm just wondering why the price is so low...

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by callas01

BD, on the sub I am getting mostly rumblings when playing movies and no real punch or kick from the sub, music is pretty much non-existent bass, I emailed the deep discount, hopefully they will replace it. What do you think could be the issue?? is it just done...

Is it possible that the kids ran something loud and damaged the driver?

Unfortunately, the only way you can tell for sure if the problem is the amp or the driver is if you hook up the sub's amplifier to another driver or hook up the driver to another amp.

You may have to open the sub and run two wires from the front speaker outputs of your receiver (left or right channel) to the back of the sub driver and check to see if you hear anything. You shoud run test tones below 120Hz not to damage the driver. You can download additional test tones from Post #2 in the Test Tones Thread in Audio section and burn them to a CD/DVD. Make sure the volume is not too high to damage anything else.

When I killed one of my Hsu subwoofers a few months ago, it was the driver and there was absolutely no sound coming out of the sub. When I changed the driver, everything worked perfectly.

[dxology]

Originally Posted by Dave3000

I noticed there's an HDS10 here for about half the cost of the SUB10's and SUB12's that everyone is raving about in this thread... Are there any significant differences between the HDS10 and the HD-SUB10 for example? In other words, is the lesser priced one still a valuable investment or would I be sacrificing significant quality? I'm just wondering why the price is so low...

The HDS10 is an in-wall subwoofer.

[Dave3000]

Oops, thanks, didn't catch that... I think I'll get the Sub10, looks like it offers a lot more on its specs list.

[neos_peace]

Hey Big Daddy or anyone else. I have a question. Most times when I'm presented with a waranty del espescially one I have to pay for, I don't do them mainly cuz they are a money jip. However I have my Sub12 and am wondering should I actually get this one for the $11-$12 for the 3 years. granted I know its $12 for a full 3 year warranty. It breaks, I get a replacement. But should I really shell outt he money for a warranty. I'm verty carefull of my thigns specaily th electronics stuff.

thanks.